Michael Mizrachi Wins WSOP Bracelet No. 9 and Eyes Hellmuth

Michael Mizrachi captures bracelet No. 9 at the WSOP

Michael Mizrachi added another major line to one of poker’s most decorated résumés on June 29, 2026, winning the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship at the World Series of Poker for $1,350,203. The victory delivered his ninth WSOP bracelet, putting “The Grinder” in one of the most exclusive groups in the game.

What makes the result stand out is that it came barely a year after one of the most remarkable runs the WSOP has ever seen. In 2025, Mizrachi won both the $50,000 Poker Players Championship and the Main Event, a summer that already felt like the kind of career peak most players never reach. Yet he came back and did it again, proving that his drive is still very much intact.

The moment the last card fell, Mizrachi made his ambition clear: he is chasing Phil Hellmuth’s all-time bracelet record. That statement matters, because it turns every future WSOP appearance into part of a larger historical race.

Who is Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi?

For newer poker fans, Mizrachi is a 45-year-old professional from Miami, Florida, and one of the most respected high-stakes and mixed-game tournament players of his generation. His nickname, “The Grinder,” is more than branding. It reflects a style built on patience, consistency, and the ability to outlast elite fields over long structures.

Before this latest win, his record already looked legendary:

• Four victories in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship, the event many players consider the toughest tournament in poker;
• the 2025 WSOP Main Event title and $10,000,000 first-place prize;
• immediate induction into the Poker Hall of Fame 18 days after his fourth PPC win;
• two World Poker Tour titles;
• more than $30 million in live tournament earnings.

Those numbers explain why Mizrachi’s name carries so much weight in poker circles. He is not a one-format specialist. He is a proven winner across different games, different field sizes, and different pressure points.

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Why the $10,000 PLO Championship matters

Event #70, the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship, is one of the most demanding events on the WSOP schedule. PLO is famous for compressed equities, volatile pots, and postflop decisions that punish small mistakes. In other words, it is the kind of game where even world-class players can look vulnerable in a single hand.

This year’s event drew 836 entries and generated a $7,774,800 prize pool, with 126 players making the money. Those numbers tell you two things at once: the tournament is prestigious enough to attract a massive field, and it is difficult enough that only a small percentage survive to the payouts.

For Mizrachi, the win was especially meaningful because it was his first bracelet in a standalone Pot-Limit Omaha event. He has long been known as a mixed-game monster, but this result expands the picture. It shows that his edge is not limited to rotation formats or one-off shots. He can also take down one of poker’s purest PLO tests.

How Mizrachi won: wire-to-wire control

This was not a comeback story or a lucky heater at the final table. Mizrachi controlled the event from early on and carried a massive stack into the final stages. By the time play reached three-handed action, he held roughly 80% of the chips in play, a staggering advantage that let him dictate pace, pressure, and pot size.

That kind of stack depth changes the entire final-table dynamic:

• shorter stacks are forced into tighter, more defensive ranges;
• medium stacks face ICM pressure and reduced maneuverability;
• the chip leader can attack more often and take marginally profitable spots;
• every blind level becomes easier to navigate when opponents are fighting for survival.

In the end, Mizrachi defeated India’s Zarvan Tumboli heads-up. The finish was fitting for PLO: powerful, dramatic, and decided by a board runout that rewarded the hand with the most live drawing potential.

The final hand: a classic Pot-Limit Omaha lesson

The closing hand is a great example of why Pot-Limit Omaha creates so much swing. Mizrachi raised to 1 million on the button with J 10 7 6. Tumboli 3-bet to 3 million holding A A 6 3, and Mizrachi called.

The flop came 8 8 J. Tumboli moved all-in with his pair of aces, and Mizrachi made the call. At that moment, Mizrachi was a clear underdog, with only about 26% equity. But in PLO, connected cards with straight and flush potential can run far ahead of hands that look stronger preflop.

The turn brought the 4, and the 9 on the river completed Mizrachi’s straight from seven to jack. That gave him the title and left Tumboli with a painful reminder of how unforgiving Omaha can be.

The hand also explains an important strategic truth: in PLO, even a player who is a roughly 3-to-1 favorite can still lose a meaningful share of the time. That is not a flaw in the game; it is the game. Equity runs much closer together than in Hold’em, which is why discipline and emotional control matter so much.

For players trying to improve, this is the kind of spot worth studying in detail. The best way to become comfortable with Omaha is to learn how ranges interact, how board textures shift equities, and how to avoid overvaluing one pair in a four-card game.

The bracelet race and the Hellmuth chase

Mizrachi’s ninth bracelet puts him in a very small and very serious club. The all-time WSOP bracelet leaderboard now looks like this:

• Phil Hellmuth — 17
• Phil Ivey — 11
• Doyle Brunson — 10
• Erik Seidel — 10
• Johnny Chan — 10
• Benny Glaser — 9
• Johnny Moss — 9
• Michael Mizrachi — 9
• Shaun Deeb — 9
• Nicholas Schulman — 8

That context matters because the bracelet race is no longer abstract for Mizrachi. He is within striking distance of the very top tier, and he has already proven that he can win in both marquee mixed-game events and the WSOP Main Event.

Asked about the possibility of catching Hellmuth, Mizrachi did not shy away from the challenge. He said he would need to average two or three bracelets per year, hoping to get one more during the summer and a few more at WSOP Paradise in the winter. That is an enormous ask, even for an all-time great, but the fact that the conversation is even real says a lot about where he stands in poker history.

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Expert analysis: what this win means for players and the game

From a strategic and industry perspective, Mizrachi’s victory reinforces several important points.

First, versatility still matters at the highest level. The best players in the world are rarely one-dimensional. Mizrachi’s résumé shows that success in mixed games, Hold’em, and PLO all feed into the same larger skill set: patience, hand reading, stack management, and pressure handling.

Second, the result is another reminder that PLO rewards structure awareness as much as hand strength. In Omaha, you can have a hand that looks premium and still be in bad shape against coordinated holdings. That means players should study not only starting hands, but also board coverage, redraws, and the way equities compress on the flop.

Third, the final table shows how devastating a big chip lead can be when used correctly. A stack like Mizrachi’s does not just win chips; it changes the psychology of the table. Opponents become more cautious, spots get smaller, and the leader can force mistakes simply by applying pressure at the right time.

The practical takeaway is simple: if you want to improve in tournaments, especially in Omaha, you need more than hand charts. You need an understanding of how equity, position, and stack depth interact. That is why studying with a poker agent or in structured training environments can be valuable for players who want to move beyond casual results.

Conclusion: Mizrachi is no longer chasing history from the outside

Mizrachi’s ninth bracelet is not just another trophy on a shelf. It is a statement that he remains one of the most dangerous tournament players on the planet, capable of winning the toughest events against the deepest fields.

He has already built a Hall of Fame résumé. Now he is building a case for something even bigger: a genuine place in the center of the all-time bracelet conversation. Hellmuth still leads by a wide margin, but Mizrachi has done the one thing every great chaser must do first — he has made the target feel reachable.

That is what makes this win so compelling. It was not only a victory in PLO. It was another step in a career that keeps expanding, and another reminder that in poker, legends are not frozen in time. They keep playing, keep grinding, and sometimes keep winning.

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