World Series of Poker November Nine profile: Mike “The Grinder” Mizrachi

In this series I will take a look at the backgrounds and resumes’ of the nine poker players who managed to weave their way through, and outlast 7,310 opponents, and make it to the final table of the 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event.

The final table for the 2010 WSOP will reconvene on November 9^th  where the remaining nine players will play down to just two, who will then return the following day, November 10^th, to declare the 2010 WSOP Champion.

The nine remaining players are:

1. Jonathan Duhamel - 65,975,000 chips
2. John Dolan - 46,250,000 chips
3. Joseph Cheong - 23,525,000 chips
4. John Racener - 19,050,000 chips
5. Matthew Jarvis - 16,700,000 chips
6. Filippo Candio - 16,400,000 chips
7. Mike Mizrachi - 14,450,000 chips
8. Soi Nguyen - 9,650,000 chips
9. Jason Senti - 7,625,000 chips

Mizrachi is by far the best known player of the November Nine and after basically owning poker tournaments in 2005 and 2006 “The Grinder” has reestablished himself as one of the top poker players in the world in 2010.

Mizrachi will find himself in the spotlight, much like Phil Ivey from a year ago, which seems to be more of a detriment than an advantage thanks to the long layoff. Not only do the other players seem more willing to gamble with players they feel are better than them, but more importantly I feel the lesser known players have a lot more information to use against successful players, since there is a lot of archived footage and hands available for study on a player like Mizrachi, as opposed to say a Jonathan Duhamel or Matthew Jarvis -and as online poker has taught us; information is power!

Mizrachi’s major poker accomplishments include:

• 2006 Card Player Magazine Player of the Year
• 14^th on the all-time money list with $9.6 million in career tournament earnings (Mizrachi could overtake Phil Ivey for the #1 spot by finishing 1^st or 2^nd when the 2010 WSOP final table reconvenes in November).
• 2 WPT Championships and 4 WPT Final Tables
• 1 WSOP Bracelet in the 2010 $50,000 Players Championship and 5 WSOP Final Tables
• Mizrachi has had 13 cashes worth over $100,000, with three of those being over $1,000,000!

Mizrachi recently fell on hard times when he had a couple of properties foreclosed upon to pay back taxes. The longtime poker pro cited bad investments and poor management as the cause of the financial problems.

The Grinder will wear the Full Tilt Poker badges prominently at the final table -as he has throughout the World Series of Poker– and is one of the few players where sponsorship isn’t a question.