Sorel Mizzi on the Importance of a Good Australian Breakfast
Certain poker players tend to make a habit of performing well in specific poker tournaments. From Ronnie Bardah's five World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event cashes in a row from 2010-14 to Davidi Kitai cashing the Winamax Poker Open Dublin Main Event in five of the last six years.
But some players make a habit of not just cashing in certain events, but making deep runs. Enter Sorel Mizzi and the Aussie Millions.
Mizzi had built up a string of cashes in the Main Event, cashing in three consecutive years between 2009-11. Then came a fallow patch of two years, but he more than made up for it with a second place finish for A$1,000,000 in 2014 as he finished second to Ami Barer.
Here are Mizzi's Aussie Millions Main Event cashes to date:
| Year | Entrants | Place | Payout |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 681 | 9th | AUD$130,000 |
| 2010 | 746 | 3rd | AUD$715,000 |
| 2011 | 721 | 16th | AUD$65,000 |
| 2014 | 668 | 2nd | AUD$1,000,000 |
We asked Mizzi what keeps him coming back to Australia time and time again, besides the fact that whenever he's here he tends to crush.
"I mean that's a big reason," he replied. "The other couple of reasons are the breakfast here is fantastic. Literally the best breakfast I've ever had. I know it sounds crazy but that's a big factor as to why I come here.
"I've been trying to skip breakfast a lot; I've been doing intermittent fasting, but I decided in Australia that's all going out the window."
"It just tastes so good. I've been trying to skip breakfast a lot; I've been doing intermittent fasting, but I decided in Australia that's all going out the window. The other day I had a bagel with avocado and egg. Just all the ingredients taste so much nicer.
"The weather's really nice here as well. No better place to be in the world as a professional poker player who also likes tennis, who also likes a good breakfast as Australia."
Mizzi has been playing in the Opening Event, an AUD$1,150 buy-in event with AUD$1,000,000 guaranteed. The Canadian expects the tournament to be huge.
"There's going to be at least a couple hundred thousand dollars for first place. There's value and $1k is $1k. It's still a lot of money and this tournament is going to be huge!
"I decided a few years ago that I wouldn't travel to any place for poker that I didn't like being. So I definitely am playing less poker when I come to places than I used to, but for Australia, I just love the events here.
"I love the poker and I'm probably going to play a lot of events this year specifically. But it varies a lot. Sometimes I'll come and I'll only play a few, and sometimes I'll play as many as I can."
And sometimes he comes and final tables the Main Event!
Follow updates from the 2019 Aussie Millions, which is happening now, right here on PokerNews.
Based in the United Kingdom, Will started working for PokerNews as a freelance live reporter in 2015 and joined the full-time staff in 2019. He graduated from the University of Kent in 2017 with a B.A. in German. He also holds an NCTJ Diploma in Sports Journalism.
