Michael Mizrachi Dominates In Historic Fourth WSOP Poker Players Championship Victory

Michael Mizrachi achieved an unprecedented feat at the 2025 World Series of Poker. He closed out the $50,000 Poker Players Championship in dominant fashion, winning the storied mixed games tournament for a record fourth time. He first took down this title in 2010, then triumphed again in 2012. His 2018 victory set a new record, which was later matched by Brian Rast (2011, 2016, 2023). Now, with this incredible fourth win, the man known to many as ‘The Grinder’ once again stands alone as the most dominant player in the storied history of this tournament.

“I’ve been getting a lot of cards, got lucky a few times, but I’ve been playing great… my best poker I’ve ever played, probably, in any $50k,” Mizrachi told PokerGO’s Natalie Bodie after closing out the win.

The 44-year-old poker pro from Miramar, Florida is now a seven-time WSOP bracelet winner. In addition to his four PPC wins, he also took down the 2011 WSOP Europe €10,400 split format event, the 2019 $1,500 stud eight-or-better, and a 2024 WSOP Online $888 no-limit hold’em event. The two-time World Poker Tour champion now has more than $19 million in career tournament earnings.

Setting The Scene For History To Be Made

David ‘Chip’ Reese Memorial Trophy at the 2025 WSOP Poker Players Championship.

The tournament now known as the PPC made its debut in 2006. The first four years saw the event contested over the classic mixed-game format of H.O.R.S.E., with late legend of the game David ‘Chip’ Reese capturing the very first win. In the years since Reese’s passing in late 2007, the winner of this event has had their name added to the David ‘Chip’ Reese Memorial Trophy.

The 19th running of this event drew 107 entries, the second-largest turnout of the past decade. The $5,162,750 prize pool was divided amongst the top 17 finishers this year, with a min-cash being worth $100,000. The bubble burst at the end of day 3, with two-time bracelet winner Chris Klodnicki being that last player eliminated outside the money.

Several big names ran deep, including 2013 champion of this event Matthew Ashton (17th), bracelet winners Ali Eslami (15th) and Justin Liberto (14th), three-time bracelet winner Chris Vitch (13th), and four-time bracelet winner Mike Matusow (12th).

Big Names Fall Late As Final Table Approaches

Two-time bracelet winner Erick Lindgren’s tournament ended in brutal fashion, with his ace-high flush bested by a straight flush for four-time bracelet winner Joao Vieira during a round of pot-limit Omaha.

IS THIS REAL LIFE??!?!

Yes, this really happened with 11 players left in the @WSOP $50,000 Poker Players Championship. Streaming on https://t.co/2RQh5ROjQG. pic.twitter.com/T1SHXchG03

— PokerGO (@PokerGO) June 28, 2025

Lindgren hit the rail in 11th place, and was soon joined by bracelet winner Christian Roberts (10th). Two-time bracelet winner Marco Johnson was knocked out during a round of razz late on day 4. He was quite short, and got the last of his stack in on third street with 8-6-2. He wound up with a nine low, but it was not enough to best the 8-7-4-3-2 of Andrew Yeh. Johnson earned $142,720 as the ninth place finisher.

Four-time bracelet winner Ben Yu was the final player to be knocked out on day4. It was another PLO hand, with Yu holding a king-high wrap draw. He was facing a pair of tens and ace-high wrap draw for Vieira. The chips went in on the flop and neither player improved. That meant that Yu had to settle for $142,720 as the eighth-place finisher.

Taylor Sets Record As Field Narrows

The fifth and final day began with Mizrachi out in front of the final seven contenders.

Esther Taylor on the rail at the final table.

Two-time bracelet winner and two-time WSOP main event final-table finisher Ben Lamb was the first to fall.  In the first hand of the day, he got all-in on fifth street in a hand of stud eight-or-better with four to a low. He was up against two pair for Albert Daher and flush, straight, and low draws for Mizrachi. Daher finished with his kings up, but Mizrachi made a flush on seventh street and an 8-7-6-5-4 low. Lamb paired on the end to miss his low, sending the whole pot to Mizrachi. Lamb earned $175,096 for his seventh-place showing.

With Lamb’s elimination, Esther Taylor officially set a new record for the deepest run ever made by a woman in this event. That distinction had belonged to Melissa Burr, who placed seventh in 2014. Taylor was not yet satisfied, though. She won a couple healthy pots during a round of  triple draw, including taking down a big one with 7-6-5-3-2 that left Daher on fumes. Daher soon got all-in with K♦J♥ flipping against the 6♥6♦ of Mizrachi. The pair held through a queen-high runout and Daher went to collect $224,077 as the sixth-place finisher.

Setting The Podium

Vieira was left as the clear short stack after Daher’s elimination. He soon got all-in on fourth street with split sixes during a round of stud. He was called by both Bryn Kenney and Mizrachi, who paired his board on fifth street. The final boards looked as follows:

Vieira: (8♣6♦)6♠K♥Q♠10♠(3♠)
Mizrachi: (Q♥8♦)10♥A♠A♥2♠(2♥)
Kenney: (5♦2♦)Q♦9♥7♦9♣(10♣)

Andrew Yeh finishes fourth.

Kenney picked up a flush draw on fifth, and added a pair of nines on sixth. Mizrachi improved to aces up on the end, while Kenney and Vieira bricked out. The Portuguese tournament star earned $298,614 for his fifth-place showing. This deep run came just weeks after his $2.6 million win in the $100,000 no-limit hold’em high roller, marking his fourth career WSOP victory.

Yeh, who won the $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. at the series a few years ago, watched his stack dwindle as short-handed play continued. He committed the majority of his stack preflop in PLO with Q♠Q♦7♠7♣ from the button. His raise to 675,000 came after Taylor had limped for 150,000 from the under the gun with 8♠8♦6♠4♦. Mizrachi came along with A♣K♥10♣8♣ in the small blind and Taylor called. The three saw a flop of A♦J♣9♦ and Mizrachi bet 500,000, Taylor called with her diamond draw and Yeh put in his last chips to put himself at risk. The 5♠ turn and 3♥ river changed nothing and Mizrachi’s pair of aces was enough to win the pot. Yeh earned $413,740 as the fourth-place finisher, the second-largest score of his career.

Mizrachi Stretches Mammoth Lead During Three-Handed Play

Three-handed action began with Mizrachi holding 19.9 million of the 32.1 million chips play. The final three battled for around two hours before the next elimination hand went down, with Mizrachi steadily leaning on his opponents as they both jockeyed to outlast each other.

Kenney doubled through Taylor in a hand of limit hold’em, getting all-in preflop for less than two big bets with A♣Q♥ from the big blind leading the K♥8♠ of Taylor, raised from the button. Kenney held through a J♦J♦10♦Q♠8♣ runout to swap positions with Taylor.

Soon after that, Taylor got dealt a pat 9-8-6-4-2 in deuce-to-seven single draw. She shoved from the button for 675,000 total and Kenney called with and drew one with 5-4-3-2. Kenney made the wheel, hitting one of his few outs with a seven on the end to send Taylor home in third place. Taylor earned a career-best score of $595,136, topping the $543,713 she earned as the third-place finisher in a 2017 $25,000 PLO eight max event at the series. Her record-setting run in this event put her on the verge of surpassing $3 million in career tournament earnings.

“I’m proud to represent women in poker. My whole goal in playing this event and throwing my hat into the ring in a huge tournament where I’m not even 100 percent comfortable in all the games… I am really hoping that more women in poker will transition into mixed games, because there are very few [of us]. That being said, there are  many very good women poker players. I’d love to just start a little movement on getting some of these killers into the game.”

Closing It Out

Heads-up play began with Mizrachi holding 29,975,000 to the 2,125,000 of Kenney.

The first few hands saw Kenney hang around in no-limit single draw deuce-to-seven lowball. He was more or less in the same position at the end of the stud eight-or-better hands. In the first deal of triple draw deuce-to-seven lowball, Kenney called on the button with Q♥Q♦10♥5♠2♣. Mizrachi checked with A♠Q♠6♣5♦4♦ and drew two, making 6♣5♦4♥4♦2♦. Kenney took three and made 9♣7♥6♦5♠2♣. Mizrachi bet and Kenney raised. Mizrachi called and drew one, making 10♣6♣5♦4♥2♦. Kenney stood pat. Mizrachi checked, Kenney bet, and Mizrachi check-raised all-in. Kenney called and Mizrachi patted with his 10-6. This sent Kenney into the tank. He eventually decided to break his nine, drawing one at a 7-6-5-2. Had he stayed pat, he would have doubled up. Instead, Kenney paired with the 2s and was eliminated in second place ($887,542).

Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi. Four-time @WSOP $50K PPC champion. pic.twitter.com/YaMcfWEH3I

— PokerGO (@PokerGO) June 29, 2025

Kenney was already poker’s all-time tournament earnings leader. With this score, he increased his lifetime haul to more than $80.8 million. The New York native will have to wait for another day to earn his third career bracelet, though, as he fell just short in this event.

In addition to the record-setting title, the hardware, and the money, Mizrachi also score 1,020 Card Player Player of the Year points. This was his first final table of the year. The 700 PokerGO Tour points he secured put him inside the top 40 in that high-stakes-centric points race.

Final Table Results

Photos by Drew Amato.