Issues don’t all the time go as deliberate in life, however those that can discover their means across the obstacles and persevere via the hardships are those who make their desires come true. The Cardplayer Life-style Combined Recreation Pageant was imagined to return to Las Vegas for its thirteenth iteration again in March, however resulting from varied geopolitical causes effectively past the management of us mere mortals, it needed to be canceled.
It was a tragic resolution, each for the MGF founder Robbie Strazynski and all of the blended sport followers in Vegas and past, however on reflection it turned out to simply be a bump alongside the street. Just a few months later, the competition is BACK, and if Day 1 of MGF XIV is something to go by, it’s going to be an amazing one!
Combined Recreation Pageant XIV kicked off to a lot fanfare on Could 31, and if numbers are something to go by, they’ll be even stronger for Day 2 when some scrumptious free pizza lunch is thrown into the combination for the gamers.
Robust Motion, Merch Giveaways, and Shock Appearances
Day 1 of MGF XIV began at midday at Bellagio, and it wasn’t lengthy earlier than there have been 4 full tables going. Along with three $4/$8 tables, this was the primary time in Combined Recreation Pageant historical past {that a} $6/$12 sport was unfold. The competition is nothing if not versatile in relation to these requests, aiming to cater to all gamers.
So long as there may be sufficient curiosity, “You possibly can simply… do issues,” as Robbie places it ever so eloquently.
Each time the competition rolls in, it brings with it a bunch of free stuff, courtesy of the sponsors, a few of which have been robust supporters of the occasion for years now.
Chuck Martin obtained his arms on Jonathan Little’s Full Poker Exercise as a particular reward for displaying down a “Zero” in Drawmaha Zero. And if the second a part of this sentence confuses you, it’s onerous to clarify. You simply want to come back over to Bellagio and see it for your self.
Congratulations to @chuckspoker, who simply gained a free copy of @JonathanLittle‘s The Full Poker Exercise (printed by @DBPoker1) for tabling a “Zero” in Drawmaha Zero. 👏 pic.twitter.com/Bje39cFovm
— Cardplayer Life-style (@PokerLifeMedia) Could 31, 2026
One other fortunate participant obtained himself a pleasant setup of enjoying playing cards from Pale Spade, which is able to certainly turn out to be useful for any future residence video games, which the blended sport neighborhood is understood for.
Congratulations to Brad from South Dakota!
He simply gained himself a setup of @FadedSpadeBrand enjoying playing cards for scooping Double Board Omaha “Greatest Greatest” pot.
Some nice added worth available right here at @BellagioPoker throughout Combined Recreation Pageant XIV 😊 pic.twitter.com/Y4y9FNMPv6
— Cardplayer Life-style (@PokerLifeMedia) June 1, 2026
One of many nice issues in regards to the Combined Recreation Pageant is that, though it caters primarily to leisure gamers slightly than hardcore grinders, it by no means fails to draw some massive names, be it Maintain’em specialists seeking to increase their horizons or blended sport beasts who merely love the sport and don’t thoughts spending a number of hours enjoying on the stakes that could possibly be 100 instances decrease than what they often play.
David Bach is definitely within the latter class. The 2009 $50k WSOP Poker Gamers Championship winner and a person with near $5,000,000 in reside match earnings determined to pay his first go to to the competition and splash round enjoying some $4/$8 combine. You simply like to see it!
Shock visitor at @BellagioPoker, welcome to Combined Recreation Pageant XIV previous $50K WSOP Poker Gamers Champion @gunslingerbach!
Man of the individuals, splashing round with us within the $4/8 streets. 👏😊 pic.twitter.com/wXm2zBIayL
— Robbie Strazynski (@cardplayerlife) June 1, 2026
The First Girl of Poker, Linda Johnson, was there to help the competition, as she’s been recognized to do, alongside Jan Fisher. These two have been a number of the best ambassadors for blended video games, and we’re lucky to name them competition regulars.
Poker Corridor of Famer sighting 👀
Welcome to Combined Recreation Pageant XIV, @FirstLadyPoker and @WIPHOF-er @Jan_Fisher
Two of our sport’s most interesting, legendary ambassadors ❤️ pic.twitter.com/gs8UxRmsRz
— Robbie Strazynski (@cardplayerlife) Could 31, 2026
To spherical up the day’s poker glitterati appearances, Tim Duckworth, Director of Reside Occasions and Content material at PokerGO, pulled up a chair. You simply by no means know who you’ll run into on the MGF; we’ll see who else comes out of the woodwork over the following two weeks.
The world’s most well-known aspiring leisure participant @Tim__Duckworth has determined to make an look right here on Day 1 of Combined Recreation Pageant XIV.
We welcome ALL forms of poker gamers right here at @BellagioPoker 😊 pic.twitter.com/QfxOUMa6gM
— Robbie Strazynski (@cardplayerlife) June 1, 2026
PokerCoaching.com Participant of the Day: Christian Feng
We proceed the custom of placing the highlight on one participant on daily basis of the competition, giving them an opportunity to share their ideas, and in addition permitting everybody to see simply how versatile the blended sport neighborhood actually is.
The glory of being the very first PokerCoaching.com Participant of the Day for MGF XIV goes to Christian Feng from San Francisco, California.
Not like many who’ve been popping out for the competition for some time, that is Christian’s first time, and he doesn’t even play blended video games. He’s on the town for the World Sequence of Poker, however having heard in regards to the Combined Recreation Pageant, he figured it was an amazing alternative to find out about new video games in a low-pressure surroundings and with out risking an excessive amount of cash.
He’s a leisure participant with a 9-5 job working in HR for the State Authorities of California who performs small stakes Maintain’em again at residence and comes out to Vegas every year to attempt his luck in some tournaments. These days, although, with blended video games getting extra publicity, he turned focused on increasing his horizons, and when he noticed the information in regards to the competition on X, he determined to present it a attempt.
For Feng, among the best issues about poker (apart from an opportunity to become profitable and obtain match glory) is the chance to fulfill individuals from all walks of life and totally different elements of the world. He says that, to this point, he’s in all probability met individuals from each single US state and over 100 international locations worldwide, all that simply enjoying low stakes No Restrict Texas Maintain’em.
After enjoying blended video games for about eight hours and coming into it with just about zero expertise, he says the entire expertise exceeded his expectations. He discovered different gamers to be very pleasant and inspiring, prepared to assist and supply steering on the tables, which is one thing you simply gained’t discover wherever else.
The way in which he sees it, that is one of the simplest ways to dip your toes into the world of blended video games, and he was truly stunned at how low cost it’s to play, even if you happen to’re a whole newbie.
And that proper there may be actually what the competition is all about!
RunGoodGear Supplier of the Day: Jeremy Fornachon
There are two predominant aspects of each poker occasion. Gamers are there to create the motion, however nothing occurs with out the sellers who work tirelessly to deal the playing cards, push the pots the correct means, and ensure each chip finally ends up precisely the place it belongs.
It takes a particular sort of ability and focus to have the ability to swap between all of the totally different sport codecs, a few of which you’ll hardly see wherever outdoors of the Combined Recreation Pageant, and hold all the things working easy. That’s why the sellers additionally deserve their place within the highlight, and why we proudly convey to you the RunGoodGear Supplier of the Day part of every each day competition recap.
Jeremy Fornachon has been dealing at Bellagio for 2 years, and he says that the very best half about his job is that it appears like a household, and coming to work truly appears like coming residence.
Jeremy has been dealing playing cards for 21 years now, having began his profession at Peppermill in Reno, and labored at a number of card rooms over time earlier than transferring out to Vegas 5 years in the past.
Jeremy says that the primary distinction he sees between on a regular basis gamers and people popping out for the Combined Recreation Pageant is that the blended sport crowd is “actually targeted on having a superb time and having fun with the sport above all the things else.”
When he’s not dealing playing cards, Jeremy likes to spend his time kayaking on the Colorado River and going to baseball video games. As for his skilled aspirations, he’s truly within the strategy of taking the following step and exchanging his seller nametag for that of a supervisor/floorman. We want him the very best of luck!
It’s Go Time!
As is often the case, motion continued deep into the night time at a few tables, with essentially the most devoted of gamers seeking to get the utmost quantity of hours and benefit from the alternative to play blended money video games as a lot as humanly potential.
Day 2 motion kicks off with the standard pizza celebration, and if you happen to additionally wish to safe your seat on the tables, you possibly can name in forward of time at (702) 693-7291 to place your title on the record. Exhibiting up on time by 12pm ensures that you just’ll have a spot.
📣 @cardplayerlife‘s Combined Recreation Pageant XIV, sponsored by @BetMGMPoker, has a PIZZA PARTY tomorrow on the @Bellagio beginning at NOON! 🥳📽️ https://t.co/qZn3UshWcR🔗 https://t.co/K0u0CjaTXp♠️♥️♣️♦️#PokerLifeMedia #MGFXIV #FindTheFountains #JoinTheFestival pic.twitter.com/QcjQj7h3Pv
— Cardplayer Life-style (@PokerLifeMedia) June 1, 2026
On Day 3 of the competition — Tuesday, June 2 — we’ll be staging the occasion’s first massive giveaway, with a $3,500 seat to the 2026 BetMGM Poker Championship awarded to the winner of a blind PLO flip.
Combined video games are again on the town, everybody’s welcome to affix, the motion is enjoyable and reasonably priced, and there’s heaps of additional worth up for grabs, so what’s your excuse for not displaying up? 🙂
