During the early weeks of March, the 2023 Triton Super High Roller Series Vietnam took place at the Hoiana Resort & Golf in Quang Nam, Vietnam, where a total of $55.5 million in prize money was awarded across 13 events. The average prize pool for each tournament was just under $4 million, with multiple field-size records set, including the largest overall turnout of 179 entries for the $20,000 bounty event, and the largest Triton main event field with 135 entries.

The series concluded with a $20,000 buy-in turbo short deck tournament, which had 28 entries and a final prize pool of $560,000. Canadian high-stakes tournament pro Sam Greenwood emerged as the winner, earning $207,000 and his third final-table finish of the year. Greenwood had previously won the $250,000 buy-in at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure and finished second in a €25,000 buy-in high roller at the European Poker Tour Paris festival. His current Player of the Year (POY) earnings are $3,780,171, and he now sits just outside the top 100 in the 2023 POY race standings presented by Global Poker.

Greenwood faced a tough final table, which included World Poker Tour champion Seth Davies (4th – $65,800) and Isaac Haxton (3rd – $91,000), who is currently in third place on the POY leaderboard with three titles, eight final-table finishes, and nearly $4.6 million in POY earnings. Davies, with his ninth final-table finish of the year, has accumulated almost $2.5 million in POY earnings, placing him in sixth place in the POY standings. Haxton and Greenwood are currently ranked first and second, respectively, on the total earnings leaderboard for the year.

Event #14 – 20,000 Short Deck Turbo
Dates: March 13, 2023
Entries: 28 (inc. 9 re-entries)
Prize pool: 560,000

1 – Sam Greenwood (Canada) – 207,000
2 – Lun Loon (Malaysia) – 143,000
3 – Isaac Haxton (USA) – 91,000
4 – Seth Davies (USA) – 65,800
5 – Wei Hsiang Yeu (Malaysia) – 53,200

In 2019, Aaron Zang made history in the world of poker by winning the largest buy-in poker tournament ever held, the £1,050,000 buy-in Triton Million charity invitational no-limit hold’em event. Prior to heads-up play, Zang struck a deal that resulted in him earning over $16.8 million for the win. Remarkably, this was Zang’s first-ever live tournament victory. Recently, Zang emerged victorious in another Triton event, securing his second career win. In the 2023 Triton Super High Roller Series Vietnam $100,000 buy-in short deck main event, Zang bested a field of 49 participants, taking home $1,544,000 in prize money. With his latest win, Zang has accumulated almost $21.9 million in recorded tournament earnings, with over $19.5 million earned on the Triton tour.

The Hoiana Resort & Golf in Quang Nam, Vietnam played host to a two-day tournament that saw 49 participants compete. By the end of day one, the number of entries had dwindled to 17. However, four late entries meant that the field grew to 21 on day two. Aaron Zang had established himself as the clear chip leader by the time the final table of seven was set. The first to be eliminated from the final table was Jason Koon, a five-time Triton trophy winner who finished in seventh place, earning $257,000. This was Koon’s fourth final-table finish of the year, bringing his year-to-date earnings to over $1.4 million and boosting him inside the top 100 in the Player of the Year rankings with 1,043 points. With career earnings of $43,336,912, Koon currently occupies the seventh position on the poker all-time money list, trailing sixth-ranked Erik Seidel by just $533,296.

Event #13 – 100,000 Short Deck
Dates: March 12-13, 2023
Entries: 49 (inc. 23 re-entries)
Prize pool: 4,900,000

1 – Aaron Zang (China) – 1,544,000
2 – Michael Zhang (UK) – 1,115,000
3 – Kiat Lee (Malaysia) – 710,000
4 – Phil Chiu (Hong Kong) – 540,000
5 – Mikita Badziakouski (Belarus) – 416,000
6 – Paul Phua (Malaysia) – 318,000
7 – Jason Koon (USA) – 257,000

Talal Shakerchi emerged victorious in the 2023 Triton Super High Roller Series Vietnam $100,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event, after outlasting a competitive field of 135 entries. This win marked his first Triton Poker title, earning him the top prize of $3,250,000. Despite being a seasoned high-stakes poker player and amassing over $12.8 million in tournament earnings, the 59-year-old British investment manager remains modest and claims to prioritize his business endeavors over poker.

“Poker is my hobby and I want to play the best players. That’s how you get satisfaction out of any activity that you do. Challenge yourself and try to do the best you can,” Shakerchi told Triton reporters after coming out on top. “I’m not a professional player. I spend quite a lot of time playing poker. It’s my main hobby. But I’m definitely not a pro.”

This event played out over the course of three days at the Hoiana Resort & Golf in Quang Nam, Vietnam. The 135-entry turnout, the largest ever in a Triton series main event, resulted in a $13,500,000 prize pool. The top 20 finishers made the money, with big names like World Poker Tour and European Poker Tour champion Michael Watson (20th), bracelet winner Sam Greenwood (19th), nine-time bracelet winner Erik Seidel (18th), all-time tournament earnings second-ranked Bryn Kenney (17th), and 2022 Coin Rivet Invitational champion Sam Grafton (16th) all cashing but falling short of the final table.

The 2023 Triton Super High Roller Series Vietnam $100,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event was held over three days at the Hoiana Resort & Golf in Quang Nam, Vietnam. A record-breaking 135 entries created a $13,500,000 prize pool, with the top 20 players making money. Notable players such as Michael Watson, Sam Greenwood, Erik Seidel, Bryn Kenney, and Sam Grafton cashed but failed to make the final table.

After Day 2, nine players remained, with Talal Shakerchi in the lead and Adrian Mateos and Fedor Holz among the heavy hitters with above-average stacks. Roman Hrabec and Winfred Yu were the first to go at the final table, followed by Nick Petrangelo, Timothy Adams, and Holz. Mateos was eliminated in fourth place, and Daniel Smiljkovic finished in third place. Shakerchi entered heads-up play with a slight lead and eventually won the title when Michael Soyza, the runner-up, called his all-in with QJ and lost to Shakerchi’s Ad7d. Shakerchi won $3,250,000, and Soyza received $2,207,000 for his second-place finish.

Soyza earned a career-high payday of $2,207,000 as the runner-up finisher, growing his lifetime total earnings to nearly $12.7 million.

Event #9 – 100,000 NLH Main Event
Dates: March 8-10, 2023
Entries: 135 (inc. 45 re-entries)
Prize pool: 13,500,000

1 – Talal Shakerchi (UK) – 3,250,000
2 – Michael Soyza (Malaysia) – 2,207,000
3 – Daniel Smiljkovic (Germany) – 1,450,000
4 – Adrian Mateos (Spain) – 1,201,000
5 – Fedor Holz (Germany) – 965,000
6 – Timothy Adams (Canada) – 756,000
7 – Nick Petrangelo (USA) – 566,800
8 – Winfred Yu (Hong Kong) – 418,400
9 – Roman Hrabec (Czech Republic) – 324,000

Orpen Kisacikoglu took down the Triton Poker 75K Super High Roller at the 2023 Triton Super High Roller Series Vietnam. Kisacikoglu ended on top of the 85 entries by beating Stephen Chidwick to secure his first Triton trophy and the top prize of $1,753,000.

This was the second-largest score yet for the Turkish businessman and poker player, trailing only the $2,117,316 he earned for a runner-up showing in the 2022 Triton Madrid €100,000 buy-in event. Orpen Kisacikoglu now has more than $13.1 million in lifetime earnings, adding to his already considerable lead on the Turkish all-time money list. He now sits nearly $9.5 million ahead of second-ranked Selahaddin Bedir ($3,656,325).

This event played out over the course of two days at the Hoiana Resort & Golf in Quang Nam. Several hours into day 2, the money bubble burst when Daniel Dvoress’ Q-10 lost to the K-5 of Michael Soyza in a battle of the blinds. The Canadian bracelet winner was the last player eliminated outside of the money. After Adrian Mateos (11th – $159,500) and David Yan (110th – $159,500) hit the rail, Soyza ultimately found himself eliminated on the official final table bubble when his pocket aces were cracked by the pocket jacks of Stephen Chidwick. Soyza earned $182,500 as the ninth-place finisher.

The next key clash was a three-way all-in, with Rob Yong and Punnat Punsri at risk. Yong held A-K, while Punsri had pocket fives. Santhosh Suvarna had both opponents covered and held the best hand with pocket aces. A safe runout saw Suvarna score the double knockout, sending Yong home with $239,000 for his eighth-place showing while Punsri earned $306,000 as the seventh-place finisher.

Bracelet winner and four-time Triton Poker champion Jason Koon was the next to fall. He lost a big flip with pocket nines against the A-10 suited of Kisacikoglu to slide down the leaderboard. He then got all-in with A-10 trailing the A-Q of Kisacikoglu. Koon found no help and was knocked out in sixth place ($389,000). He now has more than $42.3 million in lifetime earnings.

By the time the next key hand arose, both Suvarna and Steve O’Dwyer were sitting with fewer than eight big blinds. Chidwick opted to open shove from the cutoff with A-8. Henrik Hecklen, who was third in chips at the time, went into the tank before calling off his stack with A-J suited. Hecklen was in great shape to double up, but the board brought four hearts to give Chidwick a flush. Hecklen earned $497,500 for his fifth-place showing, surpassing $10 million in recorded tournament earnings in the process.

Suvarna’s run in this event came to an end when he got the last of his short stack in with A-7 leading the Q-J suited of Chidwick. The flop gave Chidwick an open-ended straight draw to go with his two live cards, making him a favorite in the hand. The turn brought a king to give Chidwick an unbeatable king-high straight. The river was a mere formality and Suvarna was eliminated in fourth place, securing a career-best $628,000 as the fourth-place finisher.

O’Dwyer soon followed when his pocket queens were cracked by the 8-7 suited of Chidwick, who shoved from the small blind. O’Dwyer called from the big and was well ahead going into the flop. Chidwick picked up an open-ended straight draw right away. After a brick on the turn, O’Dywer was more than a 4:1 favorite to double up. A five on the end completed Chidwick’s draw, though, and sent O’Dwyer to the rail with $816,000. The score saw his lifetime earnings grow to nearly $36 million.

Heads-up play began with Chidwick holding 9,850,000 to Kisacikoglu’s 7,150,000. It was all Chidwick in the early going, and he steadily chipped up to roughly a 2:1 lead before Kisacikoglu was able to pull off a river bluff to secure his first big pot of the match. Chidwick struck back, winning a big pot without showdown having outflopped Kisacikoglu’s pocket sevens with his A-J suited.

Chidwick held a slight lead when the decisive hand of heads-up was dealt. He raised from the big blind with 9Spade Suit2Club Suit after Kisacikoglu had limped in with AClub Suit2Heart Suit from the button. Kisacikoglu called and the flop came down ASpade Suit3Heart Suit2Spade Suit. Chidwick made a continuation bet and Kisacikoglu called with his aces up. Chidwick turned nines up when the 9Heart Suit hit the board. Chidwick bet again and Kisacikoglu moved all-in. Chidwick called and got the bad news that he needed a nine on the river to win the pot. The QClub Suit completed the board and Kisacikoglu took a commanding lead.

Chidwick was left with just a few big blinds after the hand. He was soon all-in with KDiamond Suit6Diamond Suit facing the KClub Suit6Club Suit of Kisacikoglu. Statistically, the hand would be chopped 93 percent of the time. In this particular instance, though, the AHeart SuitJClub Suit5Spade Suit4Club SuitQClub Suit runout saw Kisacikoglu make a backdoor flush to secure the pot and the title.

Chidwick was awarded $1,245,000 as the runner-up finisher. This was already his fourth final-table finish of the year. The two-time POY award winner now sits in 27th place in this year’s rankings, with 1,716 points and nearly $2.1 million in to-date POY earnings. This score increased his career earnings to $47,260,473, keeping him in fourth place on poker’s all-time money list.

Event #7 – 75,000 NLH – 8 – Handed
Dates: March 6-7, 2023
Entries: 85 (inc. 28 re-entries)
Prize pool: 6,375,000

1 – Orpen Kisacikoglu (Turkey) – 1,753,000
2 – Stephen Chidwick (UK) – 1,245,000
3 – Steve O’Dwyer (Ireland) – 816,000
4 – Santhosh Suvarna (India) – 628,000
5 – Henrik Hecklen (Denmark) – 497,500
6 – Jason Koon (USA) – 389,000
7 – Punnat Punsri (Thailand) – 306,000
8 – Rob Yong (UK) – 239,000
9 – Michael Soyza (Malaysia) – 182,500
10 – David Yan (New Zealand) – 159,500
11 – Adrian Mateos (Spain) – 159,500

The 32-year-old from the Netherlands, known to many by his screen name ‘Graftekkel’, Jans Arends battled through a 171 entrants to win the 2023 Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Vietnam $30,000 seven-max event for $921,178.

This spring, Jans Arends decided to make the trip to Hoiana Resort & Golf in Quang Nam, Vietnam for the latest Triton Poker high-stakes festival. The decision has turned out to be a profitable one, as Arends has managed to record his two largest live tournament scores ever during the early days of the series. He placed second in the $15,000 buy-in seven-max event for $406,000 on Mar. 3, and then two days later emerged victorious in the $30,000 seven-max event for $921,178. Thanks to these two massive paydays, Arends now has recorded earnings of nearly $2.3 million.

“I play a little bit of live throughout the year, but last time I saw the Triton stream, I thought it looked so good I thought, ‘OK let’s go for it,’” Arends told Triton reporters after coming out on top. “The next one was Vietnam. It was an easy decision.”

Jans Arends’ two deep runs in Vietnam saw him take home not only more than $1.3 million in prize money but also 1,872 Card Player Player of the Year points. As a result, he now sits inside the top 20 in the 2023 POY race standings, which are sponsored by Global Poker.

Arends defeated a field of 171 entries to secure the title and the lion’s share of the $5,130,000 prize pool. He entered the official final table is second chip position, trailing only fellow bracelet winner Brian Kim.

The UK’s Oscar Brodkin lost most of his stack when his multi-street bluff was looked up by the aces up of World Poker Tour champion Jonathan Jaffe. Brodkin ran K-J suited into the A-2 suited of Arends in the following hand and lost to a rivered flush for the Dutchman to hit the rail in seventh place ($203,000).

Biao Ding busted in sixth place ($275,000) when his K-8 suited could not hold against the K-3 of Arends, who flopped two pair. With that, Arends took a healthy lead into five-handed action.

Seth Davies’ run in this event came to an end when his pocket jacks were outraced by the K-Q suited of Jaffe. Davies was awarded $353,700 and 455 POY points for his fifth-place showing. This was already his eighth POY-qualified final table of the year, with nearly $2.4 million in earnings accrued across those cashes. The WPT champion now sits in fourth place in the POY standings thanks to his impressive start to 2023.

Kim lost a flip to Kiat Lee to be left with less than two big blinds. He managed one double-up, but was ultimately knocked out in fourth when his K-2 ran into the pocket tens of Jaffe. Kim secured a career-high payday of $441,000 for his second final-table finish of the series.

Jaffe took the lead into three-handed play, but after he lost some big pots to slide to the bottom of the counts, the final three decided to discuss a deal. They ultimately decided to set aside $90,000 and the title to play for while locking in the following payouts based:

Kiat Lee – $851,932
Jans Arends – $831,178
Jonathan Jaffe – $766,890

After the deal was agreed upon, Arends won a big flip against Jaffe, with his A-Q besting pocket deuces to see him overtake the lead going into heads-up play. Jaffe’s negotiated payday of more than three-quarters of a million dollars was the largest recorded score of his career. It grew his lifetime earnings to nearly $7.4 million.

Lee landed the first big blow of the heads-up bout, winning a healthy pot with trips to even things up. Lee held a slight lead when the decisive hand was dealt. He limped in from the button with 7Heart Suit7Club Suit and Arends shoved from the big blind with ADiamond Suit4Diamond Suit. Lee made the call and was in good shape to secure the title, but the board came down AClub SuitJHeart Suit8Club Suit2Heart Suit4Diamond Suit to give Arends aces up and a massive chip lead.

The very next hand, Lee picked up 9Spade Suit9Diamond Suit and got all-in against the ASpade SuitKClub Suit of arends. The ADiamond Suit8Diamond Suit7Diamond SuitKSpade Suit10Spade Suit runout locked up the pot and the title for Arends, while Lee was eliminated as the runner-up. Like Jaffe, the payout he agreed upon in the deal ($851,932) was the largest of his career. He now has nearly $4 million in recorded earnings.

Triton Poker $30,000 Buy-In Final Table Results:

1 – Jans Arends (Netherlands) – 921,178
2 – Kiat Lee (Malaysia) – 851,932
3 – Jonathan Jaffe (USA) – 766,890
4 – Brian Kim (USA) – 441,000
5 – Seth Davies (USA) – 353,700
6 – Biao Ding (China) – 275,000
7 – Oscar Brodkin (UK) – 203,000
8 – Daniel Dvoress (Canada) – 149,000
9 – Kayhan Mokri (Norway) – 119,000

The inaugural European Poker Tour (EPT) Paris main event attracted a total of 1,606 entries to the Hyatt Regency Paris Étoile, the sixth-largest turnout in the tour’s history. As a result, the prize pool for the €5,300 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament surged to more than $8.1 million when rendered in US dollars. After two starting flights and five more days of action, 34-year-old Razvan Belea emerged victorious with the title and the top prize of $1,251,900.

“This is unreal. It’s all I’ve ever dreamed of since I started playing poker,” Belea said after coming out on top. “I was watching EPTs all the time, played a couple, and now I’m here. It’s an unbelievable feeling. Everything is possible,” the champion said during the winner’s ceremony.

This victory saw Belea write his name in the history books as the first player from Romania to capture an EPT main event title.

“I’m glad I can do this for you guys,” Belea said when asked about his trailblazing win.

While a multi-table tournament champion will usually walk away with an impressive return on investment for the event, Belea ended up with an eyewatering 220,655 percent ROI thanks to the fact that he satellited into this tournament for just €530 online. This was the largest live tournament cash of Belea’s career, by a margin of nearly $1.2 million.

The top 239 finishers cashed in this event, with big names that ran deep including bracelet winner Andrew Lichtenberger (100th), four-time bracelet winner Adrian Mateos (91st), Johan ‘YoH Viral’ Guilbert (78th), four-time bracelet winner Benny Glaser (69th), bracelet winner Stefan Schillhabel (46th), high-stakes regular TReun Mulder (43rd), Gaelle Baumann (33rd), bracelet winner Ben Heath (26th), Kenny Hallaert (19th), two-time bracelet winner Manig Loeser (18th), bracelet winner Arthur Conan (14th), bracelet winner harry Lodge (13th), and high-stakes online tournament superstar Niklas ‘Lena900’ Astedt (12th).

Belea came into the final day of this week-long tournament as the chip leader with just five players remaining. Henri Kasper was the first to fall, with his A-6 suited running into the A-K of Peter Jorgne. Kasper was drawing dead after the turn and was eliminated in fifth place ($339,244).

The UK’s Brian Delaney lost a big pot with top pair versus a flush draw to fall to the bottom of the leaderboard. He soon got all-in with his A-K leading the K-Q of Belea, but a queen-high runout sent the pot to the Romanian. Delaney earned $441,054 as the fourth-place finisher.

Recent World Poker Tour Prime Paris main event champion Fabrice Bigot was the next to find himself all-in and at risk. He lost a big chunk of his stack in a clash with Jorgne to find himself with fewer than 10 big blinds. Bigot got all-in with AClub SuitQClub Suit leading the 7Spade Suit5Spade Suit of Belea. The board came down KHeart SuitKDiamond Suit6Heart Suit8Diamond Suit9Club Suit and Belea rivered a nine-high straight to drag the pot.

Bigot earned $573,360 and 1,440 Card Player Player of the Year points for his podium finish. With 2,400 total points and $767,750 in year-to-date POY earnings, Bigot is now the fourth-ranked player in the 2023 POY race sponsored by Global Poker.

Final Table Results EPT Paris €5,300 Main Event

Heads-up play began with Belea holding more than a 2:1 chip lead over Jorgne. The Swedish player started off by closing the gap slightly, but Belea was still well ahead when the final hand of the tournament was dealt. Belea min-raised on the button with 7Club Suit6Spade Suit and Jorgne called with 10Heart Suit6Heart Suit from the big blind. The flop came down 10Spade Suit5Spade Suit3Club Suit. Jorgne checked his top pair and then raised Belea’s continuation bet. Belea called with his gutshot and then made a straight on the turn when the 4Heart Suit rolled off the deck.

Jorgne bet 2,600,000 and Belea thought it over before raising to 5,600,000. Jorgne called, leaving himself around 9.3 million behind. The river paired the board with the 4Club Suit. Jorgne moved all-in and Belea made the call, locking up the pot and the title. Jorgne took home $834,707 as the runner-up.

In addition to the seven-figure top prize, Belea also secured 2,160 POY points as the champion, enough to move him inside the top ten in the POY standings.

Gambling movies are always great fun, and you definitely can’t go wrong with the titles above. From the gruesome violence in Casino Royale to the light-hearted tricks of Maverick, there are gambling movies for every taste. It’s even possible to learn a thing or two about poker if you pay enough attention.

American poker pro, Chris Brewer, taken down the €50,000 Super High Roller at the European Poker Tour (EPT) Paris for his second EPT title. Chris Brewer beat a tough field of 50 players to take home the first-place prize of €959,520.

Brewer’s journey to the title was a rollercoaster ride, filled with ups and downs. He entered the final day as the chip leader, but lost some ground early on. However, he managed to stay focused and patient, waiting for the right moments to strike.

Final table results for the €50,000 Super High Roller:

• 1st – Chris Brewer (USA) – €959,520
• 2nd – Jules Dickerson (United Kingdom) – €623,800
• 3rd – Nick Petrangelo (United States) – €443,000
• 4th – Pedro Marques (Portugal) – €340,700
• 5th – Gregoire Auzoux (France) – €262,300
• 6th – Dimitar Danchev (Bulgaria) – €201,500
• 7th – Steve O’Dwyer (Ireland) – €155,100
• 8th – Thomas Muehloecker (Austria) – €120,000

Brewer was posing for another winner’s photo in the €50,000 Super High Roller event. A total of 50 entries pushed the prize pool north of $3.4 million with notables Thomas Muhlocker, Steve O’ Dwyer, and Pedro Marques among those who made the money. Brewer defeated Jules Dickerson in heads-up play to take home the win and hoist the trophy.

Brewer’s haul for the two-day event was €959,520 (which exchanges to $1,026,159) – technically his first million-dollar score.

And that’s a score that he had a legit shot at just 18 months ago. At the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas Brewer was one of the final four players battling it out in Super High Roller Bowl VI. Joining Brewer at the table were high-roller titans Sean Winter, Justin Bonomo, and Michael Addamo. Brewer was sitting third in chips when a big-stacked Bonomo made a move on the button to put pressure on the short-stacked Winter and Brewer. When Brewer woke up with Diamond ASpade Q he made the call. Bonomo turned over Heart 10Heart 4 and ended up making a flush and sending Brewer to the rail in painful fashion. Winter went on pick up the $1,008,000 third-place prize 10 minutes later.

While there were plenty of needles about Brewer’s penchant for bubbling to be had over the past 12 months, a quick look at his 2022 would prove that he took a pro’s approach to variance and continued to grind. Last year alone, Brewer racked up nearly $3 million of his career $7.8 million including an impressive 10 six-figure scores.

It’s likely that the memory of finishing fourth in the Super High Roller Bowl VI (and missing out on that million-dollar-plus score) may never fade, but results like what Brewer had this week in Paris can turn those once-open wounds into story-telling scars that were simply a necessary experiences to help him get to where he is today.

ACR Online Super Series returning February 6th to February 28th. This promises to be one of the biggest online poker tournament series of the year 2023.

Major Events of ACR Online Super Series:

• $630 buy-in $750,000 GTD on Sunday, February 12th
• $630 buy-in $1 Million GTD: Day 1’s on Feb. 18th/19th, Day 2 on Monday, Feb. 20th
• $2,650 buy-in $1 Million GTD: Day 1’s on Feb. 23rd/26th, Day 2 on Monday, Feb. 27th

Multiflight Events:

• $630 buy-in $2 Million GTD: Day 1 Flights from Feb. 6th-27th, Day 2 on Monday, Feb. 27th
• $215 buy-in $1 Million GTD: Day 1 Flights from Feb. 6th-27th, Day 2 on Monday, Feb. 27th
• $22 buy-in $150,000 GTD: Day 1 Flights from Feb. 6th-26th, Day 2 on Sunday, Feb. 26th

Of course, just because there’s big money up for grabs doesn’t mean the series is only for high rollers. Yes, there are tournaments with buy-ins up to $2,650, but there are also buy-ins that start at just $3.30. ACR has packed this OSS with more micro-stakes tournaments than ever before, along with their multitude of ways to win seats at a discount with qualifiers, mega-satellites, and steps.

The inaugural PGT Mixed Games series is officially in the books, and by all accounts, the festival was a marked success. Dan Zack, a professional poker player from Michigan, recently earned the Player of the Series honors in the PokerGO Studio at ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, with the kickoff event setting the record for a PokerGO owned-and-operated tournament with 70 unique players. In the end, it was New Jersey poker pro Dan Zack who was crowned the PGT Mixed Games champion. The 30-year-old cashed in five of the eight tournaments held, the most in-the-money finishes of any player. His total earnings of $524,700 were also the highest tally of any competitor. With 352 PGT points secured along the way, Zack was awarded the series champion’s trophy and $25,000 in added prize money as the player of the series.

“It’s incredible. It is so nice to have this,” Zack told PokerGO reporters when asked about this mixed-game-focused festival. “There are no mixed game tournaments outside of the WSOP before this at reasonable stakes. It’s incredible to have another chance a year to play these events, given how fun mixed game tournaments are, and how much demand there is for them in the high-stakes mixed community.”

“I think it’s already becoming more popular each year at the series,” Zack said about the current popularity of mixed-game events. “The numbers have been going up, and the turnout here beat everyone’s expectations. I was trying to get over bets down on all these events before the series started. I think the momentum that is already existing is just going to continue toward mixed games.”

In addition to securing this player of the series award, Zack is also the reigning WSOP Player of the Year, having won two bracelets and cashed for more than $1.4 million across 16 in-the-money finishes last summer. With the more than half a million dollars he secured at this series included, Zack now has lifetime earnings in excess of $3.5 million.

“Unlike the WSOP, there is so little control you have over it because it’s only eight events,” Zack said on if winning Player of the Series was his goal. “At the WSOP, you can play so much volume that you give yourself a really good chance to win. But here everyone can play the same volume, so you really have to run hot. I was very happy to do that. Happy to win it.”

Below is a look at Zack’s five cashes made during the PGT Mixed Games series:

Zack ended up cashing in five consecutive events, missing out on only the first two and the final tournament on the schedule. He recorded his first cash of the series in event no. 3, the $10,300 triple stud tournament. He placed third from a field of 60 entries for $84,000 and 84 points. In the very next event, he added another $27,600 and 28 points with an eighth-place showing in the $10,300 buy-in big bet mix, which drew 69 entries.

The back half of the schedule began with Zack recording another deep run, this time placing seventh in the triple draw mix event from another 69-entry turnout. Zack earned $34,500 when his seven draw was unable to improve enough to beat the jack-six low of eventual runner-up Alex Livingston. Zack also hit the rail in the next event, the dealer’s choice tournament, while playing a lowball draw game. He ran into a 9-8-6-5-4 ion a round of no-limit deuce-to-seven single draw and was knocked out in sixth place ($33,600).

Zack saved his largest payday for last. He finished second from a field of 57 entries in the $25,000 buy-in 10-game championship event, earning $345,000 after striking a heads-up deal with eventual winner Jason Mercier that redistributed the remaining prize money. Zack made it down to the final two with a slight lead, and the final two agreed to flip until a winner was decided. Mercier won the key first pot-limit Omaha flip to gain a commanding chip advantage. Zack doubled up his short stack twice, but ran into a wheel for Mercier on the next all-in and was knocked out in second place.

By making the top two, Zack had officially locked up the win in the points race. Here is a look at the final top ten in the PGT Mixed Games standings:

Photos provided by PokerGO. Credit to Antonio Abrego.