The 2019 World Series of Poker will crown a new bracelet winner today, as Event #27: Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better draws to a close. Six players are still in the running from an original field of 460, and although each remaining player has already locked up $21,575, they're all still shooting for the top prize of $142,801 and the coveted WSOP bracelet when action kicks off at Noon local time.
Leading the way is none other than four-time WSOP bracelet winner Michael Mizrachi, who brings back 23 big bets and the chip lead with his 1,355,000 stack. Mizrachi, a three-time $50,000 Poker Players Championship bracelet winner, is looking to pass his brother Robert and jump into a tie for 16th on the all-time bracelet list. Mizrachi has held the chip lead for most of the previous two days of play, and will be looking to use that stack to help propel him to more WSOP gold.
Two players have similar stacks along with Mizrachi, as Michael Sopko (1,184,000) and Robert Gray (1,028,000) both have plenty of big bets to work with. On the other side of the coin, Elias Hourani (425,000), Jose Paz-Gutierrez (300,000), and Jan Stein (204,000) all begin on the short side of things, and will need to make a move in a hurry to survive.
Event #27: Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo 8 or Better Final Six
Seat
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Bets
1
Jan Stein
United States
204,000
3
2
Elias Hourani
United States
425,000
7
3
Michael Mizrachi
United States
1,355,000
23
4
Jose Paz-Gutierrez
Bolivia
300,000
5
5
Michael Sopko
United States
1,184,000
20
6
Robert Gray
United States
1,028,000
17
The action is set to resume at Noon local time on the main stage of the Amazon Room and the cards up coverage on CBS All Access will get underway at 1 p.m. local time. The returning limits will be 30,000-60,000 with a 7,000 ante and a 10,000 bring-in, with a little over 30 minutes remaining in the current level. The PokerNews team will be there to provide all the action until the very last scoop, so stay tuned!
Jan Stein: / - folded on third street
Jose Paz-Gutierrez: / /
Michael Sopko: / /
Jan Stein brought it in, and Jose Paz-Gutierrez completed. Michael Sopko made it two bets, and after Stein folded, Paz-Gutierrez got his last 71,000 in, and Sopko called.
It was a fair fight after third street, but Paz-Gutierrez made a pair on fourth street. Sopko came back with a bigger pair on fifth street, and improved further to aces-up on sixth street. Sopko showed the as his final card, and Paz-Gutierrez showed the , giving him an inferior two pair and leaving him as the first casualty of the final table.
Robert Gray completed and Jan Stein called. Stein check-called on fourth and fifth before betting on sixth street. Gray called and on seventh street Stein bet again. Gray raised and Stein called all in.
Gray showed for a full house with Stein showing in response and he was eliminated.
Robert Gray completed and Elias Hourani called. Gray check-called on fourth street and bet on fifth street. Hourani raised and was all in. Gray called with and Hourani showed
Hourani made a pair on sixth street with Gray making his low. Gray then drew the on seventh street for a bigger pair, and Hourani would need to make a his low or improve from a single pair. He drew the which wasn't enough and he was eliminated.
Michael Sopko brought it in, and Michael Mizrachi completed. Sopko called, then the duo bet and raised enough to get Sopko's last 280,000 in on fourth street.
Mizrachi held a pair of queens in the hole, while Sopko had four pieces to a low. Mizrachi improved to two pair by sixth street, while Sopko added a pair of jacks to his low cards. Mizrachi peeled the over first, meaning he had the high locked up with a full house. Sopko peeked at his card, needing a low card to survive, then tossed the on the felt, confirming his elimination.
Gray brought in with a king(!) and Mizrachi called. Gray bet on all streets, being all in come seventh street. Mizrachi called opening for his down cards and then peeled seventh street. He flung the face up onto the table as Gray showed for kings up and he doubled up.
Michael Mizrachi completed after Robert Gray brought it in, and Gray called. Gray got his last 340,000 in on fourth street, Mizrachi called, and they had the following boards:
Michael Mizrachi: /
Robert Gray: /
Gray had the lead with his pair of kings, while Mizrachi was behind with a pair of nines. Mizrachi got a brick on fifth street with the , and Gray caught the . Mizrachi picked up another pair with the on sixth street, prompting his boisterous rail to began chanting, "Two pair!" Gray picked up the , and needed to improve on seventh street to keep his hunt for his first bracelet alive.
Mizrachu showed his final card on seventh street first, and turned over the . Gray peeled his card back, then flung the up on the felt, prompting a celebration and a "Grinder!" chant from Mizrachi's rail.
Not for the first time, the chants of Michael Mizrachi's rail echoed around the Amazon room here in Event #27: $1,500 Stud Hi-Lo at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino as he captured bracelet number five, becoming the most successful bracelet-winner of the decade. Mizrachi topped a field of 460 and defeated Robert Gray heads-up to secure the title, nine years after his first back in 2010.
And with the Poker Players Championship still to come this year, the Grinder could yet add bracelet number six in an event he's won three times before.
Here are the final payouts:
Position
Name
Country
Payout
1
Michael Mizrachi
United States
$142,801
2
Robert Gray
United States
$88,254
3
Michael Sopko
United States
$60,330
4
Elias Hourani
United States
$42,014
5
Jan Stein
United States
$29,818
6
Jose Paz-Gutierrez
Bolivia
$21,575
"It's an amazing accomplishment," Mizrachi told PokerNews shortly after his victory, "But I'm going to give it all to these beads."
He gestured to some beads hanging around his neck.
"I didn't have them on for the whole World Series so far. So I said I'd look for them, and I found them. I had them on last Series and of course I did great, so in this tournament, I had them on from the start and I ended up winning so I can't take them off!
"It was a tough table but I think the experience helped me out a little bit from, you know, a lot of tournament experience. I feel like I had a pretty good edge on the players in certain spots where they probably wouldn't play hands. I played those hands where I know they're going to fold and that way I can win a lot of antes and bring-ins."
Mizrachi praised his friends and family that were on his rail for most of his final table.
"I couldn't do it without them. You have to have fun when you play poker so you always have to have a good time. Especially at a final table where you know you're going to get a big payout and you have a chance for the gold bracelet."
Final Day Recap
Jan Stein crept into the final day as the short stack, but chipped up through Jose Paz-Gutierrez early on to leave his opponent short, and the Bolivian would become the first elimination of the day at the hands of Michael Sopko.
Sopko made aces up on sixth street, and Paz-Gutierrez needed a low card to chop but could only muster up an inferior two pair to bust in sixth.
He was soon followed out the door by Stein, who ran into the full house of Robert Gray to bust in fifth. This moved Gray into the chip lead and he would extend it after making a flush against Elias Hourani.
Left with just over two big bets, Hourani could have folded but battled back as start-of-day chip leader Michael Mizrachi headed in the other direction. Sopko moved into the lead, but not for long as Gray came back to lead at the first break.
Three-Handed Play
Hourani was eliminated shortly after the resumption of play, and so began an extended period of three-handed play. Gray held the lead from Mizrachi, with Sopko following closely behind. But with the limits at 50,000/100,000, all it took was a couple of pots or a scoop or two to make a dent in a player’s stack.
For example, Sopko was scooped twice and was almost all in against Mizrachi only for the Grinder to fold seventh street to allow his opponent to survive. Mizrachi then moved into a commanding chip lead with over half the chips in play but less than half an hour later the trio were almost even again.
Eventually Sopko moved back to the bottom of the counts, and although he doubled through Mizrachi and Gray, he failed to make any concerted inroads into the two chip leaders and was eliminated in third place
Heads-Up for the Bracelet
Heads-up was a fascinating affair with Mizrachi starting as a slight chip leader. The stacks evened out but back came Mizrachi to open up a 2:1 lead. Both players were buoyed by boisterous rails, and once Mizrachi got his opponent below a million in chips, you felt it was a matter of when, not if, Mizrachi got his hands on the bracelet.
And although Gray doubled twice later on, it wasn't enough as Mizrachi held on for bracelet number five.