In early November, Resorts World played host to the 2024 PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT). The festival proved to be a tremendous success with Nick Marchington ultimately winning the $5,000 NAPT Main Event for $765,200.
In addition to plenty of no-limit hold’em action, the stop was filled with several high-profile mixed game tournaments as well as the Mixed Game Festival IX hosted by Robbie Strazynski’s Cardplayer Lifestyle.
“The vibe was very good. The first day was pretty cool because the entire poker room downstairs was full,” Strazynski told PokerNewsafter the festival. “They hadn't yet moved everything up to the ballroom, so we had some carryover, some people who had busted tournaments were like, ‘Oh, what's this going on?’ They heard and a couple of those people came the following day and the day after. So, we literally recruited off the backs of the NAPT tournaments and people love mixed games.”
The Mixed Game Festivals started back in October 2021 and has so far hosted nine stops. Of those, five have taken place at Resorts World Las Vegas.
| Edition | Dates | Venue | Grand Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | October 4-7, 2021 | Westgate Las Vegas | PSPC Platinum Pass |
| II | June 12-16, 2022 | Resorts World Las Vegas | Road to PSPC Package |
| III | October 25-27, 2022 | Portomaso Casino, Malta | Malta Poker Festival Seat |
| IV | March 19-23, 2023 | Resorts World Las Vegas | EPT Prague Package |
| V | July 2-6, 2023 | Resorts World Las Vegas | EPT Cyprus Package |
| VI | November 26-30, 2023 | Resorts World Las Vegas | WPT Voyage |
| VII | February 25-29, 2024 | Resorts World Las Vegas | NAPT Package |
| VIII | June 16-20, 2024 | Bellagio Las Vegas | Moneymaker Tour Seats |
| IX | November 3-7, 2024 | Resorts World Las Vegas | NAPT Seats |
| X | February 16-20, 2025 | Resorts World Las Vegas | TBD |
One thing that set the Mixed Game Festival IX apart from earlier editions was a wider array of nationalities and bigger stakes.
“We had a table where I think six different nationalities were represented and they had literally flown in from all over the States from Canada,” said Strazynski. “We had someone come in from Japan, and my buddy came from Israel, so that was really cool.”
Strazynski also revealed that for the first time ever they got a high-stakes $20/$40 mixed game going.
“We never had that happen, so that was a very cool thing,” he said with a big smile. The cash game action attracted plenty of big names including Justin Saliba Jonathan Little, Dylan Linde, Eli Elezra, and David Lappin. “The players really find it very cool to play with the guys that they see on TV.”
As a part of the Mixed Game Festival IX, a trio of mixed game tournaments were included on the NAPT schedule. The first was Event #23: $550 Cardplayer Lifestyle H.E.R.O.S., which saw David Prociak top a 108-entry field to win for $10,100. There was also Event #32: $550 Cardplayer Lifestyle 8-Game, which saw reigning NAPT Main Event champ Sami Bechahed navigate a 100-entry field to win for $12,800.
Finally, there was Event #29: $5,300 Cardplayer Lifestyle 8-Game, which the year before had attracted 32 entrants and saw Elezra come out on top for $53,540. That field grew to 39 runners in 2024 with Maxx Coleman taking it down for $53,300.
While a mixed game enthusiast himself, don’t expect to see Strazynski jumping into too many tournaments during his festivals.
“My responsibility is to be a host and I take that responsibility very seriously,” he told PokerNews. “So, in the cash games, of course, I can splash around but I want to just make sure everyone is having a good time. If I'm playing in a tournament, I'm going to take that ultra-seriously and I would then be shirking my hosting duties. So, I don't want to dust off money and just donate [in tournaments]. So, while I'm hosting, I don't play the tournaments.”
Strazynski hosted three festivals in 2024 and already has more planned for 2025. In fact, he recently shared the dates for the next stop at Resorts World — February 16-20, 2025.
“I'm hoping to do at least three next year,” Strazynski revealed. “Conversations have begun both with Resorts World and with another venue here in Las Vegas to hopefully set the stage for them. Ideally, we'd be looking at February sometime during the summer and again in November.”
For more information be sure to check out the Cardplayer Lifestyle daily recaps from the Mixed Game Festival IX below:
Click here to learn more about what the Mixed Game Festival is all about!
*Images courtesy of NAPT.