Mizrachi Named Ante Up Player of the Year
.jpg "Mizrachi Named Ante Up Player of the Year")
Ante Up Magazine has named Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi their 2010 World Series of Poker Player of the Year. Mizrachi has already won a World Series gold bracelet this year, and is still alive in the Main Event for a chance to win a second.
Mizrachi was long known as one of the best players never to win a World Series of Poker event, but was able to shed that label this year. He won the $50,000 Players Championship event, defeating a field of 115 of the world’s top players in a mixed game format, including an incredible 54 bracelet-winning players. Mizrachi came out on top at a final table that included his brother Robert, winning $1.5 million along with the bracelet.
However, Mizrachi’s World Series success didn’t end there. He made three other final tables, including a 6th place finish in the $10,000 Seven-Card Stud tournament, an eighth place finish in the $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship event, and of course, his final table appearance as a member of the November Nine in the Main Event.
While Mizrachi was named the World Series Player of the Year by Ante Up, he’s still an underdog to win the official WSOP Player of the Year award. That honor is likely to go to Frank Kassela, who won two bracelets and made a third final table in this year’s World Series. Mizrachi still has a chance to share the award with Kassela, but can only do it if he wins the Main Event.
Ante Up editor Chris Cosenza said that the magazine had a tough decision choosing between Kassela and Mizrachi.
"We'd like to congratulate Kassela on a fantastic effort," Cosenza said. "We're certain the two gold bracelets on his wrists will help him deal with the disappointment of not winning our award."
Mizrachi will return to the felt in November to take his shot at winning the Main Event, as well as the nearly $9 million first prize. He enters the final table in 7th place according to chip counts, with just under 14.5 million in chips. The current chip leader is Canadian Jonathan Duhamel, who begins the final table with nearly 66 million chips.