On the line for nine: $8.9 million

By most accounts, Michael Mizrachi shouldn't have survived 17 hours of poker that began at noon Saturday and ended with the Sunday morning sunrise.

Then again, this year's version of the World Series of Poker's Main Event had its own characteristics and personality that defied conventional wisdom.

Mizrachi, a 29-year-old professional poker player from North Miami Beach, Fla., might be the most recognized name to earn one of nine seats at November's final table in the $10,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold 'em World Championship event.

Players return to the Rio on Nov. 6 after a nearly four-month layoff. The winner will be determined in a heads-up session between the final two players starting Nov. 8 with a first prize paycheck of $8.9 million on the line.

Mizrachi, the only player of the nine who owns a World Series of Poker individual event champions gold bracelet -- which he wore Saturday and Sunday for emphasis -- hopes experience gives him the edge.

That background might have been what saved his game over the weekend.

"I think experience did come into play," Mizrachi said. "Some of these guys were pretty good players, and others were pretty new to the game. I think that's where my experience helped."

Mizrachi is known in poker circles as "The Grinder" for his ability to play with a low stack of chips. He was short-stacked coming into Saturday -- at one point was 14th out of the 14 players left in the field -- and had the second-lowest chip stack with 10 players remaining.

Still, he was able to "grind" out some success and will have the seventh-highest number of chips when play resumes in November.

"I think I've won more tournaments where I was the short stack than when I've been the larger stack," Mizrachi said. "I like my chances."

Entering the Main Event, Mizrachi had some added pressure. With four individual event cashes, including a victory and two other final table appearances, a win in the Main Event would tie Frank Kassela for the World Series of Poker Player of the Year title.

Mizrachi won the Poker Players Championship in June, a $50,000 buy-in event, earning almost $1.56 million and his first-ever individual event bracelet. He finished sixth in the Seven Card Stud World Championship, eighth in the Limit Hold 'em World Championship and 26th in a Mixed Event. Before the Main Event, Mizrachi had almost $2.4 million in career winnings.

With a boisterous backing of family -- his three brothers also won money playing in the Main Event -- and friends packing the Amazon Room at the Rio, Mizrachi prevailed.

"I just wanted to make the final nine, so the pressure is off," Mizrachi said. "I didn't want to come all this way and finish 10th."

It took nearly five hours of play to eliminate the final player: Wichita, Kan., businessman Brandon Steven. The competition slowed, as players were cautious. At one point, 29 straight hands of hold 'em went by without a flop.

Jonathan Duhamel, 22, of Boucherville, Quebec, who is the chip leader going into November, thought the slow play helped him increase his lead. He entered 10-handed play with about 50 million in chips and ended the day with 65.975 million, almost 20 million more than second place John Dolan, 24, of Bonita Springs, Fla.

"Everybody was playing so tight that I was able to chip up," said Duhamel, who dropped out of the University of Montreal to concentrate on poker. "I thought it would be over much quicker. It took a lot longer than I thought it would."

The Main Event began July 5 with 7,319 players. The entries and total prize pool of $68.8 million made this year's main event the second largest in series history after 2006.

The finalists were each to be paid ninth-place money -- $811,823 -- on Sunday. The rest of the remaining prize pool will go into an account and accrue interest before play resumes.

Mizrachi is the most well-known and decorated of the nine players. The others have more experience on the Internet than in live tournament play.

Duhamel's World Series of Poker earnings were $43,000 entering play Saturday, including $37,276 he collected for 15th in a no-limit hold 'em event this year. He cashed in one other event this year.

"I don't ever play tournament poker," said Duhamel, normally an online player. "But I wanted to play in the World Series."

Dolan has earned $108,673 in the World Series of Poker and on the World Series of Poker Circuit tour. Third-place Joseph Cheong, 24, of La Mirada, Calif., won a circuit event earlier this year at Harrah's Rincon in San Diego.

John Racener, 24, of Port Richey, Fla., who is in fourth place, is considered one of the stars of the circuit tour, with more than $500,000 in earnings, including the 2007 Main Event championship victory at Harrah's Atlantic City.

"John is an excellent player, and he's well-known in the poker community," Mizrachi said. "The outside public doesn't really know him."

The session Saturday and Sunday was marked by several "bad beats." On different occasions, pocket aces, statistically considered one of the best opening hands, were trumped on the river (final) card.

The most stunning play came about halfway through the evening and gave Duhamel a lead that he never relinquished.

In second place, he called an all-in bet from fifth-place Matt Affleck of Mill Valley, Wash., with pocket jacks and the board showing a 10, nine, seven and queen. Affleck turned up pocket aces, but an eight on the river gave Duhamel a queen-high straight, a 42-million-chip pot and a commanding lead.

"It was a bad read for me, I just didn't put him on aces," Duhamel said. "You can't make a bad call like that in the World Series. I made a bad call, and I got lucky."

Earlier, Cheong, who started Saturday with the chip lead among 27 players, lost a large pot to Italy's Filippo Candio despite holding pocket aces.

Cheong, who has two degrees from the University of California, San Diego, said he didn't let the beat discourage him,

"I felt fine. I was just going to work my way back," he said.

Contact reporter Howard Stutz at hstutz@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3871. For the latest on the World Series of Poker, go to lvrj.com/blogs/wsop.