Mike Patrick – Cardplayer Lifestyle https://cardplayerlifestyle.com Tue, 01 Aug 2023 14:43:00 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.3 Mixed Game Festival V Day 5 Recap: Raymer, Elezra, and the EPT Cyprus Prize Package https://cardplayerlifestyle.com/mixed-game-festival-v-day-5-recap-raymer-elezra-ept-cyprus-prize-package/ Fri, 07 Jul 2023 16:23:25 +0000 https://cardplayerlifestyle.com/?p=59558 It seems like just yesterday that we were eagerly awaiting the Cardplayer Lifestyle Mixed Game Festival V at Resorts World Las Vegas. And now, in the blink of an eye, it has come and gone.

The festival was a huge success by all measures. We saw dozens of excited mixed game players – some of whom traveled thousands of miles – join us for five days to play their favorite poker variants in the popular Dealer’s Choice format.

More players took seats throughout the week with limited knowledge of some games, eager to learn. We even had players venture away from No-Limit Hold’em to play mixed games for their first (and hopefully not last) times!

In case you missed them, be sure to check out our recaps from Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 as well.

FossilMan Spends The Day With Us


Day 5 action kicked off at 3 p.m., and 2004 WSOP Main Event Champion Greg “FossilMan” Raymer was already in the room and engaging with players at the start.

Raymer has been a staunch supporter of the Mixed Game Festival since its inception when he won the inaugural MGF H.O.R.S.E. event in October 2021 to earn a PokerStars Platinum Pass.

When play began, Raymer took a seat with host Robbie Strazynski and a full lineup of faces we’d seen all week long. Others came and went as the day turned to night, but Raymer’s presence remained a constant.

In case you missed it, Raymer played the WSOP Main Event on Tuesday, Day 1b, and bagged a top-25 stack in his flight. He will play Day 2 today, and we wish him the best of luck. In the meantime, we couldn’t be more grateful that he took time out of his summer schedule to play and hang out with us.

The Toughest $4/$8 Game in the World

Raymer’s presence was only the beginning of celebrity visits from the poker world.

Poker Hall of Famer and five-time WSOP bracelet winner Eli Elezra took a break from the high-stakes games to play Robbie’s stack for a few hands. I couldn’t imagine a tougher $4/$8 game anywhere on the planet during that time, but there also may not have been a more fun one.

Alek Gilles Is Going To EPT Cyprus

“You got me hooked,” said Alek Gillies on Day 2 of the festival. Gillies, a full-time dealer at Edmonton’s Yellowhead Casino, has been in Vegas all month, working his first summer as a PokerNews live reporter.

When asked what he meant, he said he had so much fun on Day 1 that he had to come to play again after his shift ended at the WSOP.

Gillies was back on the WSOP grind during the festival’s final day. However, he logged plenty of hours throughout the week, each hour giving him an entry into a random drawing for an EPT Cyprus package valued at over $3,000.

PokerNews' Alek Gillies

The draw occurred just after 6 p.m., and Gillies was selected randomly, earning a Mixed Game tournament buy-in of up to €550 with roundtrip airfare and four nights’ accommodation on the Mediterranean island this autumn.

“I’ve never been to Europe,” said Gilles via text message later in the evening. “I’m super excited!”

Upping the ante: Norman Chad hosts $20/$40 O8/Stud8

One of the greatest aspects of the Mixed Game Festival is that it makes low-stakes mixed games accessible for all. However, we also love that it has created enough demand to accommodate the occasional larger game.

WSOP commentator Norman Chad made his second appearance at the festival Thursday, helping to close things out with his very own $20/$40 Omaha 8/Stud 8 game. The game started at 6 p.m. with a full table and a waiting list.

Poker Hall of Famer Linda Johnson and Women In Poker Hall of Famer Jan Fisher were among those on the waitlist, arriving shortly after cards went in the air. Both found open seats at a $4/$8 Dealer’s Choice table in the meantime, ultimately making it into Norm’s game later in the evening.

Pokercoaching.com Player of the Day – Zak Zimbile

New to the Cardplayer Lifestyle Mixed Game Festival V, we are featuring a “Player of the Day” each day during the festival, sponsored by PokerCoaching.com. As a reminder, all Mixed Game Festival V attendees can receive a free one-week membership to PokerCoaching.com Premium just by asking Robbie in person for the special link. Check out this article with the specific details of what that entails.

Our final Player of the Day joined us this afternoon to play mixed games for the first time in his life. Naturally, he sat with Greg Raymer on his direct left.

Zak Zimbile was unafraid, eagerly looking to learn the games he was now playing. Raymer was the perfect teacher, explaining everything and helping Zimbile understand games like Drawmaha-Dugi.

Zak Zimbile

Zimbile has played poker on and off for over a decade but is a CPA by trade. Most of his clientele are gamblers  – poker players and sports bettors – and he’s even written articles for Cardplayer Lifestyle about poker players and taxes. He opened his own firm in Las Vegas within the past year and has been upping his poker volume lately, playing cash games three or four days a week.

Zimbile thinks some of the increased volume is due to the time of year. Summer is not only the busiest time for poker in Las Vegas but also after tax season ends. He is enjoying the grind while it lasts but is remembering to have fun, as evidenced by his desire to join us. Off the tables, Zak also loves rock climbing, especially indoors.

Festival Recap

The Cardplayer Lifestyle Mixed Game Festival V brought five days of events, giveaways, and $4/$8 Dealer’s Choice cash games.

Opening Day kicked off with a pizza party before cards went in the air on two tables. Later that night, four tables were running with more players present and waiting for seats to open.

Extracurricular events headlined Days 2 and 3 with the first-ever Poker Trivia Competition and Scavenger Hunt. Cardplayer Lifestyle contributor and veteran poker reporter Mike Patrick stole the show both days, but unanimous fun was had all around. Several prominent poker players also visited us on Day 3, including “Miami” John Cernuto, Norman Chad, and a trio of PokerCoaching.com coaches, Justin Saliba, Paul Beitelspacher, and Kieran Woods.

Poker Hall of Fame member Linda Johnson and Women In Poker Hall of Fame member Jan Fisher joined us on Day 4, occupying one of the two opening tables for the afternoon. WPT champion and WSOP bracelet winner Dylan Linde took a seat at the other, taking time to talk strategy with his tablemates and autograph his book, Mastering Mixed Games, for anyone who procured a copy.

The final day concluded with repeat visits from Johnson, Fisher, and Chad. We also concluded the festival by learning new poker variants, making new friends, and forging memories that will last a lifetime.

Thank you to everyone who was a part of such an incredible week. We look forward to the next Cardplayer Lifestyle Mixed Game Festival and hope you do, too. Be sure to join the Cardplayer Lifestyle newsletter to be among the first to find out where and when it will take place.

*Our daily coverage of Mixed Game Festival V is brought to you, with much appreciation, courtesy of PokerStars.

]]> Mixed Game Festival V Day 4 Recap: Linda Johnson, Jan Fisher and Dylan Linde https://cardplayerlifestyle.com/mixed-game-festival-v-day-4-recap-linda-johnson-jan-fisher-dylan-linde/ Thu, 06 Jul 2023 18:30:08 +0000 https://cardplayerlifestyle.com/?p=59525 It’s hard to believe we’re already through four days of the Cardplayer Lifestyle Mixed Game Festival V. Day 4 saw another full slate of action inside the Resorts World Las Vegas poker room. Poker Hall of Famer Linda Johnson, Women In Poker Hall of Famer Jan Fisher, and WSOP bracelet winner and Mastering Mixed Games author Dylan Linde all came to start the day’s action.

With a 3 p.m. start time, we got going with three tables, but only two of those tables were new, however. The third (or rather, the first) never stopped running from the day before!

Poker Takes Center Stage

Part of the fun of the Mixed Game Festival comes from festival host Robbie Strazynski’s extracurricular activities like the scavenger hunt and poker trivia competition. Even folks who don’t yet feel comfortable sitting down to try their hands at mixed games pop in to see what all the fuss is about. One such individual was Anish Patel, author of the Final Nine graphic novel, who dropped by to say hello.

Anish Patel

Rumor has it that some more notable “drop-ins” will happen on the festival’s final day… stay tuned for tomorrow’s recap 😉

However, Day 4’s focus was all about poker. (And the Winchell’s donuts provided by Chuck “Donut Boy” Martin). Fisher and Johnson occupied one of the new tables alongside Robbie and several other players who’ve been with us all week.

Linde helped open the other new table alongside a full slate of familiar faces from the week, including prize winners from earlier in the week, Mike Patrick and Scott Sandoval. Linde spent several hours fielding questions and discussing various game strategies with the table, all while engaging with others in the room and signing copies of his book.

The Theme of the Week: Mixed Games Rock!

One of the coolest things about the Mixed Game Festival is how it allows players to get into low-stakes Dealer’s Choice games and learn new poker variants. It’s truly incredible that some of our participants have traveled from all over the country – and even the globe! – to get involved, with the MGF circled on their calendars months in advance.

The festival has also served as an introduction to all the games not named Hold’em. I’d like to say I’m surprised that so many people are falling in love with mixed games after playing, but we all know that wouldn’t be true.

Dylan Linde joined by a table full of mixed game players at the Cardplayer Lifestyle Mixed Game Festival V.

Dylan Linde with our crew of mixed game lovers

I’m also not surprised to have seen fellow poker media colleagues make regular appearances here. PokerNews has had strong daily representation, including players like the aforementioned Mike Patrick, as well as Connor Richards, Calum Grant, Roxanne Johnson, Alek Gillies, Yori Epskamp, and Frank Visser.

Best of all, everyone has a new favorite game. We saw multi-board variants, like Squid Game and Watermelon regularly called yesterday to complement the Draw game, Stud game, and Flop game offerings in the stack of placards.

Players discuss a hand of Watermelon poker at showdown.

Watermelon

Pokercoaching.com Player of the Day – John Maley

New to the Cardplayer Lifestyle Mixed Game Festival V, we are featuring a “Player of the Day” each day during the festival, sponsored by PokerCoaching.com. As a reminder, all Mixed Game Festival V attendees can receive a free one-week membership to PokerCoaching.com Premium just by asking Robbie in person for the special link. Check out this article with the specific details of what that entails.

There was a clear-cut winner for Wednesday’s Pokercoaching.com Player of the Day at the Mixed Game Festival.

Orange County’s John Maley (from Fountain Valley, to be exact) had been at his seat for more than 28 hours when we spoke with him at around 9 p.m. It was his new personal best for the longest session he’d played by a long shot.

Maley said he drove in, arriving at 4 p.m. on Tuesday and immediately got in a game. He plays long sessions and intended to stay until the table broke, something that never occurred as the calendar shifted to Wednesday. As a result, he still hadn’t checked into his hotel nearly 30 hours later!

Mixed games are where Maley has the most fun. He has played poker for around 20 years now and started exploring games other than Hold’em after the first five years. He loves the mental stimulation and nuanced differences in strategy that each game provides, which he said helped keep him mentally alert through the marathon session.

When asked about his favorite games, Maley said he enjoys those with multiple boards and ways to win. That said, he loves “The Game” (of poker) and is even cool sitting around the table with players who only know how to play Texas Hold’em, noting that we pretty much all got into the game that way. We should be grateful that it can be a foot in the door for new players in mixed rotations like HORSE and 8-Game.

Maley’s day job also keeps him around the game, as he is a cage supervisor at Commerce Casino. However, there’s not much of a mixed scene at LA casinos, and he credited Las Vegas locals such as Raul Yapor  and “Coach” Donald Shiflett for regularly running mixed games. He also had nothing but love for the room, staff and players at Resorts World.

“They’re all great,” Maley concluded. Over 31 hours after arriving, his table finally broke and he finally got up and checked in to his hotel room. 😁

Day 5 Preview: EPT Giveaway, Norman Chad Returns, and Greg “FossilMan” Raymer

Today’s the last chance to get in on the $4/$8 Dealer’s Choice action at MGF V. We look forward to seeing 2004 WSOP Main Event champion Greg “FossilMan” Raymer and poker commentary legend Norman Chad play today, the latter of whom will be hosting a $20/$40 Omaha 8/Stud 8 mixed game.

Sticking to the week’s theme, we have more prizes to give away on the festival’s final day. In addition to more swag giveaways, a grand prize drawing will take place at 6 p.m. The winner will win an EPT Cyprus package courtesy of festival sponsor PokerStars valued at over $3,000. Every hour of play throughout the week has earned our players one entry into the random drawing, and the winner will receive:

  • A Mixed Game tournament buy-in up to €550
  • Roundtrip airfare for one
  • Four nights’ accommodation

*Our daily coverage of Mixed Game Festival V is brought to you, with much appreciation, courtesy of PokerStars.

]]> Mixed Game Festival V Day 3 Recap: Scavenger Hunts, Miami John Cernuto and Norman Chad https://cardplayerlifestyle.com/mixed-game-festival-v-day-3-recap-scavenger-hunts-miami-john-cernuto-norman-chad/ Wed, 05 Jul 2023 17:20:30 +0000 https://cardplayerlifestyle.com/?p=59502 Tuesday marked the midway point of the Cardplayer Lifestyle Mixed Game Festival V, and the day was nothing short of remarkable.

A waitlist of nearly 25 players was already on the board at 10:45am in the Resorts World Las Vegas poker room. Players began filing in around 11:00 for the day’s pre-poker event, the scavenger hunt.

Fast forward to 4 a.m., and we still had enough players for two tables of $4/$8 Dealer’s Choice!

Mixed Game Festival Scavenger Hunt

Scavenger Hunt: So Nice We Ran It Twice!

Just short of a dozen players arrived early to chase their share of $100-value prizes. Cardplayer Lifestyle contributor and PokerNews live reporter Mike Patrick went two for two, finishing the competition in just 20 minutes to score another “free first rack of chips,” a.k.a., a nice rebate on his buy-ins.

A few minutes later, Patrick “Panda” Chen finished second and chose the “bucket o’ swag”, that included a library of poker books, a BBO Poker Tables portable table mat, and a Faded Spade deck set.

The third and final prize was the most fun to determine, as both Ruth Sun and Scott Sandoval arrived simultaneously, only to discover that they were both missing one final item on their lists! The two of them scrambled outside to grab a photo of the Encore Resort in a mad dash to complete their hunts.

In the end, Scott crossed the finish line mere seconds before Ruth was able to make it back to the poker room, thus claiming the $100 voucher to the PokerStars Store.

One by one, the remaining players filed in and learned they had missed the top three. Nonetheless, the competition brought smiles across the board and received immediate rave reviews for “bringing out my inner child”, and of course “every participant was a winner,” taking home a copy of Eli Elezra’s biography Pulling the Trigger or a RunGoodGear-produced Mixed Game Festival T-Shirt.

Chuck Martin was another early arrival who, despite opting to pass on the scavenger hunt, won over everyone’s hearts by bringing some Independence Day-themed donuts for his fellow players to enjoy.

Cards went into the air at noon, and action immediately got underway at two tables. A few folks on the waiting list found themselves with some extra time on their hands, so our founder and event host, Robbie Strazynski, ran an impromptu second scavenger hunt. Among the handful of players, Giancarlo Santolin came out on top to earn his own “bucket ‘o swag.”

Additional giveaways continued throughout the day, with players engaging in blind hold’em flips, needing to be the first to make a nut (high or low) hand, and fulfill other unique at-the-felt requirements to claim some sweet swag.

Some of Poker’s Finest Join Us on Day 3

Within the next couple hours, several prominent poker professionals entered the room alongside two tables of $4/$8 dealer’s choice and its waitlist.

Some of our friends from PokerCoaching.com– Justin Saliba, Paul Beitelspacher, and Kieran Woods – stopped by to chat with players. It was a repeat visit for Saliba, who – while regularly running in the high roller No Limit Hold’em circuit these days – openly shared that he absolutely loves splashing around in the low-stakes mixed game streets.

Mixed Game Festival V Poker Coaching

Just before the clock struck 3:00pm, mixed game aficionado and all-time tournament in-the-money leader “Miami” John Cernuto stopped by to show his support for grassroots growth of mixed game poker.

A third table opened shortly thereafter with eight more players taking their seats, one of whom wasted no time putting the table into a frenzy of laughter and lightening up an already enjoyable atmosphere.

Of course, that player was Norman Chad, another longtime mixed game lover and MGF regular. If you missed him, he’ll be back on Day 5 (Thursday) to captain a special $20/40 Omaha 8/Stud 8 table.

Pokercoaching.com Player of the Day – Roxanne Johnson

New to the Cardplayer Lifestyle Mixed Game Festival V, we are featuring a “Player of the Day” each day during the festival, sponsored by PokerCoaching.com. As a reminder, all Mixed Game Festival V attendees can receive a free one-week membership to PokerCoaching.com Premium just by asking Robbie in person for the special link. Check out this article with the specific details of what that entails.

Roxanne Johnson

Roxanne Johnson, our Day 3 Player of the Day, hails from Kelowna, British Columbia, a city of around 150,000 four hours east of Vancouver, Canada. She’s a retired court liaison, formerly having worked for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. She has since kept herself busy with other gigs, like her current one as a PokerNews live reporter at the WSOP.

This is her first summer reporting at the Series, but her poker history dates back to pre-Black Friday (2011). She recalls getting into the game through 180-person turbo sit-n-go tournaments on PokerStars and playing regularly on Full Tilt Poker.

More recently in her career, she won a PokerStars Micro Millions event and decided to celebrate with a four-month trip to Europe last year. Her win also earned her an entry to a site-sponsored women’s poker boot camp, and she stayed up until 2 a.m. to participate, since the camp was on a North American schedule.

Roxanne Johnson

Image Credit: PokerNews

The time discrepancy was inconvenient, but the timing was perfect. Boot camp participants earned a seat into a winner-take-all tournament for a PokerStars Platinum Pass, good for a $25K buy-in at the PokerStars Players Championship and travel expenses. The event took place at EPT Prague while she was in Europe, and she bested the field to earn a trip to the Bahamas.

Her poker past notwithstanding, Johnson didn’t get into mixed games until this summer. Having played No-Limit Hold’em primarily, she said her favorite variant so far is Crazy Pineapple due to the similarities with the game she knows so well.

Before jumping back into the action, Johnson took a picture donning a Pokercoaching.com hat and shared the following: “I’m already a member of the site and I love it! They’ve helped my game so much.”

Day 4 is sure to be another fun one today, with more poker celebrities set to make appearances. We look forward to seeing you at Resorts World Las Vegas!

*Our daily coverage of Mixed Game Festival V is brought to you, with much appreciation, courtesy of PokerStars.

]]> Mixed Game Festival V Day 2 Recap: Our First-Ever Poker Trivia Competition Is a Hit! https://cardplayerlifestyle.com/mixed-game-festival-v-day-2-recap-poker-trivia-competition/ Tue, 04 Jul 2023 20:26:32 +0000 https://cardplayerlifestyle.com/?p=59481 We’re already two days into the Cardplayer Lifestyle Mixed Game Festival V after the conclusion of play on Monday. Time flies when you’re having fun.

Day 2 stayed true to the MGF theme, with festival host Robbie Strazynski going out of his way to ensure players had fun and were on the receiving end of giveaways throughout the day. A brand new event – the Poker Trivia Competition – headlined the giveaways, awarding the top three finishers hundreds of dollars worth of prizes.

Of course, poker remained the primary attraction inside the Resorts World Las Vegas poker room. Cards officially went into the air at noon with two tables to start, and a third opened shortly after that to accommodate the demand of a 30-person waitlist.

Fourteen hours later, three tables were still going strong.

Trivia Competition Kicks Off Day 2 Festivities

The inaugural Poker Trivia Competition began at 11:30, and players got the memo to arrive early. Familiar faces to the Mixed Game Festival arrived early for the event, including Ruth Sun, Rob “Bergs” Bergman, and PokerNews reporter/Cardplayer Lifestyle contributor Mike Patrick.

In total, nine players got into the competition with their sights set on claiming bragging rights. Robbie quizzed everybody with 30 multiple-choice questions on various poker-related topics, creating an atmosphere full of laughter and excitement. What a surprise – poker players love all things poker!

Shortly before the quiz began, Mike told us that his trivia game was strong. He became an early favorite to take down the competition after climbing into the lead after the first few questions. When all was said and done, he remained on top with nobody able to catch him once he pulled ahead.

For his win, Mike had his choice of three prizes:

  • A “bucket o’ swag”, including a portable table mat from BBO Poker Tables, a collection of Jim Donahue poker books, D&B Poker’s Mastering Mixed Games by Dylan Linde, a PokerGO coffee mug, a two-deck set of cards from Faded Spade and an accompanying Faded Spade hat
  • A $100 voucher credit to the PokerStars Store
  • A “free first rack” rack of $1 chips (a.k.a., $100 toward the player’s first buy-in of the day)

Mike chose the $100 in chips. Second place finisher Brian Dowd chose the “bucket o’ swag” and bronze medal winner Pat Ang shipped the PokerStars voucher. They weren’t the only winners though, as ALL participants received their choice of a RunGoodGear-produced Mixed Game Festival V long-sleeve shirt or a copy of Poker Hall of Famer Eli Elezra’s book, Pulling the Trigger.

Brian Dowd

Brian with his “bucket o’ swag”

It’s Time to Join Us!

Fewer marathon sessions took place among MGF players on Monday, creating an opportunity to work through the games’ waiting list and allow everybody a seat who wanted one.

After spending the beginning of the day at the festival, I left the room for a few hours and returned a little after 8 p.m. to two open seats across the three still-booming tables calling my name.

I took a seat at Robbie’s table, three to his right, and quickly jumped into Badugi mid-rotation. I didn’t need to worry about calling Razz on him when it became my turn to pick the next game, either, since Cardplayer Lifestyle social media director Chad McVean took care of that earlier in the day.

Plus, we still have three more days to go. I fully intend to call Razz on Robbie sometime before the end of the festival.

Anyway, I got to play a few games I knew, like A-5 Triple Draw and Badeucy, along with new ones for me, like Drawmaha 49 and Archie. After about three-and-a-half hours, it was time for me to retire and begin the day’s recap. I was told the three tables stood solid until 2:30 am until a couple of them broke, with the final table only breaking well after 4:30 am.

Pokercoaching.com Player of the Day – Aidan Long

New to the Cardplayer Lifestyle Mixed Game Festival V, we are featuring a “Player of the Day” each day during the festival, sponsored by PokerCoaching.com. As a reminder, all Mixed Game Festival V attendees can receive a free one-week membership to PokerCoaching.com Premium just by asking Robbie in person for the special link. Check out this article with the specific details of what that entails.

Day 2’s Player of the Day was Aidan Long, a recent Vegas transplant from Boston. A software developer who works remotely, Long moved to Sin City last September to bring himself closer to the game of poker after beginning to take the game more seriously in 2020.

Long learned how to play poker from his grandparents, who taught him when he spent time with them during summers as a kid. After the pandemic hit, he moved back home and began to play home games with friends.

Despite countless hours of studying over the last few years, Monday was Long’s first foray into mixed games. He came into the room around 4 p.m. intending to play some $2/$5 No-Limit Hold’em and saw our $4/$8 mix, piquing his curiosity enough to sit down while waiting for a spot at his intended game.

Even after hearing his name called for $2/$5 at around 8pm, “there’s no way I was leaving!” said Long in between Razz hands. “I’m loving it!” he added after I asked if he was enjoying the change of pace.

When asked about his favorite game so far, he quickly said Omaha 3-2-1.

Why?

In true poker fashion: because he won!

Three Days Remain

Tuesday marks the midway point of the five-day Mixed Game Festival V, and plenty more fun remains on the docket.

We’ll be hosting a Scavenger Hunt at 11 a.m. today (and awarding more gifts to all participants). More giveaways will take place through the remainder of the festival, and we expect to see some poker celebrities make their way to the room as their Main Event schedules allow.

Poker Hall of Famer Eli Elezra will make an appearance at some point, as will Mastering Mixed Games author (and WPT/WSOP champion) Dylan Linde, 2004 WSOP Main Event champion Greg Raymer, and more.

We’ll be welcoming the one and only Norman Chad on Thursday, July 6. He will host a $20/$40 O8/Stud 8 mix as a part of MGF V, and players can join the list a day before to ensure a seat with him when the day begins.

Day 3 is sure to be another fun one today. We hope to see you at Resorts World Las Vegas!

*Our daily coverage of Mixed Game Festival V is brought to you, with much appreciation, courtesy of PokerStars.

]]> Mixed Game Festival V Day 1 Recap: Setting the Stage for a Massive Week Ahead https://cardplayerlifestyle.com/mixed-game-festival-v-day-1-recap-setting-the-stage-for-a-massive-week-ahead/ Mon, 03 Jul 2023 15:32:47 +0000 https://cardplayerlifestyle.com/?p=59438 A palpable excitement was in the air to kick off the Cardplayer Lifestyle Mixed Game Festival V on Sunday at noon. The festival will run for five days through Thursday, July 6, featuring low-stakes dealer’s choice and mixed cash games, daily merchandise giveaways, a trivia competition, poker book signings, and more.

Players representing all corners of the globe began filling the poker room inside Resorts World Las Vegas a little after 11 a.m. and were eager to get the cards in the air. Play officially began closer to 12:15, as Cardplayer Lifestyle’s owner and founder Robbie Strazynski first welcomed everybody with a pizza party to ring in the festival.

Let the Games Begin!

Three full tables of players quickly devoured the pizzas and began selecting their games of choice.

The first giveaway came on the day’s first hand. Robbie announced that the best badugi in a split-pot game would also receive their choice of a Jim Donahue-authored poker book.

In some cases, players chose to subject others – namely Robbie – to Razz. Apparently, that’s a thing 😉

BBO Poker Tables Founder and CEO George Chao stopped by in the opening hours of the festival to sing his praises for the Mixed Game Festival V. Chao also delivered a half dozen portable table mats that will be given away to the winners of our Poker Trivia Competition on Monday, July 3, at 11:30 a.m, Scavenger Hunt on Tuesday July 4, at 11 a.m., and a few other luckily drawn random winners throughout the festival.

Pokercoaching.com Player of the Day – Nadi Medlege

New to the Cardplayer Lifestyle Mixed Game Festival V, we are featuring a “Player of the Day” each day during the festival, sponsored by PokerCoaching.com. As a reminder, all Mixed Game Festival V attendees can receive a free one-week membership to PokerCoaching.com Premium just by asking Robbie in person for the special link. Read on for specific details of what that entails.

Nadi Medlege became the first ever Player of the Day. Medlege is in town from Lebanon and played a full session on Sunday, but not without taking a few moments to speak about his love for mixed game poker.

Medlege’s roots in poker date back to 2000. He started playing at the Aviation Club in Paris, and recently relocated to Lebanon to be closer to family, but only spends about half the year there.

As for the other half?

Well, Medlege takes two trips each year to Las Vegas and stays for about three months each time. When he’s in town, he said he always plays mixed games at Resorts World, usually playing $8/$16 or $20/$40.

Medlege credited the variety he enjoys in mixed games to his ability to play long sessions. He said it’s harder for him to play longer sessions of No-Limit Hold’em than mixed games, with his longest marathon session to date coming in at 32 hours.

He added, “I love mixed games, and I think it would be so good for the game if everybody learned them!”

Four Tables of Play Mark a Successful Day 1

Resorts World’s poker room was electric all day Sunday. The Mixed Game Festival V had a double-digit waiting list due to a packed house, along with the casino’s regular cash game offerings and another successful tournament for the room this summer.

A fourth table of play opened just after 8 p.m., easing the wait list and bringing even more energy to the room. A trio of veteran and newer industry writers, Yori Epskamp, Mike Patrick, and Jeremy Geist, took a break from their busy roles at PokerNews to jump into the action.

It didn’t take long before a post-it note made its way onto a placard on the felt for the game, Watermelon. Players each received four cards, just like Omaha, before the dealer brought three boards. Each board’s winner got a point at the end of the hand, and the player with the most points took down the pot.

Eventually, players took things to another level and ate watermelon while playing Watermelon!

Perhaps expected, players took full advantage of the dealer’s choice format, with fun variants being chosen on the regular. Badugi had a steady presence, often in split-pot games like Razzdugi, Drawmaha High-Dugi, and Badacey.

We’ll see if those games remain a constant over the remainder of the festival, or if players change things up a bit in the coming days.

Remaining Schedule of Events

One full day may be in the books, but we’re only 20% of the way through the fifth iteration of the Mixed Game Festival.

There’s still a full slate of events scheduled for the rest of the festival, and we look forward to seeing more new faces join the ones who are already looking forward to being with us all week. If you’re looking to pop in, please do! We’ll have cash games going until the wee hours of the morning, along with the following promotions:

  • Monday, July 3: Poker Trivia Competition at 11:30 a.m.
  • Tuesday, July 4: Scavenger Hunt at 11 a.m.
  • Book signings from mixed games legends like Poker Hall of Famer Eli Elezra and WSOP/WPT champion Dylan Linde
  • Celebrity visits from other famous names in the poker world. Players such as Greg Raymer, Linda Johnson, Jonathan Little, “Miami” John Cernuto, Justin Saliba, Jan Fisher, and Ari Engel have regularly appeared at past festivals.

MGF V Schedule

*Our daily coverage of Mixed Game Festival V is brought to you, with much appreciation, courtesy of PokerStars.

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