Mike Gracz from Raleigh, North Carolina outlasted a field of 826 players to win the largest rebuy tournament in the history of the World Series of Poker. Mike Gracz is fresh off his win on the Party Poker Million Cruise where he pocketed $1.5 million for his victory. Today, he captured his first WSOP bracelet and $594,460 for first place.
The WSOP $1,000 NL Rebuy Event #7 finally finished after three long days of action at the Rio. The total prize pool was worth $2,201,810 with almost $1.5 million collected in rebuys. Last year Daniel Negreanu set a record with 26 rebuys. This year he only had 12 but brought a stack of $100 bills ready to be spent if necessary. You couldn’t walk around during the first few levels of the tournament without hearing someone shout, “Rebuy!” The chip runners earned their keep on Day 1.
Here’s the Final Table:
Seat 1: David “The Dragon” Pham ($323K) is a former Card Player Magazine Player of the Year and he won a WSOP bracelet in 2001.
Seat 2: Shae Drobushevich ($248K) is from Moline, Illinois and he brought his wife and kids to Vegas with him.
Seat 3: Phil “Tilt Boy” Gordon ($91K) is everyone’s favorite host of Celebrity Poker Showdown. Without a doubt, he is the tallest person at the final table.
Seat 4: CT Law ($516K) owns a restaurant in London, England. He’s originally from Hong Kong.
Seat 5: Mike Gracz ($173K) is a professional player from Raleigh, NC, He’s friends with Chip & Karina Jett who came by to cheer him on.
Seat 6: Shane Schleger ($134K) is a semi-pro from New York City. On his bio sheet, he listed “various ditch digging duties” as his occupation.
Seat 7: Pascal Perrault ($225K) resides in Paris, France where he is a pharmacist.
Seat 8: Chuck Thompson ($544K) is a member of the Senior’s Poker Hall of Fame. He also writes for Card Player Magazine.
Seat 9: Ming La ($71K) is a 2002 WSOP bracelet winner.
At the end of Day 1, Shane Schleger was the chip leader with $250,300. By the end of Day 2, CT Law and Chuck Thompson were both at the top of the leader board. David Pham had a decent sized stack and he appeared to be the favorite when the final table began.
Early on Phil Gordon doubled up against TC Law when he moved all in with K-Q. TC Law called with K-10s and was outkicked. A few hands later, Ming La busted out first. He moved all in preflop with KQ. CT Law called with A8s. He flopped an 8 and caught another 8 on the turn. He filled in a full house when an ace spiked on the river. Ming La won $44,035 for 9th place.
Phil Gordon found pocket aces and pushed all in preflop. His hand looked great against David Pham’s pocket tens. It appeared that he was going to double up until Pham caught his set on the turn. Phil Gordon was knocked out by a bad beat. He finished in 8th place and won $66,055. David Pham moved into the chip lead with $528K.
Mike Gracz made some amazing calls along his way to his victory. One hand that sticks out was when he made a gutsy call with 99 against a river bluff. David Pham raised $25K preflop and Gracz called. The flop was K-7-4 and both players checked. When a 5 fell on the turn, Pham bet half the pot and Gracz called. The river was an ace and Pham bet about $70K which would have put Gracz all in. He thought for a while and called. Mike Gracz sniffed out a bluff from Pham who showed QT. What a call!
At the dinner break, Chuck Thompson was the chipleader. When play resumed, Pascal Perrault made a move but unfortunately ran into CT Law’s flopped the nut flush. Pascal finished in 7th place and won $88,070. CT Law regained the chip lead.
Shae Drobushevich finished in 6th place. He was shortstacked and pushed all in preflop with A6. CT Law called with AQs. CT Law flopped a queen and Shae’s hand did not improve. He took home over $110,090 for his work. CT Law’s stack topped over $1 million in chips.
Mike Gracz made another amazing call, this time against Shane Schleger. Shane raised preflop to $36K and Gracz called. The flop was a 8-7-3 rainbow. Both players checked. On the turn, a 7 fell. Gracz checked and Shane moved all in for $121K. Mike Gracz took his time and eventually made the call with AT. He just had an ace high. Talk about one amazing read! Shane showed KJs. He didn’t hit any of his outs and Mike Gracz eliminated Shane. He won $132,110 for fifth place.
David Pham was the next one eliminated when CT Law flopped a set with 88. The flop was A-Q-8 and David Pham had A5. His top pair was not good enough to win. He finished in 4th place and wins $154,125. CT Law had over $1.5 million in chips and at least one million more than the other two players.
Mike Gracz eliminated Chuck Thompson next. Chuck raised $80K preflop and Mike pushed all in. Chuck thought about it for a while and called with AJ. Mike showed 88. The flop: A-K-8. Yeah, Mike Gracz flopped a set. But Chuck still had some outs. The turn was a king and Mike’s railbirds, including Chip and Karina Jett, were rooting him on. The river was a blank and Mike’s full house stood up. Chuck Thompson won $176,145 for third place.
CT Law had a little under $1.5M in chips and Mike Gracz has $847K when they began their heads up battle which lasted well over two hours. One the first hand of heads up play, Mike Gracz narrowed CT Law’s chip lead. Gracz snagged the chip lead when he caught a Wheel straight. TC Law had AK and led all the way until the river. Gracz’s chip lead was over a million. He eventually lost the chip lead to TC Law and was down 2 to 1 in chips.
So, how about another amazing call from Mike Gracz? On a board of 5-6-5-J, CT Law pushed all in on the turn with 8-7 and an open ended straight draw. Mike Gracz called with 22. He was ahead and read CT Law perfectly. Unfortunately, the river was a 6, which hurt Mike and both players ended up chopping the pot.
After two hours of heads up play, Mike Gracz won his first WSOP bracelet. On a flop of 8-5-J he moved all in. TC Law took a few minutes to ponder his decision. He finally called and showed QJ. Mike Gracz had Q8s and was way behind. One of his friends on the rail asked for an 8. The crowd went a little crazy when an 8 spiked on the turn. TC Law played great over the last three days. He got his money in the pot when he had the best hand. Alas, he was outdrawn. TC Law finished in second place and won $311,555.
In his post-victory interview, Mike Gracz credited his parents for encouraging him to finish school. He suggested to all young poker players that if they have an opportunity to get an education, then they should do that, regardless of their poker skills.
Mike Gracz won $594,460 and will be back to play in the main event. Congrats again to Mike.