Mr. Mixed Games

Robbie Strazynski’s Mixed Game Festival at Resorts World in Las Vegas offers players a chance to try more than 50 different poker variants at a reasonable price point. (Image: Dan Michalski / Casinos.com)

LAS VEGAS -- Robbie Strazynski rolled into the poker room at Resorts World casino with a box and a carry-on suitcase full of t-shirts and swag. 

“I just got them straight off the printer,” he says, slicing open a package of 200 trifold, full-color brochures. “You can see the receipts in Hebrew.”

Strazynski had just arrived in Las Vegas from Israel (via Atlanta). After a stop at the PokerGO Studios at Aria, he made his way to Resorts World, where he brings a burst of energy to an otherwise quiet Friday afternoon poker room floor. 

“Hi Robbie, good to see you again!”

“You too, Coach.”

“Welcome back to Las Vegas, Robbie!”

“Hi, Miriam, so good to see you!" 

“You look like you've got your hands full."

“Hi, Angel!" ... "Hello, Leon!"

Hugs and pleasantries abound. A manager dropped by. A slots and floor games supervisor popped in. A few players and dealers and front desk personnel also gave warm greetings. “I heard a rumor [Robbie] was around. I just swung by to say hi.”

Strazynski is here to host Cardplayer Lifestyle’s Mixed Game Festival X, as in number 10. 

The festival is a multiday event that has grown steadily since its 2021 debut at Westgate Las Vegas. This edition -- the seventh at Resorts World -- kicked off Sunday at noon and is running through Thursday, Feb. 20.

“There are a lot of mixed game lovers who want to play for low stakes together,” Strazynski says. “At first we just wanted to see if it would work, but now we know the interest is there.”

This festival’s events include two $300 tournaments, free lessons, and a day dedicated to a newly popular game (with multiple variants) called Drawmaha. (Image: Cardplayer Lifestyle)

From Casual Meetup to Recurring Festival

The idea for organized mixed games came about when Strazynski began traveling to Las Vegas to cover the World Series of Poker for Cardplayer Lifestyle, a site he founded in 2009. The idea took root during WSOP trips when poker media friends set up impromptu late-night mixed games after they got off duty.

“They would put out the call at one in the morning to see who’s available, and people would come,” Strazynski recalls. “It looked like fun.” 

He says after seeing these games take shape online a few times he finally went to one, which confirmed to him how fun playing these mixed games could be, especially with other people who were happy to learn them together. 

“I went in 2017, 2018, 2019,” he says, “and eventually realized, you know what’s missing? Planning.”

Strazynski says he “knew there were more people than those who happen to be here right now who would love to play in this.” 

After hashing out some ideas with PokerStars to offer special prizes, he was set to announce the first Mixed Game Festival in March 2020. Then, of course, COVID hit, which delayed his poker experiment for 18 months.

But since then he hasn’t slowed down, and interest hasn’t waned. 

Strazynski, a work-from-home blogger in the Israeli West Bank, now has partnerships with multiple host casinos, as well as PokerGO, PokerCoaching.com, RunGoodGear, the Ladies International Poker Series and D&B Publishing. 

His ability to “put butts in seats,” as he describes it, makes him valuable to casinos looking to expand their offerings beyond No-Limit Hold’em.  

“If you get all the mixed game lovers who want to play for low stakes together, and give them dates and say, come, then like the Avengers they’ll assemble,” Strazynski says. “That’s what I tried to create. It's the kind of thing that if someone else were doing it, I'd be banging down the door to attend myself.”

Wild Games, No Wildcards

Unlike the No-Limit Hold’em seen on TV and Pot-Limit Omaha popular on the internet, these are dealer’s choice mixed games: Stud-8, Badugi, Badeucey, Badacey, Crazy Pineapple—more than 50 variations of poker have been played so far.

These include classic games from poker’s past like 7-Card Stud and 5-Card Draw, as well as newfangled spins on games that otherwise might seem lost in a bracelet-less oblivion.

“You’ve heard of Razz, right? Now it’s ‘Action Razz’ people want to play,” he says. “Blood River is another popular one, where you just keep on dealing until you finally hit a red card. There’s Squid Game, there’s Watermelon, all sorts of wacky things. We’re going to have a whole day teaching people to play Drawmaha.”

“We’ll let anyone bring their own game. Just no games with wildcards.”

The Mixed Game Festival began with a focus on cash games, and that’s still the bulk of the action. But the week also includes tournaments. This week’s $300 O/E event (Omaha-8 and Stud-8), named in honor of the late pro “Miami” John Cernuto, who won the first O/E Mixed Game Festival tournament, drew 36 players and paid out $3,395 to the winner. 

On Thursday, a $300 HEROS tournament (a reordered twist on HORSE) will award, in addition to money from the prize pool, two $750 satellite seats for a $5,300 event at the PGT Mixed Games Series, running next week at the PokerGO Studios at Aria.

Strazynski says one seat will go to the HEROS tournament winner, and the other will be given away as a bounty prize. “Whoever’s still in when late registration closes has a shot,” he says.

The Low-Stakes Appeal of Fun

Strazynski’s festival offers an inviting space for players to experiment with new games without the cutthroat atmosphere that can deaden so many poker games. The goal, he says, is to provide a low-stakes environment where players can learn new games and enjoy the social aspect of poker.

“No matter what happens, it won’t be a bloodbath,” Strazynski explains. “Maybe you lose a couple hundred bucks, but you’ll have fun, you’ll meet people and will learn something new.”

So far, the festival has drawn a melange of longtime mixed-game grinders with players dipping their toes into non-Hold’em waters for the first time. 

“We’ve had guys and ladies who’ve won bracelets, and people who’ve played in high rollers but have never touched these games before,” he says. “They sit down, and suddenly they’re hooked.”

The mixed games action Strazynski provides has drawn notable pros like Greg Raymer, Linda Johnson, Jan Fisher, Eli Elezra, Ari Engel and Chip Jett among others, along with industry insiders and personalities such as Matt Savage, Norman Chad, Lupe Soto and the same poker media friends who initially inspired the idea that has since become Cardplayer Lifestyle’s niche.

What’s Next in the Mix?

Strazynski says this current event at Resorts World is one of three Mixed Game Festivals he will host in Las Vegas this year. The next will be at Bellagio in the summer to coincide with the World Series of Poker. 

“It will be our biggest festival ever,” Strazynski says, “and that’s not just hype.” This one will last a full two weeks during the WSOP.

Logistically, he says, it could be one of his biggest challenges to date -- arranging personal travel over 7,500 miles while maintaining his own site and coordinating international shipping of merchandise and staying connected with sponsors. 

“There’s so much work that goes into it. There's a tiny part of me that wishes I could just show up and play, Strazynski says. “But I don’t treat it like work because I love it. And when you love it, it doesn't feel like work.”