Like somebody still wearing a Member’s Only jacket, it’s a rare to see somebody’s name that isn’t Phil Ivey reaching incredible heights in the pokersphere. This year, two people were a product of World Series of Poker (WSOP) greatness: Michael Mizrachi and Frank Kassela.
After an early start to 2010 that saw IRS woes for “The Grinder”, he made up for his over $300,000 in back taxes like their auditing department had a gun to his head and said, “Play for your life.”
Someone who is no stranger to top finishes, 2010 will undoubtedly be the crowning year of poker in Mizrachi’s lifetime. A man that made his name and millions of dollars on the World Poker Tour has spent 2010 breaking out of his WSOP tournament shell.
To beat a dead horse, after he headlined and the final table of the $50,000 Poker Player’s Championship event with brother Robert–which as I had previously reported was only the third time siblings made the same final tables–he would go on to final table three other events after his $1,559,046 victory. He placed 6th at the $10,000 7 Stud Championship and 8th at the $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship. All of these cashes are but a speck in the sun with the money he stands to win when the Main Event resumes in November.
On top of his November Nine finish, this is the first time in WSOP history that an entire family cashed the Main Event. Brother’s Robert, Eric, and Danny would place 116th, 718th, and 345th, respectively. Michael’s fate has yet to be told, as he currently sits in 7th place with 14,450,000 in chips.
It has taken Mizrachi a lifetime to achieve all he has this year and it may take him another lifetime to do it again. What’s sick is that after all of it, he still has to WIN the Main Event to tie Frank Kassela as 2010 WSOP Player of the Year.
Kassela was a virtual unknown before he took a sledgehammer to the obscurity at this year’s WSOP. He won his first two bracelets in the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split-8 or Better Championship and the $2,500 Razz Seven Card events. As if winning two bracelets in a year wasn’t enough, Kassela would go on to place third at the $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em Six- Handed and cash 36th in the $2,500 Mixed Game event, 10th at the $2,500 Limit Hold’em event, and 674th in the Main Event. All told, he has won $1,255,314 in 2010 and shot so hard for the stars he landed on the moon, with the odds in his favor and Mizrachi playing catchup to his Player of the Year standings.
Will Mizrachi do the inconceivable, winning the Main Event, the Poker Player’s Championship, and the Player of the Year all in 2010? Only November knows the answer.
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