The ultimate day of Combined Recreation Competition XIV as soon as once more noticed 4 full tables in motion, with $4/8 and $6/12 (the latter at the very least for about half the day) seller’s alternative mixes working within the Bellagio poker site.
The principle order of the day was, after all, the ultimate $3,500 BetMGM Poker Championship seat giveaway. As defined within the Day 9 recap, to win the seat, gamers have been tasked with a problem of making an attempt to guess the precise event chip worth contained in a clear field.
As you possibly can think about, this generated a slightly jovial environment within the room, with these in attendance trying artistic methodologies to determine it out.
In the long run, it was Patrick Ang, our latest Participant of the Day choose, who submitted the closest guess, securing a seat within the $4,000,000 assured occasion. The others who got here shut, in a real competition style, picked up some comfort prizes.
Are You Good at Counting?
Primary math abilities are obligatory for any poker participant, so to conclude Combined Recreation Competition XIV in model, these abilities have been put to the take a look at. The duty was easy sufficient (in concept): have a look at a clear field containing a bunch of chips, work out what the entire is, and submit your finest guess.
📣 It’s the FINAL DAY of @cardplayerlife‘s Combined Recreation Competition XIV at @BellagioPoker and we’re making a gift of a @BetMGMPoker Championship Seat! 🥳📽️ https://t.co/W28YFUIucy🔗 https://t.co/K0u0CjbrMX♠️♥️♣️♦️#PokerLifeMedia #MGFXIV #FindTheFountains #JoinTheFestival pic.twitter.com/W0JHq5cSs6
— Cardplayer Life-style (@PokerLifeMedia) June 11, 2026
The prize for this “easy” match problem was a hefty one, because the closest guess would bag a seat within the upcoming $3,500 BetMGM Poker Championship, an enormous poker event with a $4,000,000 prize pool.
To be eligible, gamers needed to be seated at one of many tables. At any level in the course of the five-hour window, they may stroll as much as the field, use no matter technique they thought finest (with out truly opening the field), and submit their guess. However there have been no second pictures – when you submit your quantity, it’s locked in.
📣👉 How nicely do you depend? Come right down to @BellagioPoker and be part of within the enjoyable of @cardplayerlife‘s Combined Recreation Competition XIV! Then put your arithmetic abilities to good use as you possibly can win a @BetMGMPoker Championship seat! 🧮🥳♠️♥️♣️♦️#PokerLifeMedia #MGFXIV pic.twitter.com/GW41h4aoDh
— Cardplayer Life-style (@PokerLifeMedia) June 11, 2026
The field was shaken, stirred, and took some abuse over the course of these few hours. Some gamers even tried to make the most of AI know-how alongside photograph imagery! Finally, all gamers settled on their numbers. With that a part of the competitors out of the best way, it was time for Robbie and Bellagio Poker Director Craig Larson to withdraw to a backroom, examine all of the guesses, and examine them to the precise quantity.
Even with AI instruments, no participant managed to appropriately guesstimate the precise chip worth contained within the field, which got here out to 688,500. The closest guess, nevertheless, got here from Patrick Ang of Ottawa, Canada. Patrick was over the moon to win the ticket, stating that, with that prize within the bag, “he was now even for the journey!”
Large congrats to Pat Ang, winner of our last Grand Prize right here at Combined Recreation Competition XIV at @BellagioPoker!
He’s now bought a $3500 seat to the 2026 @BetMGMPoker Championship! pic.twitter.com/rCtTnOhdHN
— Robbie Strazynski (@cardplayerlife) June 12, 2026
As talked about, different shut guesses acquired good prizes within the type of poker books, clothes and card decks, courtesy of D&B Poker, RunGoodGear and Light Spade. In a lighthearted second, the participant who made the worst guess (i.e., the one which was truly furthest away from the proper quantity) was additionally given a sweet bar, to the amusement of the assembled mass of gamers.
PokerCoaching.com Participant of the Day: Doug Murphy
Spending his time between Las Vegas and South and Central America is Doug Murphy, our last choose for the PokerCoaching.com Participant of the Day.
After retiring from his job as a deputy sheriff in 2019, Doug found a extremely low-cost and funky technique to journey by home and pet sitting, and he’s been doing it since 2021. This gave him a chance to go to locations like Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, and extra.
His poker beginnings go a lot additional again. Initially from Idaho, he began enjoying in Montana as quickly as he turned 18. Whereas he can’t recall precisely what attracted him to strive the sport, as this was earlier than the poker growth, he caught round as a result of he loved the corporate on the tables.
He tells us that being the youngest man within the room, surrounded by gamers of their 60s and 70s, a lot of whom have been veterans, was actually fascinating, and he bought to listen to some wonderful tales.
By way of preferences, combined video games, particularly of the Omaha selection, are his go-to. He “missed” the primary week of the Combined Recreation Competition as a result of he didn’t learn about it, however when he heard the information from considered one of his fellow non-Maintain’em poker aficionados, he rushed over to Bellagio.
So far as his expertise over the course of the couple of days, Doug admits that not listening to the placard on the desk can humble you in a short time, and that paying consideration is essential in combined video games.
When he’s not in Vegas, he prefers to remain at locations that supply good poker motion, and he shared with us that Bogota, Colombia, has an amazing poker site that spreads NLHE and PLO! Along with serving to him quench his thirst for the sport, he sees it as an amazing place and alternative to follow his Spanish.
RunGood Gear Vendor of the Day: Stephanie Shen
We’re concluding our RunGood Gear Vendor of the Day sequence of Combined Recreation Competition XIV with Stephanie Shen. Not like many we’ve talked to over the span of the Competition, she’s solely been in Las Vegas since final yr, having immigrated from Guangzhou, China.
Stephanie has waited a very long time to maneuver to the US, as she and her husband submitted the request 15 years in the past. Her mother-in-law has been dwelling in Las Vegas for 20 years, and he or she has now lastly been reunited along with her solely son.
Stephanie has children of her personal, two 16-year-old twin boys, and he or she feels very lucky with all of the alternatives this metropolis has to supply. She tells us she ended up working in a on line casino, as many individuals in her circle work on this business, so it felt like a pure path to take.
She began by dealing desk video games, however now Stephanie is getting her bearings as a poker seller, too. Poker is her desire, particularly combined video games, with all of the totally different kinds and dynamics, and he or she desires to achieve extra expertise as a way to transfer from being part-time to full-time at Bellagio. We’re sure that her optimistic angle will, little question, assist lots in attaining that objective!
When not working, Stephanie enjoys touring and seeing new locations. Though she’s solely been within the US for a short while, she’s already had an opportunity to go to Los Angeles, and San Francisco is subsequent on her listing.
Till Subsequent Time…
All issues thought-about, Combined Recreation Competition XIV was an unabashed success! As soon as once more, the occasion completed its major mission, which is to deliver collectively true followers of the sport in a chill and relaxed setting.
From beneficiant giveaways to big-name appearances that included previous Foremost Occasion winners, Poker Corridor of Famers, and beloved broadcasters, to not two pizza events to continuous motion at Bellagio, it was actually an occasion to recollect.
As video games on the final couple of tables petered out and this Combined Recreation Competition drawing to its conclusion, the query on everybody’s thoughts is when the subsequent one will come round.
We don’t have any stable dates or venues to share as of but, however we’ll be focusing on someday within the fall in Las Vegas.
One of the simplest ways to be sure you get the details about the subsequent occasion as quickly as it’s formally accessible is by signing up for the Cardplayer Life-style e-newsletter. It’s fully free, and, as a bonus, you’ll get a month-to-month roundup of some cool and distinctive poker tales, interviews, suggestions, and opinions that you simply received’t discover wherever else.
Till subsequent time, maintain that love for combined video games burning vivid!
