Johnny World in rare air

The 2024 World Series of Poker is barely a week old and already three men – John Hennigan, Scott Seiver, Robert Mizrachi – have added to their extensive poker jewelry collections, each collecting a bracelet victory.

moved into a tie for seventh on the all-time WSOP bracelet list

Hennigan, nicknamed “World,” isn’t a big self-promoter, so he might not be all that familiar to the younger generation of poker fans, but boy, does he just keep performing. On June 1, the 2018 Poker Hall of Fame inductee captured his astounding seventh WSOP gold bracelet, winning Event #7: $1,500 Dealer’s Choice. With that, he has moved into a tie for seventh on the all-time WSOP bracelet list with fellow legends Men Nguyen and Billy Baxter.

He had an interesting take on winning in his post-game interview, saying: “Very happy to win the tournament. I mean to me, the best thing about winning the tournament is not losing it. Not getting second, or knowing they’re still playing and wandering around after you go broke. It’s just very satisfying to come out on top.”

Hennigan grabbed a large chip lead early at the final table and cruised to victory. And now that he has a bracelet this summer, he might try to make a Player of the Year run.

“I just happened to jump in this one,” he told the media, talking about how he normally only plays in the higher buy-in events. “It was a pretty lucky coincidence, actually. I usually just stick with the ten because I don’t want to burn myself out too much, but I guess I’ll be in the mix for player of the year now. So get ready for the burn.”

Scott Seiver knows the score

A couple days later, it was Scott Seiver’s turn to add to his treasure chest of gold bracelets. In a contest he called “exhausting,” Seiver won his fifth WSOP title in Event #10, the $10,000 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better Championship.

It was a small field, just 197 entries, but because of the price point and game type, it was a field replete with killer poker players. While a tournament like the Main Event might have more land mines to dodge, tournaments like this have bigger, deadlier ones.

Seiver had one of the largest chip stacks entering Day 3 and was the top dog with four players remaining headed into Day 4, but did eventually find himself the short stack three-handed, as did the other two players at varying points. He finally got to heads-up against Jonathan Cohen with a massive lead and made short work of it.

I just feel that it was important to let people know that I’m still here and doing this”

He knows the long game, too. He is 39 years old and will be eligible for the Poker Hall of Fame next year. “Honestly, I’ve been one of the best in the world at cash games, heads-up no-limit tournaments, literally almost any form of poker there has been,” he told the media afterward. “And I just feel that it was important to let people know that I’m still here and doing this.”

Robert Mizrachi ties little bro

On Thursday, Robert Mizrachi moved into a tie on the all-time WSOP bracelet list with Seiver and over a dozen others, including his brother, Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, when he won Event #13: $10,000 Dealer’s Choice Championship for his fifth career bracelet.

It doesn’t feel like it’s been that long, but the victory comes eight years after his last bracelet, the 2016 $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship.

I just want to focus and be there for my family and hopefully good things will happen.”

“It feels great,” Mizrachi said in his winner’s interview. “I’m playing my best game right now — probably better than ever. I’m so happy. I just want to focus and be there for my family and hopefully good things will happen.”

The tournament was supposed to be a three-day affair, but Day 3 took so long that the final three players had to return for a fourth day. The top two chip stacks were close, but Mizrachi quickly increased the gap between himself and his two opponents and when he got to heads-up with Michael Martinelli, he had a 2-to-1 chip lead.

Mizrachi favored pot-limit games to nail down the title (it was dealer’s choice, after all) because he likes to be able to see more flops and be able to “control things post-flop.”

“It’s a more skilled structure as opposed to No-Limit where he [his opponent] could just go all in on any hand and it becomes higher variance.”