Final Day Interview: Sorel Mizzi
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With $9,633,371 in live tournament earnings and more than $3 million online, Sorel Mizzi has put together quite a successful poker career. Yet the glory of a World Series of Poker bracelet has eluded him to date.
Mizzi has experienced the heartbreak of not just one, but two runner-up finishes in WSOP events. First in the £5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha event at the 2008 WSOP Europe, then again in the $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha event at the 2009 WSOP in Las Vegas.
Sunday, he found himself deep on Day 3 of this $5,000 Six-Handed Pot-Limit Omaha event with a chance at redemption and PokerNews decided it would be a good time for a chat.
PokerNews: You've had a couple of second-place finishes in WSOP Pot-Limit Omaha events, here and over in Europe, any added pressure to get over the hump now deep in this one?
There's not really any pressure. I'm just playing the best I can and whatever happens, happens. I don't really look at the fact I got second a couple of times. There's no extra pressure because of that. I'm just playing my game and we'll see what happens.
PokerNews: With your history of results, would you consider Pot-Limit Omaha your best game?
I would say No-Limit Hold'em is my best game, but because there's such a poor understanding amongst most people when it comes to PLO, it makes it one of my better games.
Everyone is good at No-Limit Hold'em, most people know what to do, but in PLO there are a lot more intricacies to the game. I'm not a PLO specialist by any means, but I feel like in these tournaments I'm a lot more calculated than I am when I play $25/$50 online just splashing around. So it's really my best game in terms of the gap in skill level with other players.
PokerNews: You are getting close to another final table here at the WSOP, how exciting is a moment like this?
Any event you play at the World Series, if you make it this deep, there's going to be a level of excitement. We're playing for over a half a million dollars, so that's definitely excitement worthy.
PokerNews: You are a professional player, but even during this tournament we've seen you posting pictures on social media enjoying the Las Vegas nightlife. Particularly with the Electric Daisy Carnival (EDC) in town, is it difficult to concentrate on the task at hand?
I think my goal is to just be balanced in that respect; not partying too much and not playing too much poker. A couple years ago when I was playing the World Series I played every event. I didn't really get out that much and I was kind of like a mutant, just coming in, donating money, leaving and then coming back.
I think it's important to kind of balance that with having fun and enjoying yourself. Something I've realized is that for the rest of my life I might spend every summer playing the World Series, so it just too much. It can be such a grind and at some points you get burned out, so it's important to balance that with pool parties on the side and a few nights out. I'm trying to enjoy my summer as much as possible and also make it a productive one.
PokerNews: Has the allure of EDC been tempting throughout this event?
My idea was that if I go deep in this I can still go on Sunday. I haven't gone to EDC this year yet, but tonight is the last night and obviously if I go pretty deep in this I'm going to go pretty hard.
I contemplated going yesterday after the tournament, but that would have been a little too excessive. Last night I wanted to get my sleep in, wake up, watch some Phil Galfond PLO videos when I woke up and get back on the grind. But tonight, I'm going to go hard either way.
PokerNews: You did make quite a splash on social media posting a picture of yourself with former porn actress and filmmaker Jenna Haze. Care to comment on that?
I saw her a couple of times before I realized it was Jenna Haze. She's a friend of a friend, so we got to hang out a little and she seems like a really cool girl. She's going to be at EDC tonight, so maybe I'll get some quality time in.