| Sorel Mizzi |
 |
 |
 |
| Poker Pro's Corner - Poker Pro's Corner | |||
 Twenty-two-year-old Canadian pro Sorel Mizzi began gaining notoriety from his online successes at a young age and has been able to transition his online game into a very successful live career, earning more than £780,000 in the last two years. Currently residing in Europe, Mizzi has gone on to sign with the poker site Betfair and continues to excel at the game. At the World Series of Poker Europe he finished second in the £5000 pot-limit Omaha event, winning £132,000. In December, the Toronto native won the $3000 no-limit event at the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic, taking home £97,939. He also came third in the 2007 Irish Open. When should you worry about a downswing? How do you know when it is not just variance and there is a problem? Also – what do you do about it? – Taking a Bath in Belmar, NJ There are a lot of situations where worrying about a downswing is warranted. When no matter what you do you keep losing and losing, you need to be honest with yourself about what the real problem is. Some of the time you’re just running THAT bad, but most of the time it’s all in your head and it’s just a confidence issue. Usually when you run bad, you start playing bad as well, and it spirals into a domino effect, which can make you feel helpless. Best thing you can do is take some time off, clear your mind, evaluate hands from when you felt you were playing your A-game and evaluate hands from your downswing. If you’re being honest with yourself, you’ll usually realize that during your downswing you’re not playing your A-game. Don’t get entangled in that domino effect. Take up a new goal. Start working out and eating healthy – you’d be surprised what amazing effects this will have on your mental clarity. What size bet is good for a continuation bet – say the blinds are 200-400 and the pot is 3200 – what amount should you be betting into the pot? Does it matter what your hand is? – George, York, PA Everything depends on everything. It’s impossible to answer this intelligently without knowing the situation of the hand. Sometimes it matters what your hand is, other times it doesn’t. Everything is player and situationally dependent. If you have a decent stack on the bubble, are you playing super aggressive? I’ve heard the term ‘playing napkins’ from late position – is this the case? – Jenny in Chicago Again, it depends on the table tempo. If you can get away with playing aggressive on the bubble, then sure, why not? If you’re being played back at, then maybe it’s best to settle down. It also depends on your stack and the stacks in front of you. (If the answer was that simple, everyone would be good at poker.) I find that when I figure out a player is from, say, Scandinavia, I profile him or her as an aggressive player. Is this a good or bad thing to be doing, profiling players? – Former Cop, Atlantic City I think the best way to profile players is to think everyone is terrible until they prove themselves otherwise. The worst mistake advanced players make is thinking that everyone thinks like they do, which obviously is rarely the case. You can initially assume that a young Scandinavian player is going to be very aggressive, but make sure you keep an open mind and be willing to change your read in accordance with the hands he plays. What is some advice for final table play when there are a lot of chips in play? – In a Hurry, WA See a lot of flops and try to outplay weak opponents. Is it true that you shouldn’t buy into a tournament if you care if you cash? Meaning the amount of the cash shouldn’t be relevant to your bankroll. – Live One in Las Vegas Not really. Some people care about cashing more than others. It depends what your goal is. Some players play to win and some play to cash consistently – both can be winning strategies. What are your thoughts on racing – when is it a good idea, and when is it a bad idea? – Stephen D., Detroit Generally, you never want to have to race. Ideally you want to win as many pots as you can without showing down your hand. The only times you should be racing for all your stack is when you’re a short stack, making a move against a late-position raiser with a medium-size stack or you feel that you’re usually beating someone’s range and call to find yourself in a race situation. Which is a better situation – which would you be more willing to race with – two overcards or a pair? – Chips Are Down, New London, CT A pair. You have more equity in the pot most of the time. What would you say is the most important thing to being a successful no-limit player? – Future Star, Southampton Bankroll management! The best player in the world with no bankroll management is much worse than a mediocre winning player who has mastered it. If you raise in a tournament in middle position with Q-Q after a first position limper and it folds around to that limper and he reraises – if you know he likes to limp-raise with aces – what is your play there? Can you really just fold to a reraise? Do you ever just call and take the flop? What do you do when you think your opponent has aces preflop? – William, New York It depends how deep-stacked you are. If the stacks are very shallow and you think that aces are the only hand in his range in that spot, then yes, you can easily justify a fold. On the other hand, if it’s at the beginning of the tournament and you’re able to risk less than 7 percent of your stack by calling the raise, you can play the Q-Q and evaluate the hand post-flop. If you know he has aces always in this spot, then you can still play the flop, only play your hand for set value and be able to have an exit strategy from the hand if the board comes eight-high.
|
Visit Us At
Survey
Like it? Share it!
