Poker Tournament Trail -- Sorel MizziMizzi Talks About POY and the Difference Between American and European Players |
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Sorel Mizzi has started 2010 on a hot streak and he is currently in second place in the Card Player player of the year standings with 3,542 points. Mizzi has cashed a dozen times and he has made nine final tables, winning four of them. He has won $1,266,801 so far this year, and his biggest score came when he cashed in third place at the Aussie Millions main event in January. He is just 360 points behind the current leader Thomas Marchese.
Mizzi has evolved and matured with his poker game since he burst onto the poker scene as ‘Imper1um’ online a few years ago, and now he is one of the most consistent performers on the tournament trail. Mizzi has proved that he can play top-level tournament poker anywhere on the planet. He has cashed in five different countries during his early run in 2010.
Card Player caught up with Mizzi at Bellagio while he was playing in the World Poker Tour Championship and he discussed his strong start, adjusting to players from different countries, and his early push in the POY race.
Ryan Lucchesi: Why do you think you’re posting such good results to start the year?
Sorel Mizzi: I’m really starting to get the hang of live poker. I have become more confident in my game, and I tackle situations a lot differently than I used to, and I guess my results have shown that those changes were good changes.
RL: How have you adjusted your preflop strategy and aggression?
SM: You just become better with experience. There is not some magic thing I could say that will make people better at live poker. It’s just like anything, once you play a lot or practice, you will get better. I’ve reached the stage of my life where I’m really comfortable with my game. I’ve always been pretty comfortable, but every year that I play I get better and better and I evolve with the game.
For instance, a lot of my success online came from playing super aggressive preflop, and now that’s not as effective as it used to be in most situations. I’m now a more well-balanced player.
RL: You have posted consistent results whether you’re playing in Europe or in the United States. What are the main differences you face when playing on the two continents?
SM: I feel like most European players are very good cash-game players, and my theory behind that is because most of the tournaments on the major sites start really early in the morning for them, they don’t have a lot of tournament experience. Europeans think about the game at a very sick level, and poker has been around in the U.S. a lot longer than it has in Europe. I feel like their learning curve is shorter, and they pick up the game more quickly.
It’s close between Europeans and Americans. France is a good example of a place where most of the people that play there are pretty terrible. When you’re constantly playing against those opponents, you don’t really learn anything. It’s funny, Barry Greenstein was telling me a hand history from the Bahamas, and after he told me it I knew he was playing against a French or Italian player. There are a lot of things that Europeans do that Americans don’t do as much, so it’s just a matter of adjusting to both.
RL: Would you agree that the WPT Championship and the EPT San Remo event are good examples of the two extremes you would face on each continent?
SM: They are two extremes. I’m actually kind of surprised though, because I don’t think my table draws have been that tough here. Maybe I’m just getting lucky, but there are a few people I don’t know at every table, and that alone means something.
RL: You are in a position to make a strong push to win Player of the Year in 2010. Does that affect how much you play in tournaments and help you focus?
SM: It has been my goal to win the Player of the Year awards. I really want to go for that, and I think that right after I came in third at the Aussie Millions I was in the top 10. That’s when I decided I was going to go for it this year. I have been playing a lot more tournaments than I used to. There have been four of five tournaments that I played well in this year that I wouldn’t have played otherwise. Going for these awards has factored into my playing.
It has helped my focus because once you have a clear-set goal, you care a lot more. I always care, but now I have a goal and this is what I want to do. When I set my mind to something, I feel like I’m really good at following through and achieving it.
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