Michael Mizrachi Charges to the Top at Players ChampionshipThe Talented Field Reaches the Final Three Tables on Day 3 |
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At the start of day 3 of the $50,000 Players Championship at the 2010 World Series of Poker both David Oppenheim (pictured below right) and Alexander Kostritsyn (pictured left) had solid chip stacks. During the day each took charge as the chip leader for a short period, but then fell back to the pack. At one point Kostritsyn held double the chips of the player in second place with 31 remaining, while Oppenheim was the first player to cross the 2 million mark.
Oppenheim really grabbed control during level 16, which took place after the dinner break. He eliminated Nikolay Evdakov during a seven-card stud eight-or-better hand to climb past the 1-million mark. Oppenheim held K
9
9
3
9 8 2 on seventh street, which was more than enough to beat the A 2 Q 7 4 10 held by Evdakov. The win gave Oppenheim 1.2 million, but he wasn’t done there.
In a pot-limit Omaha round a little later he called for 27,000 on the button after Chris Ferguson raised preflop. The flop was dealt 8 6 3 and Ferguson bet 45,000. Oppenheim made a pot-sized raise to 132,500. Ferguson went into the tank and eventually moved all in for 200,000 more. Oppenheim made the call and they flipped over their cards:
Ferguson: Q 10 9 7
Oppenheim: 10 8 7 6
Oppenheim held the lead with two pair while Ferguson could only hope that his club-flush draw would deliver. The 8 was dealt on the turn and it gave Oppenheim a full house. The A on the river was just a formality and after it fell Ferguson exited the tournament. Oppenheim watched his stack jump to 2.2 million after the hand, which gave him a strangle hold on the chip lead at the time.
Kostritsyn had done his damage a little earlier in the day. During level 14 he played a large pot-limit Omaha hand with Scott Seiver. Eugene Katchalov had made it 15,000 to play from the cutoff and Seiver bumped it up to 51,000 preflop from the button. Kostritsyn reraised to 168,000 and Katchalov mucked. Seiver made the call and the flop was dealt 6 6 3. Kostritsyn raised the pot, and Seiver decided not to make the all-in call.
Kostritsyn was up to 1.15 million after that and during the next pot-limit Omaha round he got involved in another profitable hand. He bet 22,000 on a flop of 7 5 3 and Evdakov check-raised to 97,000. Kostritsyn called and the turn fell 6. Evdakov bet 200,000 and Kostritsyn made the call. The river fell 9 and Evdakov checked. Kostritsyn bet 400,000 and Evdakov mucked after spending some time in the tank. Kostritsyn climbed north of 1.4 million after the hand while Evdakov was sent on the downward spiral that Oppenheim ended for him a short time later.
The later stages of the night saw both Kostritsyn and Oppenheim each fade from the lofty heights they once inhabited. Oppenheim’s fall came at the hands of Michael Mizrachi, who ended the night as king of the mountain. In a limit hold’em hand Mizrachi acted under the gun while Oppenheim played from the button. The two created a nice pot on a J 10 5 10 3 board thanks to a series of bets and raises. When it came time to show down Mizrachi held the upper hand with pocket kings.
His stack grew to 1.26 million after the hand and he ended the night as the chip leader with 1,483,000. Oppenheim held steady with 1,340,000, while Kostritsyn fell to 688,000 by the end of the night. The millionaire club at the end of play also includes Michael’s brother Robert Mizrachi, Vladimir Schmelev, Abe Mosseri, and Daniel Alaei. Here is a look at chip counts for the entire field at the end of day 3:
| 1 | Michael Mizrachi | 1,483,000 |
| 2 | Vladimir Schmelev | 1,432,000 |
| 3 | David Oppenheim | 1,340,000 |
| 4 | Abe Mosseri | 1,338,000 |
| 5 | Daniel Alaei | 1,227,000 |
| 6 | Robert Mizrachi | 1,032,000 |
| 7 | Mikael Thuritz | 954,000 |
| 8 | Allen Bari | 940,000 |
| 9 | James Van Alstyne | 845,000 |
| 10 | John Juanda | 788,000 |
| 11 | Brett Richey | 754,000 |
| 12 | David Baker | 713,000 |
| 13 | Lyle Berman | 696,000 |
| 14 | Alexander Kostritsyn | 688,000 |
| 15 | Nick Schulman | 611,000 |
| 16 | Ilya Bulychev | 602,000 |
| 17 | Andy Bloch | 418,000 |
| 18 | Erik Seidel | 373,000 |
| 19 | David Singer | 364,000 |
| 20 | Eli Elezra | 336,000 |
| 21 | Kirk Morrison | 313,000 |
Many big names fell during six levels of poker during day 3, but that didn’t stop many of those that busted early from jumping into the $1,500 Omaha eight-or-better event that started at 5 p.m. The notables that busted include Phil Ivey, Doyle Brunson, Barry Greenstein, Scotty Nguyen, Scott Clements, Scott Seiver, Jeffrey Lisandro, and the defending champion David Bach.
The 21 survivors from the 54 that began day 3 will return tomorrow at 3 p.m. and play down to the final table. The money bubble will burst when 16 players remain. Everyone who makes the money is guaranteed to walk away with $98,331 in prize money, but the ultimate goal is the top prize worth $1,559,043 and the most prestigious title in poker.
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