2010 WSOP Event #2 – Day 3 – Michael Mizrachi Leads $50,000 Poker Players Championship
Day 3 of Event #2, $50,000 Poker Player’s Championship, kicked off on Sunday in the Amazon Room at the Rio. 54 players returned, all looking for their shot at poker immortality. Kirk Morrison led the way with Andy Bloch right on his heels. Others still in the event included Doyle Brunson, Michael Mizrachi, John Juanda, James Van Alstyne, Eli Elezra, Justin Bonomo, Barry Greenstein, and David Oppenheim.
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Barry Greenstein was the first eliminated from today’s field. With just 36,000 left in front of him, he got it all-in on third street of Razz with 7-6-3. Two opponents came along but it was Scott Seiver that would take the pot when he made an 8-5 by the river. Barry double paired and was out.
Sorel Mizzi also met his end during Razz. He had the last of his chips in and made a jack by the river. Doyle Brunson caught a ten to outpip Mizzi and we were one step closer to the money. George Lind followed right behind. He had the misfortune of running a straight into quad during a Stud round. Justin Smith busted Tuan Le when Le was unable to outrun what looked like rolled up jacks from Smith.
Phil Ivey will not be around for Day 4 of this championship. Ivey was all-in on sixth street during Stud 8 with a pair of fours and four cards to an eight-low. Eli Elezra already had a made diamond flush, so Ivey had to make a low to split the pot. The river wound up double pairing Ivey and he was eliminated from this $50,000 Poker Player’s Championship.
Justin Bonomo soon followed Ivey. He was all-in during NL Holdem with pocket fives and found a caller in Nick Schulman with pocket eights. The board missed both players and Bonomo hit the rail. We will have a new champion this year as David Bach soon afterwards hit the rail. He ran A-5 into pocket aces during NL Holdem and was eliminated.
2009 WSOP Player of the Year Jeff Lisandro hit the rail after dodging elimination several times. He had the last of his chips in during 2-7 Lowball against Chris Ferguson. Ferguson caught an 8-6 after the first draw and stood pat the remainder of the hand. Lisandro drew three times and was unable to outdraw Ferguson.
Noah Boeken was broken during a stud round. In a three-way pot with Matt Glantz and Erik Seidel, Seidel caught nines-full to outdraw what were likely trip jacks from Boeken. We never saw his hole cards. Justin Smith was eliminated during Razz when his 8-6 was outdrawn by John Juanda and his 7-5. Scott Clements soon followed during stud when he failed to complete his flush draw against Robert Mizrachi’s king-high straight.
Matt Glantz was all-in during PLO with aces and a nut flush draw against Erik Seidel and a wrap straight draw. Seidel hit his straight on the turn and Glantz missed his flush to hit the rail. Eugene Katchalov hit the rail during Limit Holdem. Cole South three-bet pre-flop, which was enough to put Katchalov all-in with A-9 of clubs. South had A-K and it was a kicker race. The board missed both players and Katchalov hit the rail. South then eliminated Scott Seiver from the event during the same Limit Holdem round after catching pocket aces.
Scotty Nguyen was all-in on third street during Stud against both Doyle Brunson and Abe Mosseri. Both opponents checked to the river where Mosseri bet. Normally you wouldn’t bet in a dry side pot with an opponent all-in, but Mosseri had a good reason to as he revealed a straight flush. Nguyen obviously couldn’t beat it and was eliminated.
Doyle Brunson will not see Day 4 of this championship. The flop was 10-7-8 when Brunson moved all-in against Andy Bloch with Q-10. Bloch held A-10 and made the call. A river ace gave Bloch two pair and spelled the end of the event for the Godfather of Poker. Josh Arieh soon followed during Razz. He had the remainder of his chips in on fifth street against Chris Ferguson. By the river, Arieh held an 8-7, but Ferguson turned over a 7-5 to send Arieh packing.
John Cernuto was all-in during PLO with top two pair on a Q-J-3 flop. Erik Seidel made the call with a set of jacks. The turn fell a three to give Seidel a full house and Cernuto was drawing dead. Nickolay Evdakov was a short stack entering the day and managed to double up several times to stay alive. His end came during Stud 8. Evdakov was all-in on third with 7-2-A against both David Oppenheim and Robert Mizrachi. Both opponents stayed in the pot till the river when Oppenheim revealed trip nines. Evdakov had a four card low on sixth, but rivered a ten to hit the rail.
Cole South was eliminated from this event by David Oppenheim. South was all-in pre-flop for 90,000 and called by Oppenheim. Oppenheim then proceeded to catch aces up on the flop and South was unable to catch an eight. Chris Ferguson soon followed during PLO when he flopped a gutshot straight flush draw to go with his wrap draw. David Oppenheim called holding top two pair. Oppenheim would turn a full house and Ferguson missed his straight flush on the river. After the pot, Oppenheim was the chip leader with 2.25 Million in chips.
Day 1 chip leader Erik Sagstrom found his end during Limit Holdem. He was all-in during Limit Holdem with 10-8 of spades against the Q-J of David Oppenheim. He failed to improve his hand and was eliminated. Hasan Habib was the last player eliminated from Day 3 action. He was all-in on fifth street during Stud 8 with ducks and a backdoor low draw. Morrison held queens and would make aces up on sixth. Habib could not back into a low or catch a third deuce and was eliminated.
21 players remain heading into Day 4 action. Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi finished the day as chip leader with 1.48 Million. Vladimir Schmelev is 2nd with 1.43 Million. Eli Elezra is the short stack with just 336,000. However, things can turn around quickly in this game so nobody is out of the hunt yet.
Play will resume for Day 4 of this event Monday at 3 p.m. PDT. We will break the money bubble at 16 and then play until the final table. Stay tuned to theWSOPblog.com as we bring you all the action from the 2010 WSOP.
