Young Online Poker Pros and the World Series of Poker Europe

Sorel "imper1um" Mizzi, Tom "durrrr" Dwan and Justin "ZeeJustin" Bonomo sat down for a conversation about their experience in London at the WSOP Europe. (Bodog Beat Image)

The names "imper1um", "zeejustin" and "durrrr" might not mean anything to the average Joe, but to the poker world they are synonymous with the success, and sometimes notoriety, of online poker.

Sorel Mizzi, Justin Bonomo and Tom Dwan, respectively, have all achieved a level of fame in online poker that they are now translating into success on the live tournament felt. Part of that success will be measured here at the 2007 WSOP Europe in London, as the three 21-year-old poker players compete in the £10,000 buy-in Main Event.

Both Mizzi, of Toronto, and Bonomo, of Los Angeles, had the chance to play in the WSOP this summer, and they were impressive in their debuts with each finishing in the money three times and Bonomo reaching a final table once. For Dwan though, this is the young gun's first WSOP event, as the Texan just turned 21 a few weeks ago. While the three are new to live tournaments on American soil, they have all played a number of events in Europe and the Caribbean over the years as the legal gambling age is generally 19 outside the U.S.

In our conversation with them this morning at the Empire Casino, we talked about the different levels of play they've experienced both at home and abroad, and there seems to be some disagreement as to whether the competition is stiffer in Europe or the U.S.

"The fields here are tougher and more skilled than they were at this summer's WSOP in Vegas," said Bonomo. "Especially with the high concentration of top pros."

Maybe he feels that way because he did not cash in either event, but don't quote us on that.

Both Dwan and Mizzi, who played in Day 1A yesterday, disagreed with this sentiment.

"Wait until you play today. See if you still feel the same way," they told Bonomo, suggesting that they think the field is relatively soft and weak, making it easy to steal pots and build a healthy stack.

Their results only half contradict their words as Dwan is sitting above average early on today but Mizzi is short-stacked after his first day, although he admittedly played a couple of bad hands. Two levels into today though and Bonomo seems to be finding the ease to be true as he has doubled his starting stack.

As far as their London experience is going, Bonomo stated flat out that he "does not care for the food and has spent most of time in Chinatown looking for meals." Mizzi agreed but added that he really hadn't "been to that many places to make a generalization about the food."

There were the usual comments about how expensive it is here, but as Dwan pointed out, "It's not really their fault that their economy is so good." Plus, to a guy who has made $1.3 million in a single day's session, "expensive" is sort of an academic abstract.

All three stated that they will be concentrating more on live poker going forward, especially Dwan who really wants to make a splash in live tournaments. While the amount of online poker that the three play on a regular basis due to this shift in focus is declining, none of them plan on stepping away from the screen permanently.

Said Dwan, "There's just too much money to be made."

Stay tuned for more coverage from the 2007 WSOP Europe.