Michael Mizrachi Leads WSOP $50,000 Player’s Championship After Day 3

Twenty-one players remain in the $50,000 Player’s Championship at the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) after Day 3. Leading the field is a familiar face, Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, who owns a stack of 1.48 million chips entering Day 4. Hot on his heels with 1.43 million is Russia’s Vladimir Schmelev. Also appearing in the top 10 is Robert Mizrachi, brother of “The Grinder.”

One of the final eliminations of Sunday’s play at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas belonged to Hasan Habib. Day 2 chip leader Kirk Morrison made aces-up in Stud Eight or Better and neither player managed to make a low. Morrison’s stack shot up to 610,000 as a result and he ended the day with 518,000. Habib barely missed out on the money, as the top 16 players will cash. The minimum payout is $98,000 and a top prize of $1.5 million is up for grabs.

Also busting on Sunday was Erik Sagstrom, who 3bet all-in pre-flop with 10-8 of spades during Limit Hold’em, but ran into high-stakes cash game pro David Oppenheim’s Q-J. Sagstrom could not improve and he headed for the exit. Sagstrom finished third in last year’s $50,000 WSOP HORSE Championship for over $500,000. Oppenheim took fifth in the 2009 National Heads-Up Poker Championship and grabbed third in the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Borgata Poker Open in 2003.

Oppenheim sent former CardRunners instructor Cole South to the rails during No Limit Hold’em. South was all-in with pocket eights in a race against Oppenheim’s A-K. Oppenheim flopped two pair and an eight never fell, sending South out short of the money bubble. South left CardRunners in late April to play poker and work on his college degree.

The remaining field of the $50,000 Player’s Championship represents a beastly group. Brett Richey and David “Bakes” Baker are carrying the flag for the online poker world, while the remaining players primarily consist of seasoned poker pros like Andy Bloch, 2008 WSOP Europe Main Event champ John Juanda, 2010 National Heads-Up Poker Championship runner-up Erik Seidel, and WPT co-founder Lyle Berman.

Here’s a look at the survivors of Day 3 of the Player’s Championship at the 2010 WSOP:

1. Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi – 1,483,000
2. Vladimir Schmelev – 1,432,000
3. David Oppenheim – 1,340,000
4. Abe Mosseri – 1,338,000
5. Daniel Alaei – 1,227,000
6. Robert Mizrachi – 1,032,000
7. Mikael Thuritz – 952,000
8. Allen Bari – 940,000
9. James Van Alstyne – 845,000
10. John Juanda – 788,000
11. Brett Richey – 754,000
12. David Baker – 713,000
13. Lyle Berman – 696,000
14. Alexander Kostritsyn – 638,000
15. Nick Schulman – 611,000
16. Ilya Bulychev – 602,000
17. Kirk Morrison – 518,000
18. Andy Bloch – 418,000
19. Erik Seidel – 373,000
20. David Singer – 364,000
21. Eli Elezra – 336,000