Michael Mizrachi Wins WSOP $50k Players Championship For $1.45 Million

It may have been a slow start to WSOP 2012 for Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, but the Florida pro has made up for lost time after taking down Event#45: Poker Players Championship for a massive $1,451,527.
The $50k buy-in tournament is a real test of a player’s all round abilities as it is an 8 game mixed event. Amazingly, Mizrachi won the very same event back in 2010 for $1,559,046, and now with his latest win takes his WSOP bracelet tally to three. In addition, the 31 year old has moved up to 4th on poker’s  ‘All Time Money List’ with $14,069,764 in live career earnings since 2004.
Following his remarkable achievement, Michael Mizrachi said: “To win it first in 2010 was different. I was going through rough times. It’s an amazing thing to win it this time. I can’t explain it. To win the $50,000 twice is a dream come true. It’s another part of the books, another one for my history. I want to become the all-time leading winner in tournament poker history. I have a long way to go, but I’m only 31 years old, so things can happen.”
As the final table of eight got underway, Mizrachi was lying in pole position but soon pulled even further  ahead after scoring a double elimination holding pocket aces against Bruno Fitoussi (8c-7c) and Bill Chen (A-K), with the board running out K-5-5-8-4.
Michael Mizrachi followed up by dispatching Stephen Chidwick in 6th ($253,497) during a PLO round and after Chris Klodnicki later eliminated Andy Bloch in 3rd ($561,738), the heads-up phase of the competition got started.
Mizrachi was then able to use his 2 to 1 chip advantage to good effect and before long Chris Klodnicki finished the runner-up for $896,935, while Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi collected the gold bracelet. Looking ahead, Mizrachi commented:
“My next goal is to win the [One Drop] million [dollar buy-in], and also to improve on that fifth-place [main event] finish. I am trying to break the record I had in 2010, but I don’t know if I can. This was my third final table [this year], so it’s been a great Series so far, and there is still a long way to go.”
The final table payouts were as follows:
1. Michael Mizrachi ($1,451,527)
2. Chris Klodnicki ($896,935)
3. Andy Bloch ($561,738)
4. Luke Schwartz ($406,736)
5. Roland Israelashvili ($317,882)
6. Stephen Chidwick ($253,497)
7. Bill Chen ($205,856)
8. Bruno Fitoussi ($169,879)