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.
