Michael Mizrachi’s Unfathomable WSOP Main Event Win

The 2025 World Series of Poker $10,000 main event felt like a throwback to the Moneymaker era of the game’s most prestigious event, with a palpable buzz from day 1. By the close of tournament registration, 9,735 players had laid down their buy-in to sit down at Paris and Horseshoe Las Vegas, making it the third-largest world championship in history.

Fourteen days of poker whittled that number down to one, and one of the biggest names in modern poker history, Michael Mizrachi, added the pièce de résistance to his remarkable career, the WSOP main event bracelet and a career-best prize of $10,000,000.

‘The Grinder’ put together arguably the most dominant final table performance in the history of the WSOP main event to cap off a truly one-of-a-kind summer. The 44-year-old from South Florida was less than a week removed from winning his record-setting fourth $50,000 Poker Players Championship title when he sat down for the 2025 WSOP main event. After an incredible comeback, and an absurdly quick final table, Mizrachi had secured an almost impossible double.

“I played my best poker in my life,” said Mizrachi. “Especially in the Poker Players Championship. I do [well] in big buy-ins. I do [well] in small ones too. But this one, I just played my best. I never gave up. It was just fate.”

Before Mizrachi could even take his winner’s photo, surrounded by a sea of friends and family, there was one more big piece of news. A collection of living Poker Hall of Famers led by Phil Hellmuth and Phil Ivey walked onto the TV stage to announce an unprecedented decision. The 33 living Hall of Famers, following an impromptu vote, unanimously decided that in winning both the PPC and WSOP main event back-to-back, on top of all of his other career achievements, Mizrachi was worthy of instant induction into the Poker Hall of Fame. No nomination required.

“What you’ve done is phenomenal,” said Hellmuth. “This is a fucking battlefield promotion… winning the main, winning the Players Championship, and now… the Hall of Fame.”

Daniel Negreanu called it, “maybe the greatest WSOP in the 50+ year history.”

With this win, Mizrachi has eight career WSOP bracelets, two World Poker Tour titles, a Card Player POY award, and more than $29 million in total career earnings. The victory pushed Mizrachi past Hellmuth into the number three spot on the WSOP’s all-time money list with $20,682,400, behind only Antonio Esfandiari ($21,917,242) and Daniel Negreanu ($23,847,814).

Mizrachi’s victory marked the third consecutive year in which an American player was crowned poker’s world champion. He follows Jonathan Tamayo (2024) and Daniel Weinman (2023) in that regard. Previously, there was a four-year run of international champions, with Espen Jorstad (2022) of Norway, Germany’s Koray Aldemir (2021), Argentinian Damian Salas (2020), and Germany’s Hossein Ensan (2019).

Field Size Stays Strong Despite Concerns

After back-to-back years of over 10,000 players, and new record turnouts each year for the WSOP main event, the field took a small step backwards in 2025. But despite pre-series concerns and uncertainty surrounding tariffs, travel restrictions, and a variety of other economic conditions, a consistent summer was capped by a strong showing in the main event.

Numbers were up year-over-year on day 1A of the tournament, and significantly up on day 1B. Turnout on day 1C flatlined, likely due to falling on the July 4 holiday, but enjoyed a strong finish over the final starting flight and late registration. The 4,997 players who entered on day 1D represent the second-largest, single-day field in the history of the tournament.

For the second consecutive year, late entries were up in a big way. 266 players bought in on the combined Day 2ABC, up more than 29 percent. And by the final bell on Day 2D, 775 players got in under the wire, up more than 25 percent year-over-year compared to 2024.

In all, 377 fewer players entered in 2025 than in 2024. But this year’s turnout still cleared the fourth-best field of all-time, 2006, by more than 950 players. And yes, despite his protests about the long structure, Phil Hellmuth was among the field, entering late with his usual pomp and circumstance. He would not make the money.

A Chaotic Money Bubble

The first cards went into the air on Wednesday, July 2. By the end of play on Day 3 on July 8, just 1,476 remained inside the Horseshoe Ballroom. That left the field just 15 places away from the money at the start of Day 4.

Hand-for-hand play began five spots away from the money, but it took nearly two hours to burst the bubble. WSOP Tournament Director Jack Effel bounced between tables announcing the action from the various all-ins around the room. He was, as always, followed by a swarm of media and players looking to grab their own shot of the hand that burst the bubble.

The last player to go home empty-handed was Adam Rude. He got all-in after flopping middle set against the nut flush draw of Kosaku Akashi. Akashi made his flush, sending Rude home in 1,463rd place.

The true bubble brought about one of the most frantic outcomes in the history of the main event. Traditionally, the WSOP has kicked in $10,000 for the unfortunate bubble boy, covering next year’s buy-in. If more than one player was eliminated, they would flip for the seat and share the prize money. It’s a nice consolation prize, but still well short of the $15,000 min cash.

But the WSOP announced a late twist this year, offering the bubble a $30,000 WSOP Paradise super main event prize package instead. Suddenly, the short stacks were incentivized to bust rather than survive.

Amidst nearly a dozen all-in and calls, there were some crazy outcomes. On a board of 10♠5♣2♥6♦6♣, 16-time WSOP Circuit winner Josh Reichard called all-in for his tournament life and his last 25 big blinds with A♠4♠. He was right.

Reichard later told Card Player contributor Paul Oresteen that the additional prize didn’t factor into his decision. “I don’t even want to go to the Bahamas,” Reichard said. “My stack was already worth more than the promotion. I knew that multiple people would probably bust and then have to flip for the seat.”

Three players would ultimately find the axe amidst the chaos. Mark Dickner, Mathew Frankland, and Sachin Joshi shuffled over to a corner of the Horseshoe Ballroom for a high-stakes random runout. By virtue of their eliminations on the direct bubble, the three players split the prizes for 1,461st and 1,460th. That guaranteed each of them their $10,000 buy-in back.

It was 10♣2♠ for Joshi, 9♠9♦ for Dickner, and Q♥4♣ for Frankland. Dickner’s pair of nines stayed ahead through the 6♥5♦3♣ flop and 3♠ turn. But the 2♣ river gave Frankland the straight, and the $30,000 prize package.

Among the over 900 players that were eliminated on day 4 were plenty of decorated stars of the game, including three-time bracelet winner Dylan Linde (1,068th), two-time bracelet winner Loni Hui (1,054th), four-time WPT champion and recent online bracelet winner Darren Elias (1,046), four-time bracelet winner Farzad Bonyadi (1,021st), three-time bracelet winner Dash Dudley (911th), three-time bracelet winner Matt Matros (825th), two-time Triton winner Igor Yaroshevskyy (741st), bracelet winner and EPT champion Liv Boeree (645th), four-time bracelet winner Kevin Gerhart (567th), 2023 WPT World Championship winner Dan Sepiol (560th), and two-time bracelet winner JC Tran (539th).

The Long Grind Down

The final 522 players returned for the start of Day 5, and by the end of play, only 202 WSOP main event dreams remained in play. The 320 players that were eliminated on day 5 included 2023 WSOP Europe main event winner Max Neugebauer (466th), Nadya Magnus (449th), Joseph Cheong (440th), Reichard (433rd), JJ Liu (430th), bracelet winner Asher Conniff (388th), poker vloggers Andrew Neeme (382nd) and Brad Owen (373rd), Matt Affleck (336th), Tom Middleton (329th), bracelet winner Safiya Umerova (286th), Thomas Boivin (273rd), two-time bracelet winner Denis Strebkov (261st), high-stakes online poker legend Viktor Blom (260th), and six-time bracelet winner Brian Hastings (215th).

One of just two former WSOP main event champions who made day 5, did not last long. Salas, the 2020 WSOP main event champion who also made the final table in 2017, came into the day short-stacked, and ultimately went out in 469th place.

Day 6 was equally cruel for well over half the players who made it that far, with just over 28 percent of that group surviving to day 7. Leo Margets made history by locking up last woman standing honors in the WSOP main event for the second time. The Spanish pro also did so back in 2009, when she finished in 27th.

Five other women reached day 6 of this year’s main event, but the other four, Lindsey McDougall (200th), Thi Xoa Nguyen (171st), Heather Hardie (165th), and Esther Taylor (152nd), went out in the first few hours of the day. Taylor had just set the record for the deepest run by a woman in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship with her third-place finish just a handful of days before the main event began.

The list of day 6 bustouts featured WPT champion Alan Sternberg (162nd), Michael Gagliano (148th), Samuel Rosborough (142nd), two-time Super High Roller Bowl champion Isaac Haxton (99th), Francis Anderson (94th), Bradley Jansen (92nd),  and Colin Robinson (75th). Other noteworthy losses along the way include former main event final tablist Alex Lynskey (186th), Farid Jattin (168th), longtime poker media member Donnie Peters (163rd), and René-Charles Angélil (123rd), the son of Celine Dion and the late René Angélil.

Day 7 was a key day for positioning. Greg Merson’s exit in 52nd place guaranteed a first-time WSOP main event champion. William Kassouf, who drew a lot attention on his way to finishing 17th in the 2016 WSOP main event, once again made a significant impression during his second deep run in this tournament. Following numerous run-ins with other players and tournament staff, including multiple penalties deep in the tournament for his poor behavior, Kassouf went out in 33rd.

Other key bustouts at this late stage included bracelet winner Leon Sturm (48th), French high-stakes tournament player Thomas Eychenne (47th), bracelet winner Nick Pupillo (42nd), three-time WPT champion Eric Afriat (29th), and Chad Power (35th), who has finished in the main event top 100 three times.

The Battle For An Historic Final Table

Tomas Szwarcberg made it down to day 7 in the 2024 WSOP main event, finishing 30th for $300,000. Incredibly, the Mexico City resident was able to improve on that run in 2025, earning $360,000 for his second consecutive deep run in 21st place.

Bracelet winner Chris Dombrowski was then sent packing in 20th place, banking $360,000.

Lautaro Guerra established himself as a pot-limit Omaha tournament endboss during the recent boom for the four-card game. He is ranked third on the all-time PLO money list with more than $7.7 million in earnings, which accounts for almost all of his career haul. The 2024 WSOP Paradise $100,000 PLO winner recorded his biggest no-limit hold’em cash so far with his deep run in this event, however, busting in 15th place for $450,000.

Maksim Pisarenko, the 2024 WSOP $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship winner, bowed out in 13th place, taking home a career-best score of $560,250 for his strong showing.

Tony Gregg, a WPT champion and the 2013 $111,111 One Drop High Roller bracelet winner, spent much of day 8 towards the bottom of the leaderboard after doubling up Mizrachi. He finally succumbed in 11th place when his A♦4♦ ran into Mizrachi’s A♠J♠, pocketing $750,000 to bring his career earnings to nearly $13 million.

John Wasnock then locked up the chip lead for the start of the final table and the spots for the other eight players when he busted Joey Padron in 10th place. This was Padron’s best cash by far, having previously earned $3,300 in a Wynn event earlier in the summer.

Mizrachi began the final table in second place, following a remarkable comeback from just three big blinds at the start of day 8. On the very first hand of play that day, Mizrachi open-shoved 19 big blinds with A♠J♦ and lost to Wasnock’s A♦Q♦. He’d go on to double up in almost every way imaginable in his run up to second in the chip counts, from multiple runner-runner flushes, to standard pair over pair spots.

Making his second career appearance at the WSOP main event final table, having finished fifth in 2010, Mizrachi would soon hit his most important card of the tournament. But at the start of the final table, he was looking up at Wasnock. The 50-year-old from North Bend, Washington, who works full time in investment consulting, had just over $120,000 in career earnings before this tournament.

Mizrachi wasn’t the only player making a return appearance at the WSOP main event final table. 43-year-old Kenny Hallaert, from Belgium, first entered that spotlight in 2016, when he finished sixth for $1,464,258.

“Whenever you play the main event, you don’t think you can make it to the final table,” said Hallaert, “But at the end of the day, there’s nine seats that need a butt in them. There’s a 1-in-1,000 chance that your name will be drawn out of the lottery, and in 2016 my number was drawn, happy days. And you never think you’re going to make it twice, but of course, you dream about it. If you think about the chances, if it’s a 1-in-1000 chance, it’s a 1-in-1 million chance to make it twice.”

Having two return players to the WSOP main event final table was a headline in and of itself, but Margets stole a lot of attention, and for good reason. The 42-year-old from Spain had long since locked up last woman standing honors for the second time in her career. But by making this final table, Margets made history, with a chance for so much more. She was just the second woman ever to make the WSOP main event final table, joining Barbara Enright, who did so in 1995.

Margets, who won a bracelet in The Closer in 2021, was one of three bracelet winners at this final table, along with Mizrachi and 2023 Monster Stack winner Braxton Dunaway.

“It’s so unreal,” Margets said to Jeff Platt, moments after making the final table. “Right now, it’s a dream, and I’m so glad I’m sharing it with them,” Margets added, motioning to her friends and family on the rail. “How lucky am I to live this?”

Final Table Day 1: Mizrachi Steamrolls The Field Down To Four

Compared to the long, methodical final tables of the last decade, this year’s action was fast and furious from the start, and for the first of two consecutive instances in back-to-back days, a player went out on the very first hand. Daehyung Lee min-raised from early position with A♠Q♣. Wasnock called from the big blind with pocket fives and the flop came down Q♦J♦5♥.

Wasnock checked with his set, and Lee bet. Wasnock check-raised, and Lee moved all-in. Wasnock snap-called and held through a 10♥ turn and J♥ river to eliminate Lee in ninth place. The software engineer from South Korea earned $1,000,000 for the very first final-table appearance of his poker career.

Before the end of the first orbit, there was another all-in and call. Jarod Minghini min-raised from the button and Hallaert three-bet shoved from the big blind with 4♦4♣. Minghini called all-in with his A♦Q♦ for his entire stack. The board came out 6♦3♣2♥8♥10♦ and the small pair remained best to end Minghini’s run in eighth place for $1,250,000.

Minghini is a five-time WSOP Circuit gold ring winner based out of Lake Tahoe, California. He helped found the Bobby Minghini Foundation in honor of his late brother. Bobby was on the U.S. Snowboarding Team, and the organization helps lower-income aspiring snowboarders with the expenses of chasing their dream.

“The real sweat was making the final table, that’s everyone’s goal in poker,” Minghini said. “I came in short-stacked today, so I knew I would be all in quickly. I wasn’t scared to get the chips in. I’m playing to win, I’m not playing to ladder.”

Mizrachi’s dream of a run nearly went up in smoke in seventh place. Dunaway opened for a min-raise from the cutoff with Q♦9♣. Wasnock picked up K♠K♣ on the button and three-bet. Mizrachi looked down at A♠K♦ in the small blind and cold four-bet. Dunaway got away and Wasnock shoved. Mizrachi called all-in, setting up a massive showdown for the chip lead.

The J♠9♥7♦ flop was safe for Wasnock, but the Q♣ turn gave Mizrachi a gutshot to go with his overcard outs. The PokerGO broadcast revealed that three of the tens and one ace were already folded, though, which meant that Mizrachi had just three cards to hit. The A♦ was one of them, causing Mizrachi to leap up and threw his hands in the air. Wasnock slipped to 110,300,000 after the hand, which was still good for second.

Instead, it was Margets’ historic run that would lead to a seventh-place finish. On the 28th hand of the day, she limped in from the small blind with A♥10♥ and Hallaert looked down at another small pocket pair. He jammed with 6♠6♥, and Margets called.

The flop came down J♥7♠5♠. Hallaert’s sixes were still best, but the turn brought the A♠ to dial up the drama. Margets was now sitting with the best hand with a pair of aces, but Hallaert had outs to a flush or a set. The 9♠ river completed the former draw, growing Hallaert’s stack to 140,000,000, while Margets was out. The $1,500,000 payout was by far her largest score yet.

“Amazing experience, obviously one of the best experiences of my life, for sure,” Margets told PokerGO. “Of course, I was super sad. I cried for a few minutes in the room, but to be honest, I am okay now. It is what it is. I am very proud of how I handled the whole thing.”

Adam Hendrix, a top-level pro still in search of a major title, was the next player to stand up to Mizrachi’s rising tidal wave of momentum. Mizrachi opened from under the gun with A♥K♦. Hendrix three-bet out of the cutoff with J♦J♣ and Mizrachi four-bet ripped when it got back around to him. Hendrix called all-in, and the two were off to the races, again with the chip lead on the line.

What started as a fair fight turned into a healthy equity advantage for Hendrix after a safe Q♥Q♦4♦ flop. The turn was another story, though, as the K♠ gave Mizrachi the superior pair and a stranglehold on the hand. Hendrix was down to needing one of the two remaining jacks in the deck on the river, but the 3♣ appeared instead, sending him packing in sixth place.

The $1,900,000 payout was roughly three times larger than any previous score for the Alaskan-born player. This windfall increased his career haul to more than $10.3 million.

Mizrachi put the tournament on the brink five-handed. After utilizing aggression to build on his already considerable stack, Mizrachi went to war with Hallaert. He min-raised from the cutoff with Q♠10♥ and got called by Hallaert’s K♠J♠ from the small blind and Dunaway’s 9♠7♣ out of the big blind. The flop came down K♦10♣3♥ and it checked to Mizrachi, who bet. Only Hallaert called and the Q♣ turn gave Mizrachi queens up and the lead. Hallaert check-called another hefty bet.

The 4♠ completed the board and Hallaert checked again, with 84,000,000 in his stack and 68,000,000 already in the pot. Mizrachi bet 60,000,000 with his two pair, sending Hallaert into the tank. After plenty of thought, Hallaert removed his sunglasses as he contemplated his options. Ultimately, he chose to call, and was shown the bad news, slipping to just 12 big blinds while Mizrachi celebrated with his raucous rail.

Mizrachi chipped up to over 421,000,000 after the hand, which amounted to roughly 72 percent of the total chips in play.

Luka Bojovic, a medical doctor from Serbia, had already shared a deep run in this tournament with friends, roommates and fellow Coin Poker Ambassadors Sebastian Schulze and Stefan Nemetz. He came into this final table with more than $620,000 in prior cashes, including an eighth-place result in last year’s WSOP Europe main event.

Bojovic’s run in this year’s big dance came to a close in fifth place. He had largely stayed out of the way throughout the day while the rest of the table squared off in monster pots. As a result, he locked up $2,400,000 by outlasting several players who began the day with larger stacks.

Bojovic’s final hand saw him get his last eight big blinds in from the cutoff with A♥K♠ leading the A♣J♠ of Wasnock, who called from the big blind. The 4♣3♣2♣J♥6♠ runout saw Wasnock flop the nut flush draw and turn a pair of jacks to win, however.

After a few hands to close out the remaining level, play was halted after just 59 total hands of poker. Mizrachi was the runaway chip leader with 445.5 million, good for 178 big blinds, with Wasnock’s 38 big blinds making him the biggest roadblock. Dunaway (10 big blinds) and Hallaert (8 big blinds) were each in need of an all-time comeback.

Final Table Day 2: Mizrachi Finishes The Job

At the end of day 9, PokerGO asked Mizrachi how long it would take to finish the job. Mizrachi simply replied, “An hour.”

He wasn’t too far off.

On the first hand of the day, Hallaert got all-in with A♥Q♣. The poker player and tournament director open-shoved from the cutoff.  Mizrachi called with K♦J♦ from the big blind. The board ran out 10♠5♠4♠J♣9♠, and Mizrachi made top pair with a king kicker to end Hallaert’s run in fourth place.

The Belgian earned $3,000,000 for his latest deep run in the main event, topping his previous best payout for sixth in 2016. Hallaert also finished 123rd in 2015 and 64th in 2017. He now has more than $9.5 million in career earnings to his name.

“Lots of emotions leaving my body, probably, right now,” Hallaert told PokerGO sideline reporter Natalie Bodie. “There’s the relief that it’s over, in a way. There’s a bit of disappointment for losing that last hand, which was a standard hand in poker. There is happiness for being fourth in the World Series of Poker main event. There’s gratefulness for having the privilege to play this tournament for I think the 17th time.”

Dunaway soon followed him to the rail. The 42-year-old bracelet winner and oil and gas industry worker from Midland, Texas looked down at 10♥6♥ in the big blind on the next hand, facing an open-shove from Mizrachi with A♦10♦ out of the small blind. Dunaway elected to call for his last nine or so big blinds. The K♣Q♦4♦ flop gave Mizrachi the nut flush draw and a gutshot straight draw to go with his ace high. The 4♠ left Dunaway in need of a black six on the river.

The 3♦ rolled off instead, giving Mizrachi the nut flush and his second knockout of the day. This third-place showing was worth $4,000,000 to Dunaway.

At the start of heads-up play, it was 491,000,000 for Mizrachi and 93,500,000 for Wasnock. While Wasnock briefly breached 100 million during heads-up play, Mizrachi quickly wrested the momentum back.

Wasnock had just 61 million entering hand 79 of the final table. He min-raised from the button with A♠9♦ and Mizrachi defended with 10♣3♣. The flop came down A♦9♣7♣ to give Mizrachi a flush draw. He checked to Wasnock, who checked behind with his top two-pair.

The 4♣ turn completed Mizrachi’s flush. He checked and Wasnock bet. Mizrachi check-raised, gesticulating to his rail before throwing the double thumbs up to indicate his raise.

Wasnock moved all in and Mizrachi quickly called. The 5♣ completed the board and Mizrachi’s flush earned him the pot and the title.

Wasnock earned $6,000,000 as the runner-up. Prior to this run, his top score had been the $56,330 he secured for a win in a $550 buy-in at this year’s Spring Poker Round-Up at Wildhorse Resort Casino in Oregon. He improved his standing significantly

“I came over to my rail and I was like, ‘You ever make $3 million in two minutes?’” Wasnock recounted. “It didn’t fall my way, but I have no regrets with the way I played. One of the best experiences of my life.”

From the time Mizrachi lost most of his chips on day 8, until heads-up play on day 10, he went nine-for-nine in preflop all-ins. Four times, he was ahead and remained ahead. Twice, he hit his key card on the turn. And on two separate occasions, both of which saw his tournament at risk, Mizrachi hit runner-runner flushes to survive and double up.

The collective odds of Mizrachi winning all nine of those preflop all-ins, based on pre-flop percentages, were 0.275%, or about 1 in 364.

“You’ve got to get lucky at that point,” Mizrachi said of his comeback. “It’s hard to win the main event, and you’ve got to win flips. A lot of flips. I got that far through a lot of bluffs. But next year, I’m not gonna bluff anymore.”

Mizrachi’s 10th consecutive all-in victory was a little bit different, as the chips went in on the turn. But with 10 straight all-in victories, Mizrachi put an astounding exclamation point on his historic WSOP main event win.

The 3,300 Card Player Player of the Year points that came with this victory were enough to catapult Mizrachi into 13th place in the 2025 POY standings, presented by Coin Poker. (Editor’s Note: It also earned him the distinction of being the first person in Card Player history to get the cover in back-to-back issues.)

Final Table Results

• Photos by PokerGO, Card Player