Last year, Sorel Mizzi was sent home in second place at the World Poker Tour’s Rendez Vous a Paris High Roller event, after relinquishing a 2-to-1 chip advantage to his then opponent, Freddy Deeb. In 2011, Mizzi would face almost identical circumstances in the Grand Prix de Paris High Roller, only this time ending as the victor.
Mizzi, an established professional from Toronto, ON, needed to recall all of his prior knowledge from the 2010 WPT Rendez Vous a Paris High Roller as he was facing the exact same opponent, and a chance at immediate retribution. The two players, who drove the action throughout most of last year’s event, would implement the same feverish pace in this year’s highly-contested duel.
Once heads-up play ensued, Mizzi was holding a $T1.6 million chip stack against Deeb’s frugal $T200,000. Deeb was inspired to pull off yet another remarkable comeback, however, as he slowly filtered several thousand chips from Mizzi’s stack to his, he gave them back at a similar velocity. At the middle stages of the battle, the players were practically even, with Mizzi staying patient and eagerly anticipating his opportunity to tame the aggressiveness of Deeb.
The chance presented itself, and it did so with unmistakable luminosity as Mizzi was dealt pocket aces to the A-J offsuit of Deeb’s. The flop was nearly picture-perfect for Mizzi, bringing a rainbow board with a single face card, the precious 
. With Mizzi holding a slim advantage in terms of chip count, the players went all-in on the flop, with no help appearing for Deeb. His comeback was left as a wishful remembrance, and was sent to the rail in second place for €130,275.
By winning the 2011 WPT Grand Prix de Paris, Mizzi secured a payday of €234,495 ($336,386) and his first WPT poker title. He did so in stylish fashion, likely gaining the respect of Deeb, and also a few bragging rights.
“Winner winner chicken dinner ship the 234,496 euros n the trophy! Revenge is sweet! Freddy plyed gr8,” stated Mizzi on his Twitter account.
Also known as “Imper1um” online, Mizzi continues to play online at Titan Poker, and is adding his most recent win to an already impressive resume. In 2011 he’s cashed for over $500,000, and has increased his overall tournament earnings to over $4 million.
Mizzi was also the Bluff Magazine “Player of the Year” in 2010, because of his incredible $1,895,430 in tournament earnings. However, he’ll likely need to go on a remarkable tournament streak if he’d like to once again lay claim to that title.
Erik Seidel, who has over $6.3 million in tournament earnings this year, is looking to procure that label, and even more six-figure scores in the remaining months.
Despite skipping much of the earlier 2011 tournament scene, Mizzi has been particularly active lately, and both fans and players should be on the lookout for a determined Mizzi in the latter stages of 2011.
The WPT Grand Prix de Paris brought a small yet potent field of 36 accomplished players, with the €15,000 buy-in limiting the scope of talent. Although modest, the count of 36 participants was a 31% increase from last year’s total of 25.
The top five payouts for the event are below:
€15,000 WPT Grand Prix de Paris High Roller
Entries: 36 Prize Pool: €521,100
- Sorel Mizzi: €234,495
- Freddy Deeb: €130,275
- Nichlas Mattsson: €78,165
- Jerome Zerbib: €52,110
- Christopher Lastiwka: €26,055
