Michael Mizrachi aka 'The Grinder' Biography

Michael 'The Grinder' Mizrachi plays online at Full Tilt Poker.

'Grinder' is traditionally a term used to describe tight, rock-like poker players who approach the game with a workmanlike fashion.

This is not why Michael Mizrachi is known as 'The Grinder'.

Mizrachi is 'The Grinder' because of his never-give-up mentality. He is 'The Grinder' because no other player handles a short stack with such skill and precision. He is 'The Grinder' because he is the very embodiment of the term "a chip and a chair".

Born in Miami, Florida, poker started off as a fun hobby for Michael, but things got more serious once he started crushing the games in the early days of online poker. At school studying to become a doctor, Mizrachi made the decision to drop out and concentrate on poker full time.

Mizrachi gained the attention of the poker world with an amazing year in 2005. His first big score came in the form of a 5th place finish at the WPT World Poker Open in Tunica for nearly $300K. He followed that up by winning more than $1.8 million for taking down the WPT LA Poker Classic. That summer, Mizrachi set a record at the World Series of Poker for most cashes in one Series, making the money in seven different events.

2006 saw Mizrachi dominate the World Poker Tour again, this time with a 2nd place finish at the WPT World Poker Open for over $565K and a win at the WPT Borgata Winter Open for better than $1.1 million. He was named Card Player Magazine’s Player of the Year for his performance in 2006.

Already considered to be one of the top tournament players in the world, all 'The Grinder' was missing from his collection was a WSOP bracelet. This changed at the start of the 2010 Series, as Mizrachi defeated one of the toughest fields ever assembled in the $50K Players Championship Event. Facing a stacked final table that featured top players such as his brother Robert, also a poker pro, and Team Full Tilt’s John Juanda, Mizrachi emerged victorious to claim his first WSOP bracelet and over $1.5 million in prize money.

This victory kick-started an epic run for Mizrachi. He made two more final tables at the 2010 WSOP before taking on the $10K Main Event. Playing his way through a minefield of 7,319 players, 'The Grinder' accomplished what most players can only dream of – making the final table of the most prestigious live poker tournament in the world.

After battling his way to the chip lead during play at the final table, Mizrachi finished 5th in the Main Event, good for a payday of over $2.3 million. The deep Main Event run boosted Mizrachi into the upper echelons of all-time money winners and cemented his status as one of the world’s best tournament players.

Watch Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi in action at Full Tilt Poker.