Poker Writer
Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi hopped in the booth to provide commentary for the GGMillions final table on Tuesday. He revealed what motivated him at the 2025 World Series of Poker. The main event champ and Poker Players Championship winner said being passed over by the $25K Fantasy managers gave him some extra fuel.
Mizrachi commented alongside Brazilian pro and GGPoker ambassador Felipe Ramos. The two broke down the nearly four hours of final table action.
Mizrachi remains in the spotlight of the poker world in the month following his now legendary WSOP Main Event victory, which many people believed should have propelled him to WSOP Player of the Year.
The commentary began with a final table of nine as the remaining players fought for the $355,380 top prize. Fans could watch the action on the GGPoker YouTube channel.
Mizrachi Reveals WSOP Motivation
About an hour in, Mizrachi spoke about the snub he felt after going unpicked in the $25K Fantasy Draft.
You know what’s funny Felipe? Nobody knew if I was going to play the WSOP or not because I had been out for about a year. It was the first year I wasn’t drafted for a fantasy team. So I was like, you know what, I’m gonna prove everybody wrong. This was motivation for me.
He then set the stage for the 2026 WSOP, where he says he will be a prize pick since he plans to play more events than ever.
Next year I’m gonna be a pretty good pick, I’m going to play almost every event. I usually play around 20-25, this year I played 15 and cashed 12 of them. Next year I think I’m gonna shoot for 35-40 … I’m still young, I can do it.
Ramos and Mizrachi carried on an in-depth discussion for much of the stream. Ramos, one of Brazil’s top players with $4.1 million in career earnings according go the Card Player archives, praised The Grinder’s accomplishments throughout and talked about how much an inspiration he was for poker. He also invited Mizrachi to visit Brazil to excite the growing Brazilian poker crowd.
Discussing Main Event And PPC Wins
At the 2:04:00 mark of the stream, The Grinder brought up something Cary Katz, who won his first bracelet this year, said to him during the PPC:
Day 1 of the PPC this year, Cary Katz came up to me and said, ‘Mike I just want to tell you something. You’re the toughest player I’ve ever played in my life. You exploit everyone. And you know who is just as tough? Bryn Kenney.’ And it’s ironic because then me and Bryn were heads up for the PPC championship.
He also talked at times about his WSOP Main Event final table performance, which ranks among the most dominant in history. The subject of how well he ran came up and Mizrachi said:
I didn’t run that good in the Main
That comment drew a few laughs from the YouTube crowd, given some of the fortunate cards Mizrachi had to catch to stay alive en route to the title.
While the stream got a decent amount of views (more than 25,000), some of the reception was negative. Several commenters opined that Ramos talked too much and didn’t allow for enough analysis of the hands as they unfolded. Some even critiqued the analysis from Mizrachi, with user “mariodiaz3976” stating:
This video confirms the main event winner is a fish
The stream ended after nearly four hours. Bernhard Binder of Austria won the top prize after defeating Ramos’ countryman Pedro Padilha heads up.
Mizrachi Making Waves Since WSOP Wins
Since his main event win for $10 million, the newest Poker Hall of Famer has been active in keeping his name hot.
He secured a sponsorship with AngelAI, which led to a rare step into mainstream advertising for a poker player with a TV commercial.
Mizrachi’s activity hasn’t been limited to commentary or sponsorships. He also took to the felt to play a Venetian cash game stream with Martin Kabrhel.
