Sorel Mizzi Poker Player of the year

Posted 1/3/11 :  Sorel ‘Imperium' Mizzi heads magazine's 2010 list
 
The often controversial online and live tourney poker pro Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi has been named as the 2010 Bluff Magazine Player of the Year, having maintained the top spot since entering the POY rankings in March.
 
Tom ‘kingsofcards' Marchese, who became CardPlayer Magazine's top player last week (see previous InfoPowa report) came in second.
 
The Bluff announcement notes that Mizzi ended the 2010 calendar year with a record high score at 1,777 points, comfortably ahead of Marchese on 1,257, with both well ahead of Fernando Brito, David Peters, Vanessa Selbst, Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin, Dwyte Pilgrim, Chris Bjorin, Jason Mercier and Chris Bell.
 
With a $659 000 start to the year, thanks to a third placing in the Aussie Millions live tourney, Mizzi went on to take down two preliminary events during the PokerStars European Poker Tour Snowfest in March, boosting his bankroll by a further $150,000.
 
In the following month the young pro won the East Coast Championship Event during the Borgata Spring Poker Open, taking home another $170,000 after besting 62 players, many of them respected top exponents of the game. By the end of the month Mizzi had pulled in another $190 000 for making the final table in the EPT Monte Calro Grand Final, following up on this just two weeks later with a $159 000 take-home from the High Roller event at the World Poker Tour live tourney in Paris, where he was runner-up.
 
Mizzi was relatively quiet on the live tounrey circuit until August, when he was again runner-up, this time in the EPT Tallinn High Roller event, which boosted his bank balance with another $98 000. He went on to haul in another $88 000 for a seventh placing in the Foxwoods World Poker finals; and a $59 000 payday for a ninth placing in the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic at the Bellagio for $59,000.
 
With almost $1.9 million won over the year, Mizzi has displayed an impressive and consistent level of live tournament skill.
 
Previous Bluff Players of the Year have included:
 
Jason Mercier (2009)
John Phan (2008)
Bill Edler (2007)
Chad Brown (2006)
Phil Ivey (2005)