Sorel Mizzi Finishes Third in POY Race

Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi earned his way into the poker spotlight years ago as a regular winner of the major online tournaments. Though you can still find him going deep online, Mizzi has since brought his rare consistency into the live realm.

The 24-year-old from Toronto spent 2010 going deep in tournament after tournament. In the first five months of 2010, Mizzi cashed in five different countries, winning four major events before the WSOP kicked off. By the year’s end he had racked up $1.5 million in winnings and 4,851 POY points, good enough for third place in the Card Player Player of the Year race. He finished 243 POY points ahead of Vanessa Selbst. Only Thomas Marchese and Dwyte Pilgrim finished ahead of Mizzi in the POY race, though no player made as many final tables in 2010 as the young Canadian did.

Going Live

Having proven himself as one of the top online players in the world, Mizzi found early success on the live scene in 2007. Following a third place finish for $280,284 at the Irish Poker Open, he made his way to the states. Just recently 21, Mizzi took 15th in WPT Five-Star World Poker Classic for $154,705. A couple of months later he arrived at his first WSOP, cashing in three events, including a 208th place finish in the main event field of 6,358.

In 2008, he finished runner-up in the WSOP Europe pot limit Omaha event, good for $237,976. Later that year, he won his first major live title when he took down a no-limit hold’em event at the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $143,050. Like many of the top players in the game, he continued building on each year’s success.

Mizzi turned in an impressive showing at the 2009 WSOP when he cashed in five events and once again nearly won his first bracelet, finishing runner-up in the $5,000 pot-limit Omaha event for $253,048. Aside from his summer in Vegas, Mizzi was relatively quiet in 2009.

2010 was a much different story.

2010: Mizzi’s Sick Year

Mizzi started the year off right with the biggest cash of his career. He recorded a third-place finish in January’s Aussie Millions main event for $638,004 and 1,280 POY points. The deep run set the tone for his year, and he proceeded to cash in more than 20 major events all over the world.

He won a $2,000 buy-in event at the 2010 Wynn Classic in March for $85,147, then just over a week later he won a no-limit hold’em event at PokerStars EPT Snowfest for $95,525. Just a few days after that he won the EPT Snowfest no-limit hold’em rebuy event for $46,779. He continued racking up wins by taking down the Borgata Spring Poker Open for $170,313 in April.

If one type of event was representative of Mizzi’s consistency throughout 2010, it was the high roller event. Wherever there was a massive buy-in event, it seemed Mizzi was at the final table. In May, he finished sixth in the EPT Grand Final High Roller event for $190,905, followed by a second place finish in the Rendez-Vous a Paris high roller event a couple of weeks later for another $159,543. October’s EPT London visit saw him finish fifth in another high roller event, this time for $74,098.

He finished the year the same way he started it, with deep finishes in major events. In November he finished seventh in the WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals main event for $88,802, followed by a ninth place run in December’s WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic Main Event for $59,123.

The Titan Poker Pro caught fire in 2010. He was a runaway winner in the BLUFF Player of the Year race. Not only did he cash all over the globe and record his biggest single tournament cash of his career, but he also earned the biggest online cash of his esteemed career with his October win of the PokerStars Sunday Warmup for $149,737. He now has nearly 5 million in lifetime winnings.

Here is a look at the final standings in the Card Player Player of the Year Race:

1: Thomas Marchese — 6,738
2: Dwyte Pilgrim — 5,576
3: Sorel Mizzi — 4,851
4: Vanessa Selbst — 4,608
5: John Racener — 4,493
6: Harrison Gimbel — 4,080
7: Andy Frankenberger — 4,010
8: Jeffrey Papola — 3,870
9: John Juanda — 3,717
10: Jonathan Duhamel — 3,600

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