2015 WSOP Day 5: Robert Mizrachi Wins Third Bracelet and Colossus Creates Controversy

Day 5 of the 2015 World Series of Poker (WSOP) saw action in three different disciplines. A champion was crowned in Event #3: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better while play began for Event #7: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball Championship. As well, nearly 4,500 people returned for Day 2 of Event #5: The Colossus $565 No-Limit Hold'em while Event #6: $1,000 Hyper Hold'em began and played down to a final table.

Robert Mizrachi Wins Third Bracelet in $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo

Robert Mizrachi is establishing himself as a mixed-game specialist after winning his third bracelet, all in non-hold'em events. After winning his first bracelet in pot-limit Omaha in 2007, he grabbed his second last year, taking down the inaugural Dealer's Choice event. Sunday, he added an Omaha hi-lo bracelet to his collection in Event #3: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better.

Play resumed with just two players remaining on Sunday and Mizrachi sitting with close to a three-to-one chip disadvantage to Jacob Dahl. Both players battled through the rest of the field and 11 full levels on Day 4 before returning for one final day to finish the tournament off.

Mizrachi's experience paid off. He doubled early on in hand seven when he scooped a pot with a full house against Dahl's single pair on a board with no low hand possible, and he never really looked back, controlling play through most of the final table.

By the final hand, Dahl was down to two big bets, and got it all in preflop with against Mizrachi's . With the board reading , Mizrachi's pair of fives held for high and his held for low, scooping him the pot, the title, and the bracelet.

Dahl won $155,333 for his second-place finish, while Mizrachi pocketed $251,022 along with the bracelet.

Thousands Return for Day 2 of Record-Breaking Colossus

While Event #5: The Colossus $565 No-Limit Hold'em closed registration on Saturday, it wasn't until Sunday that final numbers were finally tallied to reveal the total entries and prize pool. There were a staggering 22,374 entries to the tournament, which obliterates the old record set by the 2006 WSOP Main Event by an astounding 255%. If you're counting the raw entries which include paid no-shows, voids, and multiple Day 1 stacks by a single player, The Colossus almost tripled the previous record of 8,773 players with 25,571 raw entries.

When all of those entries are added up, the prize pool is $11,187,000 and 2,241 players will earn a piece of the money. A min-cash earned the first players eliminated in the money $1,096, while the winner will eventually take home $638,880.

It is that final number that sparked an outrage at the Rio and on Twitter on Sunday. The winner will receive less than 6% of the prize pool; most players were expecting the winner to be receiving at least a million dollars. WSOP says that they have not changed their payout structure for this event, stating that this is the structure the computer calculated when their usual formula is applied to such a large field. Some players were outraged, while others thought a flatter structure suited the recreational-oriented event.

When play resumed on Sunday, nearly 3,500 players returned to the tables, and only 506 remained by the end of the day. The money bubble was burst early in the day and the room exploded with excitement as countless people cashed the first WSOP event of their lives. Once the players were in the money, the eliminations came incredibly fast.

Of those who will return on Monday for Day 3 and be one day closer to winning the bracelet in the largest live poker tournament in history, here are the Canadians in the field including two previous bracelet winners (Mike Leah and Tyler Bonkowski):

There were many more Canadians who didn't survive to play another day, but managed to hold on to chips long enough to collect a prize. Here are all of the Canadian players who were eliminated in the money on Sunday:

Eight Canadians and Actor James Woods Cash Hyper Hold'em

Event #6: $1,000 Hyper Hold'em — the first-ever hyper-speed hold'em event in WSOP history — kicked off on Sunday and played down to a final table. With 1,436 entries generating a prize pool of $1,292,400, first place is set to earn $252,068.

Play was fast and furious in this hyper-fast event with 20-minute levels, and it only took a little over seven hours to get into the money. David Vamplew survived an all-in on the bubble while eliminating a short stack. Vamplew turned the second-nut flush on an board, but still had to fade deuces and aces to survive against the big stack's . The river was a blank, and Vamplew survived the bubble.

Eight Canadians managed to make it into the cash, led by Jeremie Bilodeau from Lavaltrie, Quebec who finished 18th for $9,253. The second-best Canadian finish came from Toronto native Matt Marifioti finishing in 26th for $7,599. The rest of the Canadian cashes are below.

The field was full of other recognizable names, including veteran actor James Woods. Woods, famous for movies such as Videodrome, Casino, and White House Down, as well as his recurring role in the hit TV series Family Guy where he plays an offbeat version of himself, came off his seventh-place finish in Event #4: $3,000 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout on Saturday to finish 37th on Sunday for $5,324. Here are some of the other familiar faces to cash:

No final-table draw has been posted yet, but Harrison Beach will be sitting on the biggest stack by far when action begins again on Monday with nearly three times as many chips as the second-place player. All of the chip counts heading into final-table action are below.

$10,000 Lowball Championship Draws Big Names Like Daniel Negreanu and Greg Mueller

Day 5 of the 2015 World Series of Poker (WSOP) saw the beginning of Event #7: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball Championship. There were 109 players who bought in to the tournament, which put more than $1 million into the prize pool, meaning that the winner will walk away with $322,756. A total of 12 people will cash, with 11th and 12th place each earning $22,110. When play concluded for the night, 56 players still had chips.

$10,000 buy ins bring out the stars, especially in non-hold'em tournaments, and Event #7 was no exception. From seasoned veterans like Eli Elezra and Lyle Berman to young phenoms like Scott Seiver and Justin Bonomo to international greats like George Danzer and Bruno Fitoussi, the field was stacked from top to bottom.

The top stack at the end of the day belonged to Craig Hartman with 147,300, followed closely by Rep Porter in second with 141,800. Maximilian Casal rounded out the American top three with 138,700.

Two Canadians managed to bag and tag at the end of the day. Greg Mueller busted Day 2 of The Colossus and jumped right into the lowball tournament, bagging a stack of 87,000. Mike Watson was a bit farther down the list but still managed to bag a respectable stack of 53,100. Daniel Negreanu didn't have as much luck, busting before the end of the day.

Robert Mizrachi had a busy day. After winning Event #3 earlier in the day, he decided to jump into the deuce-to-seven, building a stack of 79,400 before end of day. The Poker Brat, Phil Hellmuth, managed to make it through the day, but returns Monday with a very short stack of 4,100 chips. A few other top-stacked notable players to return on Monday are below.

As always, check back with PokerNews Canada on Tuesday morning for another recap of all the day's WSOP action with a special focus on our Canadian contenders.

_{Details and photo courtesy of the WSOP Live Blog.}

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