Overwhelming chip lead
When Jeff Platt asked Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi on Tuesday night what it would take to close out the 2025 World Series of Poker Main Event final table on Wednesday, Mizrachi jokingly said, “An hour.”
He was right.
In one of the most dominant runs in Main Event final table history, Mizrachi actually needed less than an hour to dispatch his three opponents on Wednesday to win the tournament – the eighth bracelet of his career – and nail down one of the greatest overall Series performances ever.
Mizrachi entered the final day with more than three-quarters of the chips in play, seemingly a mortal lock to win it all. Of course, anything can happen in poker, and Mizrachi proved that throughout the Main Event. He was the chip leader on his Day 1 flight, but had to climb back from just two big blinds a few days ago. Then, though he rolled through the final table, he still needed a kiss from the poker gods on Tuesday, as his A-K overcame the then-chip leader John Wasnock’s K-K with an Ace on the river to save him from elimination.
Quick work
So anything could happen, but anything did not. On the very first hand of Wednesday’s action, Kenny Hallaert moved all-in for 19 million chips with A-Q and Mizrachi called with K-J. Mizrachi found a Jack on the turn to eliminate Hallaert, himself appearing at his second Main Event final table, in fourth place.
Before the crowd could stop buzzing, Mizrachi shoved on the next hand with A-T and Braxton Dunaway, to the surprise of most, called with just T-6. Dunaway got no help and Mizrachi improved to the nut flush and just like that, two players were knocked out on the first two hands.
That left Wasnock, down 93.5 million to Mizrachi’s 491 million. Wasnock put up a fight, but was never able to find any giant pots to get himself back into the game. For every mini run he made (and he never really made much of any dent in Mizrachi’s stack), he would slide back after losing a beefy pot.
On the second-to-last hand, Wasnock sniffed out a bluff, during which Mizrachi waved his arms, urging his rail to make noise. On the final hand of the tourney, Wasnock flopped two pair, but Mizrachi turned a flush. And when Mizrachi went in for the turn raise, he again pumped up his rail. Wasnock quickly called, but unfortunately for him, Mizrachi’s demonstrativeness indicated strength and not weakness. The four-outer didn’t hit, and Mizrachi was the champion.
The final table lasted just 79 hands across the two days, by far the shortest final table in the last two decades. The previous record was 164 hands, set in 2023.
And a Hall of Famer to boot
With his Main Event win coming on the back of his fourth $50,000 Poker Players Championship (he also made the Main Event final table and won the PPC in 2010), plus a number of other cashes, many consider Mizrachi to have just pulled off the most impressive WSOP of all time. The hype surrounding the feat was so great that in addition to being presented with the Main Event bracelet, Mizrachi was immediately inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame, even though the next nomination and voting period isn’t until next summer.
Many poker pros had said before the final table that if Mizrachi won, he should just be inducted right away, and apparently, Poker Hall of Famers Daniel Negreanu and Phil Hellmuth took the idea to WSOP VP Jack Effel. The living Hall of Famers – the people who vote on who joins them in the Hall – agreed and Mizrachi was given the surprise of his life.
“I feel like (the Main Event bracelet) was cement. I cemented everything,” Mizrachi said, thanking everybody for the honor. “That’s all I wanted was the Main Event. I did what I had to do in the poker world. Achieved the Hall of Fame. I’m never going to retire, so don’t worry about that. I’ll be back next year for a lot more.”
That’s why he’s The Grinder.
2025 World Series of Poker Main Event – Final Table Results
- Michael Mizrachi – $10,000,000
- John Wasnock – $6,000,000
- Braxton Dunaway – $4,000,000
- Kenny Hallaert – $3,000,000
- Luka Bojovic – $2,400,000
- Adam Hendrix – $1,900,000
- Leo Margets – $1,500,000
- Jarod Minghini – $1,250,000
- Daehyung Lee – $1,000,000
Image credit: PokerGO.com
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