Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi Interview

This is an interview with internet poker legend; Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi. This interview is from Rounders: The Podcast with Adam Schwartz and Mike Johnson (Referred to as M.J. here). This interview was done when Mizrachi was at the height of his poker run and he was considered to be one of the most feared poker players on tour.

M.J -You're on the circuit every week. What is the goal that people set for guys like you who are going to play in 80% or 90% of the $10k buy in events? Are they wanting to make one final table a year, two final tables a year? What sort of is your goal to make a real good living at it?

The Grinder - I mean if you a make a first or second place finish once a year that will cover all of you tournament buy ins for the year and your expenses. Everything you make from there is a freeroll. I mean right now I've already made 2 million and I'm on a huge freeroll right now. Plus, I'm gonna net 1.5 for the year already because my buy ins are about 1/2 million per year and right now I just  couldn't ask for a better start. I mean this might be the best start in poker for the first month.

M.J - Now what do you credit your breakthrough to? What have you done that's really allowed you to separate yourself from the pack and have so much success over the past 12 months.

The Grinder - Well actually I've been spending a lot of time with the family and I've tried to be with the kids. I'm just doing my own thing, I am just so focused right now. I'm playing my game so sharp, nothing is going to get in my way. I just keep going and going and grinding and grinding, things just keep going my way. It's an amazing start.

Adam -You kind of cut your teeth playing all the online limit games at poker stars and party poker, I think a  lot of our listeners are internet poker players, do you still play online much, do you still credit most of your tournament success with that and do you just strictly stick to tournaments now?

The Grinder - Actually, internet poker tournaments and tournaments that are live are completely different, I mean it's not even the same. The quality of the players... they are not even the same type of players. People can't see reactions so anyone can just click all-in or just push all-in when they are online, so it's not the same thing. It's a lot harder for somebody to push in their chips when it's a live game. People can pick up tells and you are playing with much harder fields. So do I play online as much? I don't play as much as I used to, I just don't have the time that I used to. Now I have more responsibilities, I have 2 kids and I just play as much live as I can and I get so much more burnt out playing in the live action than I do online. I'm just too tired to play, I can't keep my eyes on the computer anymore.

If you ever see the grinder in there, maybe half the time it's me, half the time it's not.

MJ - You've hit a couple of home runs lately. Your rep. really has actually always been as a guy who always seems to make it into the money. Are you more proud of that consistency or more proud of the big finishes that you've had over the last couple of months?

The Grinder - Well I would actually say both. I'm proud of the consistency and the big finishes. That goes well together, I mean if you are still consistent the money will just keep flowing and when you hit big, that's just a huge bonus towards your winnings. Then you can keep playing your game with so much confidence, and you know you're very consistent and you're gonna keep doing well and well and well.

Adam - You sound like you really kind of enjoy it, you were mentioning burnout a bit, you play in a lot of tournaments, do you find yourself maybe not enjoying it as much at some points?

The Grinder - No actually I always enjoy it. When I play poker I just play to have fun, I'm not afraid to lose that's why I think I do so well. There is a tournament everyday so someone that is afraid to lose is never going to win in a tournament. I just play to have fun and socialize with the people there, get along and just play to have fun. Before you know it, you're on the final table and winning the tournament.

M.J - Now Grinder, this week you went into the L.A Poker Classic main event and you were really under the microscope like never before. You were red hot, the defending champion of course, kind of like all eyes were on you. Did that have any kind of effect on you where you could definitely feel that people were noticing and following your every move more than ever before?

The Grinder - Yeah well the funny part about this tournament was that people were so shocked that I was out. They were expecting me to get to the final table. I mean how much can they expect from me? I can't make the final table every time. There is luck involved in the game and my table was playing me kind of soft, they didn't really want to get involved with me at all.

I used to just see people trying to knock me out and bust me and I would always have a hand, and when I played that big pot...they don't know, they always think I'm bluffing. In the small pots I'm bluffing a lot, but when it comes to the big pots, they think I'm stealing the pot and they give me action and that's how I build my stack.

Now, these tournaments are very cautious. They just let me take every pot here, but I just happen to be there...like I just got unlucky this tournament. The board would come 10 high and I would have 2 kings and bet the pot. The guy would call and the turn would come a 7. And it looks a little fishy and the guy checks to me so I check behind him, I just had a bad feeling about the card. The river was a nothing card, he checked and I bet like 25% of the pot, he called me and had a set of 7s. I was so shocked.

Adam - And he just flat called you?

The Grinder - Yeah, he just flat called me, I mean that's an example of a hand where I just couldn't believe my own eyes what I was seeing. That's really what kept me alive in this tournament. I could have been busted a long time ago. I lasted 10 hours in this tournament just because people were just misplaying their hands.

Adam - You were mentioning your style, we're gonna do a segment later on playing small pot poker, would you say that's kind of the way you play?

The Grinder - I play a lot of small pot poker, I just try to play small pots and wait for that one hand to play the big pot. Usually...or hopefully I don't get unlucky, and if I do get unlucky then I just have to go back to the small pot poker again.

Adam - What I notice about guys who play that style is that opponents just kind of lose their mind at some point and just kind of call of all of their chips with second pair or something. I mean that must happen a lot for you.

The Grinder - Yeah, they just want to bust me, I mean it's not even the second pair, it might not even be no-pair when they call me. I mean I've seen it all. I've seen gut-shot straight draws, I mean everything. They are just trying to move on me, just trying to outplay me and show me bluffs. I just capitalize on their mistakes and that's why I do so well.

M.J - As much as it is hard to believe that a poker player can have fans, you've got fans, what do you make of that when you get to a final table and the crowd almost always seems to be pulling for you over the other guys?

The Grinder - Well you know...it's my friends and family, I've got a lot of family and they all want to come watch me, and my friends, you know I have a lot of people that support me and they have a lot of confidence in me. That's why you always hear "Grinder" cheering in the background.