Continued from previous post…

The Grinder’s path to glory is even more unlikely. Mizrachi wins if he wins the Main Event and Kassela does not cash. He ties Kassela if he wins the Main Event and Kassela finishes 28th through 747 (which means in the money but not 27th or better). For Mizrachi that means he has to win the Main Event and the rest is up to Kassela. Not to discount the Grinder’s chances because Mizrachi this year alone has shown he can overcome A LOT. Mizrachiwas in tax trouble and kind of holding the unofficial title best player to never win a bracelet and came into this World Series with a lot of doubters and he proved every one of them wrong.

Like Ivey did before him in bracelet bets Mizrachi showed what great poker players can do when boxed into a corner. Mike Matusow says he plays his best when he has to win usually after chasing losses incurred when he has decided to play online poker and many players say they play their best when they are broke. Mizrachi isn’t broke any more and this title is just a status thing but if the Grinder really wants it you have to believe that motivation alone might enough to get him to the title.

James Dempsey has been a bit of a phenomenon in a year the British have really left their mark on the World Series of Poker. Dempsey, from Brighton England can only tie Kassela fro the bracelet. If Dempsey wins the Main Event and Kassela does not cash AND Schemelev finishes no higher than second the Brit can win the Player of the Year. Can you imagine if Schelemev and he made the final table what a Sit’n go of gigantic proportions. Should Dempsey win it would make it the first time a non-America has won the honor.

Schmelev, being a Russian, can also accomplish the same thing. Dan Heimiller makes his home in Las Vegas so obviously he won’t change history. Unless you read Wicked Chops and their love for all things ginger, and they’d would be quick to point out Heimiller would be the first ginger to win the honor. Kassela, like a recent player of the year, Tom “Donkeybomber” Schneider, would be the second recent awardee who has earned all the respect of his peers before making a name for himself. Kassela, a likable but vanilla guy, might not be able to translate the award into sponsorship monies.

Certainly some of the past champions like Daniel Negreanu, Allen Cunningham and Erik Lindgren have used the recognition to solidify their resumes and maintain their sponsorships. Jeff Madsen got a deal briefly after his break-out series (four years ago during the previous World Cup where his run-good had people pointing to him as the second coming of Ivey) but he hasn’t been able to sustain the same level of success. In fact, the Player of the Year is a bit of curse to even those stellar names that have won it.

None of the players have come close to duplicating their triumphs since then. They’ve put together some pretty good years but most have struggled under the weight of past success. Lindgren, for one, found plenty of cameras to document how badly the worm turned from 2008 to 2009. He seemed at best rusty and at worst simply flummoxed. Which shows even at the highest level just how hard it is to recover emotionally and mentally from running so good to running so bad.

Last years player of the year Jeffrey Lisandro won three bracelets last year. This year zero. The big Aussie has barely been a blip on the poker news for any of the tournaments in the month long event. Good luck to Kassela, or less probably, one of the other guys next year because they’ll need it.