Mizrachi in contention, Cheong leads with 27 left in the Main Event

With visions of a spot in the November Nine, 27 players return to the Rio at noon today for the World Series of Poker’s Main Event.

On July 5th, 7,319 players began play in the $10,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em World Championship. The 27 who return today will play down until nine remain. Those nine players come back to the Rio Nov. 6-8 to play for their portion of the $68.8 million in prize money that is being shared by 747 players.

The Main Event champion takes home more than $8.9 million.

At the top of the leader board after seven days is Joseph Cheong of La Mirada, Calif., with almost 24.5 million in chips. Cuong Nguyen of Santa Ana, Calif., with 23.1 million in chips, sits in second place.

Cheong, who was born in South Korea, has two World Series of Poker cashes this year and earnings of almost $52,000 at the tournament and on the World Series of Poker Circuit.

Cheong, a graduate of the University of California, San Diego with a degree in psychology and a joint degree in math and economics, won a circuit event at Harrah’s Rincon in San Diego in 2009.

Still alive in the Main Event is Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, a 29-year-old professional poker player from North Miami Beach, Fla.

Entering the Main Event, Mizrachi had already earned his place as one of the top players in the 2010 World Series of Poker with four individual event cashes, including a victory and two other final table appearances.

By winning the Main Event, Mizrachi would tie Frank Kassela for World Series of Poker Player of the Year title.

Mizrachi entered Friday’s play in second place, but took some large hits early and had to play several times for his tournament life. True to his nickname, Mizrachi grinded his way back into contention. He’ll enter Saturday’s play in 16th place with 6.3 million in chips.

Mizrachi began his 2010 run by winning the Poker Players Championship, a $50,000 buy-in event, and earning almost $1.56 million and his first-ever individual event bracelet.

Later in the tournament, Mizrachi finished 6th in the Seven Card Stud World Championship, 8th in the Limit Hold’em World Championship and 26th in a Mixed Event.

In his World Series of Poker career, Mizrachi has 23 cashes and almost $2.4 million in winnings.