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The WPT kicked off its fourth season in style on May
23 with the Mirage Poker Showdown. The Mirage Hotel
and Casino’s sophomore appearance on the tour
witnessed a record turnout, with 317 players staking
the $10,000 entry fee to battle for a $1,153,778 first
prize. After an action packed final table, Gavin Smith
came out on top of a record field. Coming into the final
table in fifth place, Smith eventually defeated Ted
Forrest on the fourth hand of heads up play.
Smith, who is a relative unknown to most people outside
of the poker circuit, is a respected and aggressive
player. You hear this a said lot these days, but Smith
is a wildman who could literally be raising with any
two cards in the deck. His WPT win here was his fourth
cash in a $5,000 or larger buy-in event this year.
Runner up, Ted Forrest, managed to pull out a victory
in the Professional Poker Tour tournament that wrapped
up the day after the Main Event, earning him a whopping
$804,386 for the week; one of his most impressive performances
to date.
Earlier that week, the Mirage also hosted a $15,000
buy-in heads up tournament where 28 of the best in the
world competed for a $203,700 first prize. The heads
up format, and large buy-in, attracted some of the best
players in the world including T.J. Cloutier, Carlos
Mortensen, Bluff columnist Josh Arieh, Todd Brunson,
Scott Fischman, and many other greats. It culminated
in a finals match-up between World Champion and fan
favorite Scotty Nguyen, and former online player turned
live superstar Michael ‘The Grinder’ Mizrachi.
After a tooth and nail battle, Mizrachi came away with
the victory. The Grinder is riding one heck of a tournament
wave right now and, with his vast experience in large
field events from his online poker background, he was
one of the favorites going into the ‘Big One’
at the WSOP.
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