Grinder wins 2012 Players

Michael ‘The Grinder’ Mizrachi became the first player in WSOP history to win two $50k Players Championships this week, busting up a final table which included two British hopefuls and Andy Bloch en route to a stunning $1.4m payday.

Mizrachi, who notched up his first Players Championship win back in 2010, now has three WSOP bracelets to his name after a head-scratching three-year spell at the WSOP, which has seen him record eight final tables and inflated his live career earnings to just over $14m.

The Grinder, who says he’ll use the seven-figure first prize to take a shot at next week’s $1m Big One, was the dominant force on a stacked final table, seeing off four of the final eight single-handed.

Mizrachi eliminated both Bruno Fitoussi and Bill Chen in one blow with Aces just minutes in, before adding the scalps of Brit Stephen Chadwick – making his second final table of this year’s series – and finally Chris Klodnicki heads-up.

Chadwick wasn’t the only Brit taking a run at one of the most coveted bracelets on the WSOP calendar, though, and the larger-than-life Luke Schwartz will be cursing Lady Luck after busting in cruel fashion four-handed.

In a round of NLHE, Shcwartz got it all-in with A-9 against Klodnicki’s A-6, only to be three-outered on the river. The $406k Schwartz collected for fourth place is his biggest ever live cash, but for those who’ve had the pleasure to see him in action, it’s safe to say he won’t be looking on the bright side just yet.

Bloch, looking for his second bracelet of the series, exited in third place, and with Mizrachi a sizeable chip leader going into heads-up, the Grinder finished the job in a round of Omaha 8, his Qd-Jc-9h-8h hitting a straight to beat Klodnicki’s pre-flop shove with As-Jh-9c-2s.

‘I was getting all the cards,’ Mizrachi conceded afterwards. ‘It’s tough to play against someone that’s just winning every hand.’

Here’s how the $50k Players Championship finished up:

1. Michael Mizrachi $1,451,527
2. Chris Klodnicki $896,935
3. Andy Bloch $561,738
4. Luke Schwartz $406,736
5. Roland Israelashvili $317,882
6. Stephen Chidwick $253,497
7. Bill Chen $205,856
8. Bruno Fitoussi $169,879