Mike The Grinder Mizrachi owes $339k in taxes

Posted by Steve Ruddock on May 13, 2010 Posted in Poker Player News | No Comments »

Mike Mizrachi has close to $7 million in tournament winnings since 2005, but a few bad investments and the housing bubble collapse has seen the poker pro fall on hard times; culminating in his two properties being foreclosed upon according to Nick Sortal of the Sun Sentinel –one a rental property he owned jointly with his brother Robert in Hollywood FL, the other being his home in Miramar FL.

It’s unclear from the Sun Sentinel article if Mizrachi simply couldn’t pay the bills, or if the drop in value just made foreclosure a better option, which is what Mizrachi seemed to be alluding to when asked by the reporter Nick Sortal.

The story does shed some light on how difficult it is to be a full-time tournament pro, where buy-ins and travel expenses can approach $500,000 a year. Mizrachi, like most tournament players, sold “pieces” of his action to cover some of these expenses, and told the Sun Sentinel that of his winnings he had paid out $3.7 million to backers; but the entire tax burden fell on his shoulders.

Mizrachi said he has been playing more online poker at the moment, which keeps him closer to home and his wife and two children; has fired his accountant and hired a new one; and said “Obviously, I’m a better poker player than a businessman, but I’m getting better… I’ve smartened up. We’ll be OK.”