Grinder makes it two

Michael ‘The Grinder’ Mizrachi has had a quiet 2011 by his own high standards. With less than $250k in live winnings and no major titles since his Player’s Championship win last year, it seemed The Grinder’s stellar form had subsided. Well, that was until this week’s WSOPE in Cannes.

Mizrachi is now the proud owner of his second gold bracelet thanks to victory in the first ever €10k Split Format event. The four-day tournament saw a starting field of 125 players compete in a standard, nine-handed format, then six-handed on the second day and finally heads-up over the final two days.

The closing stages were brimming with some of the best players in the game, with Dan Fleyshman, and Brian Powell finishing fifth and sixth respectively, while Jason Mercier, Matthew Waxman, and Erik Seidel also went deep.

But it was The Grinder who waltzed off with the €336,008 first prize, defeating Kent Lundmark, Brian Hastings, Roger Hairabedian and Shawn Buchanan in the final rounds.

The WSOPE Split Format event finished as follows:

1. Michael Mizrachi €336,008
2. Shawn Buchanan €207,624
3. Roger Hairabedian €112,092
4. Noah Schwartz €112,092
5. Dan Fleyschman €54,810
6. Brian Powell €54,810
7. Anatolii Ozhenilok  €54,810
8. Brian Hastings €54,810
9. Jason Mercier €26,618
10. Dmitry Motorov €26,618
11. Matt Waxman €26,618
12. Erik Seidel €26,618
13. Alexander Roumeliotis €26,618
14. Joel Nordkvist €26,618
15. Bryn Kenney €26,618
16. Kent Lundnark €26,618