Regardless of our Canadian contenders falling short before Day 4, The $50,000 Poker Players Championship was undoubtably one of the most exciting events of the 2012 World Series of Poker…a star packed field of more than 100 of the best players in the world, a unique hand on Day 3 that took tournament directors and players 45 minutes to sort out and poker reporters 2 pages to explain, what’s not to love?
Besides that, a few of the final table players today have graced the poker felts of Montreal and we just wouldn’t be doing if our own poker scene and love justice if we weren’t all over this one; both Michael Mizrachi and Andy Bloch have enjoyed and played in our major tournaments in Quebec.
That gave us a few “honorary” picks to cheer for, though it was quite clear that Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi had both the majority of chips, as well as friend and fan support on the final table today.
Event #45 – $50,000 Poker Players Championship – Final Day
We were fortunate enough to be at the Rio to catch this one live until having to hop a plane back to Canada when play was down to three handed. It’s too bad, because we are sure the entire room was vibrating after the final hand was played.
Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi started the day with the chip lead and quickly added to that after delivering a double elimination minutes after the final table introductions when he looked down at pocket aces during some heavy action in front of him in the first No Limit Hold’em round of the day. After that, Bloch and Mizrachi seemed determined to pick away at the shorter stacks, along with the help of Chris Klondnicki; the bigger stacks mixed it up a little, but it was clear with such huge pay jumps each elimination it was in every bodies best interest to take move up the ladder before making any big final clashes.
After the shorter stacks had fallen, “The Grinder” really stepped on the gas and appeared incapable of veering of the track; he started hacking away at both the chips stacks of Bloch and Klondnicki, ending up with about half the chips in play before sending Andy to the rail. Once Heads Up play began, Mizrachi won hand after hand and it didn’t seem to matter which variation of the game they were playing, he was scraping the pot. Michael quickly increased his chip lead to 3-1, 6-1 and finally sealed the deal to score his second Poker Players Championship title. As of right now he is the only player in the history of $50,000 to have done so so far, earning a second etching of his name on the Chip Reese Trophy, his third bracelet and the $1,451,527!
Event #47 – $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Low Split
(Eight or Better) – Final Day
Gatineau’s Roch Cousineau started the final 10 with 3rd places worth of chips, and Edmonton’s Sanu Sharma was sitting 6th in chips; that’s also where both ended up finishing the tournament. For their efforts, Roch would wind up cashing for $103,538 and Sanu would score $41,589.
The bracelet and top prize of $267,355 would end up staying in the USA as Steven Loube took this one down.
Event #48 – $3,000 Limit Hold’em – Day 3
2010 World Champion Jonathan Duhamel made the final and was the only Canadian player to make the money in this one, adding to his WSOP resume with a 17th place finish here worth $7,303. Chalk another up to USA bracelet tally as Kenny Hsiung took down the field of 247 to lay claim to the title and $165,205 up top.
Event #49 – $1,500 Ante Only No Limit Hold’em – Day 2-3
At the time of writing, only one Canadian was left in the fight; Mike “Timex McDonald was still in it to win it with only 7 players remaining and guaranteed at least a $30,000 plus pay-day.
Only a few other Canadians cashed in this one, but both made it count; Manitoba’s Garth Arnason placed 14th while Vancouver’s Guang Lu took 15th, with both scoring $11,612.
Event #50 – $5,000 No Limit Hold’em – Day 1 and 2
With around 170 players of the 1001 entrants remaining and 117 spots paying, several top Canadian names look to have stacks in front of them according to available chip counts; Duhamel, Mike Leah, Shawn Buchanan, Gavin Smith, Terrence Chan and Xuan Liu are just a few of the more well knows standing out.
First place is nearly a million dollars in this one and we’ll definitely dissect deeper how our own fared after the completion of Day 2’s play.
STARTING TODAY
Event #51 – $1,000 Ladies No Limit Hold’em Championship
986 ladies took their seats in this one, with about half the field remaining at 8:00PM EST. First place will be worth more than $170,500 but with very limited info as far as chip counts currently available on the official WSOP site, we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see who is still in and chipping up.
Event #52 – $2,500 Ten Game Mix, 6 Handed – Day 1
Rather than list all the disciplines to be played off, we’ll keep it simple and say this…add Badugi, draw and triple draw to all the mixed game formats you would expect, make some limit and throw antes in here and there, but not everywhere, just for fun. It won’t be popular outside all but poker’s most elite players, but it should be fun! With a late start for this one, we’ll also check back a little later for some names and numbers.
