It was an odd Thursday at the PokerGO Studios in Las Vegas. The inaugural running of the PokerGO Tour Mixed Game Series saw another champion crowned in Nick Guagenti. Another event, however, failed to reach a champion due to the way the scheduling breaks down and there is no indication when the final two players will resume the match.
Nick Guagenti Takes Event #5
Event #5, the $10,000 Triple Draw tournament, was set to be a Triple Draw game mix. This meant that three different disciplines – Deuce to Seven Triple Draw, Ace to Five Triple Draw, and Badugi, were all a part of the festivities. Those games, rarely spread in a casino, made sure that there was not a weak spot in any 69 entries came to the tables for what eventually became a $690,000 prize pool.
Previous Mixed Game Series champion Eli Elezra was in the mix, perhaps chasing the Mixed Game Series Overall Champion award, but he would have to go through Event #1 champion Shaun Deeb to do anything. Other tables featured players such as Andrew Yeh, Dan Shak, Todd Brunson, ‘Chino’ Rheem, and Brian Hastings. After a grueling Day One (play did not conclude until after 4 AM), the tournament would be at its six-handed final table.
Guagenti and Alex Livingston were neck-and-neck for the lead with six players left, with Guagenti only 60K in chips behind Livingston at the start of the final table. The other four men on the felt – Damjan Radanov (1.505 million), Mike Thorpe (1.44 million), Mike Gorodinsky (1.36 million), and Dan Shak (725K) – still had a shot at the title, but it seemed from the start that things would come down between Guagenti and Livingston.
Livingston was the first to strike, taking out Radanov in Ace to Five, to extend his lead, but Guagenti would knock off Shak also in Ace to Five to draw up to Livingston. After Livingston defeated Gorodinsky in Ace to Five, Thorpe attempted to instigate deal discussions, but he was flatly rejected (Livingston offered Thorpe $100K, more than the third-place payout, but Thorpe wanted extra money). When Thorpe left in Deuce to Seven for his third-place payday, it was down to Guagenti and Livingston for the title.
Livingston had a healthy lead at the start of heads up (7.45 million to 2.9 million), but Guagenti chopped that down to almost even on the first hand. In Deuce to Seven, Guagenti was able to get three streets of value out of a 7-6-4-3-2, and deal discussions began anew. With the astronomical blinds, Livingston was a bit more acquiescent this time, finally coming to terms and leaving $20K for him and Guagenti to play for.
Over the next ninety minutes, the duo jousted until Guagenti moved out to his own sizeable lead. This time, Guagenti was able to close the deal when, in Deuce to Seven, he would make #1 – 7-5-4-3-2 – and Livingston shot his cards to the muck without a second look, ending the event and crowning Nick Guagenti the winner of Event #5.
1. Nick Guagenti, $171,075*
2. Alex Livingston, $153,225
3. Mike Thorpe, $89,700
4. Mike Gorodinsky, $69,000
5. Dan Shak, $55,200
6. Damjan Radanov, $41,400
Event #4 In Limbo as Heads Up Contestants Pause Tournament
Event #4, the $10,000 Big Bet Mix, was also supposed to crown a champion on Thursday. Alas, the scheduling of the PGT Mixed Game Series saw the final two players of the tournament pause the event. It is also unknown when they will return to finish off the festivities.
Two men, Maxx Coleman and Ben Lamb, had battled down to the final two players in Event #4, but the late registration period was drawing near in Event #6, the $10,000 Dealer’s Choice tournament. Both players wanted to get into that tournament, so they agreed to pause the event to put their hands in that second tournament. It turned out it was a good decision for Lamb, but it also did not lend to a decision as to when Event #4 would resume.
Lamb not only was down to the final two with Coleman in Event #4, but he also worked his way to the final two in the Dealer’s Choice tournament against Scott Abrams. There currently is no decision on which tournament will resume first, but it is known that Event #7, the $25,000 10-Game Championship, will have its first-day action on Friday. We’ll have to keep an eye on the PokerGO Studios in Las Vegas to see how they determine the scheduling for the PGT Mixed Game Series as it works through its final tournaments.
(Photo courtesy of PokerGO.com)
So, they priced all the good players out?