Tonight on Betfair, Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi will host a charity fundraiser benefiting stem cell research. The tournament kicks off at 20:00 U.K. time on one of the world’s largest online poker sites.
Mizzi, together with Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad, John “kunku wap” Tabatabai, and Peter “Zupp” Jepsen, make up Team Betfair. The site dubs these up and coming poker players the “New Breed.” In celebration of Good Friday, Betfair will offer a $10 buy-in tournament that kicks off at 20:00 U.K. time with proceeds funding stem cell research. The winner receives a once-in-a-lifetime coaching session with one of the four Betfair pros. The tournament does not have a house fee.
The winner will be able to claim their prize at a live event, which consists of a three hour coaching session by the pro of their choice along with travel and accommodation if required. The member of the New Breed will also review a hand history prior to the coaching session. The runner up and third place finisher in the charity poker tournament will receive a hand reviewed by a Betfair pro.
Mizzi commented in a press release distributed by the independent online poker site, “It is with great pleasure that I announce my chosen charity for the Betfair Charity Tournament. There are so many worthy causes in the world like Cancer, Heart Disease, Diabetes, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s. Donating money to any of these charities would help find a cure for it, but funding Stem Cell Research could help find a cure for all of these devastating diseases.”
The tournament has its own Facebook page. At the time of writing, 124 members say they will be attending the stem cell research fundraiser, 385 are not attending, and 1,307 have not yet weighed in. Mizzi commented on the new Obama Administration in the United States: “I hope that with the actions taken recently by Barack Obama and his reversing the ban on Stem Cell Research, we will all see the unlimited potential for this research and the benefits it will bring to the world!”
Betfair is hard at work sending its members to the upcoming 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas. A $550 buy-in tournament on April 19th will award two packages to the WSOP in Sin City; each is valued at $15,000. Satellites begin at $2.20 and run daily Monday through Saturday. The 2009 WSOP kicks off on May 27th with a $500 buy-in Casino Employees event. The next day marks the start of the $40,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament commemorating the 40th running of the WSOP. The final table of the prestigious Main Event will once again be pushed back until November, continuing a tradition that began last year.
Mizzi grabbed second in a £5,000 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha tournament held during the 2008 WSOP Europe festivities in London, banking £132,000 for his efforts. The tournament marked the first bracelet win for Theo Jorgensen, who defeated Full Tilt Poker pro Gus Hansen in a boxing match in London a few months later. The Pot Limit Omaha tournament’s final table also included Erik Friberg, Max Pescatori, and Chris Ferguson, who took fourth, fifth, and seventh, respectively. Mizzi took 208th in the 2007 WSOP Main Event, which ended with Jerry Yang defeating Tuan Lam heads-up, and also chopped the Irish Poker Open. Online, Mizzi won the $100 rebuy on PokerStars in February for $34,000. Two weeks earlier, he grabbed third in the site’s $200 rebuy for $23,000.
Mizzi holds two victories in Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) tournaments. He took down a $216 No Limit Hold’em Rebuy contest during FTOPS III for $90,000 and also won a $216 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha event during FTOPS IV for $40,000.
