Day 3 of Mixed Game Festival XV is in the books, and it was certainly the most vibrant one so far. This was evident not just in the number of players who showed up at Bellagio, but also in the energy-filled, positive atmosphere that took over the room.
Of course, the sheer number of surprise prizes that were flying left and right certainly helped. Everyone who showed up to play was in a running to get at least something to take home, and quite a few players walked away with at least a small token to remind them of all the fun they had.
The $300 Triple Draw Mix tournament was the highlight of the day, and it ended up attracting 32 entries. Aaron Foust was the last player standing, and he padded his bankroll with $2,823 after a heads-up deal.
Tournament action notwithstanding, it didn’t take anything away from the dealer’s choice cash game action. Day 3 was, in fact, the busiest one so far, kicking off with three tables and the fourth one opening shortly thereafter.
Was it the draw of the Festival, the fact that the last $1,100 ticket to the Bellagio Fall Classic Main Event was up for grabs, or the mix of both? Who knows, but it was quite a day!
Expanded Payouts for the Triple Draw Tournament
As mentioned, the main course of the day was the $300 Triple Draw Mix, and the event turned out 20% more popular than the TORSE tournament from the day before, attracting a total of 32 entries.
Four places were set to be paid, but it wouldn’t be a Mixed Game Festival without a surprise twist. 🙂
While the top four finishers would get to split the prize pool of $7,840, players finishing from fifth to tenth place got an opportunity to draw an envelope. Each envelope contained a mystery prize, but in one of them was the final remaining seat in the $100k GTD Bellagio Fall Classic Main Event.
Here’s how we’re giving away our final $1,100 Grand Prize seat to the @BellagioPoker Fall Classic Main Event, courtesy of @BetMGMPoker 😁
#expandedpayouts https://t.co/KhTCCgDix1
— Robbie Strazynski (@cardplayerlife) October 7, 2026
Leave it to the poker gods to add drama to the proceedings. The first four envelopes that players picked contained smaller prizes (e.g., poker books, Bellagio merchandise, free T-Shirts, etc), so it got down to the wire. With only two envelopes remaining, Arthur Goltz , eliminated in sixth place, had a 50/50 chance. We have a video of how it all went down:
From 6 envelopes down to 2. Only one contained the @BetMGMPoker-sponsored $1100 Grand Prize seat to the @BellagioPoker Fall Classic Main Event.
See how it played out 😁
Congratulations to our big winner — Arthur Goltz! https://t.co/nh71J0WBKf
— Robbie Strazynski (@cardplayerlife) October 8, 2026
With the “mystery bounty” segment out of the way, the remaining players could focus on the tournament, which eventually got down to Aaron Foust and David Noh. The two decided to split the remaining prize pool right down the middle, with an extra buck and the title going to Aaron.
- 1st – Aaron Foust $2823
- 2nd – David Noh – $2822
- 3rd – Kentaro Fujita – $1333
- 4th – Neil La Barge $862
Congratulations to the “Slot King” 👑
Aaron Foust wins Mixed Game Festival XV’s $300 Triple Draw Mix tournament.
He takes home $2,823 after an even chop with the runner up, defeating a 32-strong field. https://t.co/VcKmd6tDvW
— Robbie Strazynski (@cardplayerlife) October 8, 2026
That was the end of the tournament, but, as mentioned, the cash game action was going plenty strong on the side, and the players were having a blast.
Things Keep Getting Better
Anyone who’s ever organized any event, be it in poker or in a completely unrelated field, has one biggest fear: What if no one shows up? Or what if only a few people turn up and the whole thing flops?
Of course, the Mixed Game Festival has been going strong for five years now, so it’s guaranteed that some people will always show up. But when they show up in big numbers, it’s one of the best feelings, for the people who worked hard to put the whole thing together and for the players alike. That much more so in the “October offseason”.
Day 3 of Mixed Game Festival XV was one of those days. About an hour in, there were four dealer’s choice cash game tables going, three playing $4/8 and one $9/18. And this was happening as the tournament registration was still open.
So, it’s fair to say that people love and enjoy mixed games and, maybe just as much, the format that the Festival brings, where everyone feels welcome, and you don’t need a fat bankroll just to sit at the table. Plus, there were even more prizes up for grabs.
LOTS of merch giveaways today at @BellagioPoker as part of Mixed Game Festival XV courtesy of our sponsors: @DBPoker1, @FadedSpadeBrand and @RunGoodGear.
How did they win the prizes? Come join us and find out! 😜
Look at all those smiling faces. 😁 https://t.co/xsZBOtRAzr
— Cardplayer Lifestyle (@PokerLifeMedia) October 6, 2026
About eight hours into the day, one $4/8 table broke, but the remaining three kept on going, and no one seemed in a particular rush to go home.
Pokercoaching.com Player of the Day: Terry Basham
Hailing from Saint Louis, Missouri, is Terry Basham, the man who has attended every single Mixed Game Festival except for the first one, and yet somehow, he’s never featured as the Pokercoaching.com Player of the Day.
We’ve finally corrected that injustice as Robbie sat down with one of the most dedicated members of the Festival family, who tells us that he became a part of it almost by accident.
Terry happened to be at the Resorts World during the second Mixed Game Festival, and even though he had no experience whatsoever with mixed games, he was intrigued by what was happening. So, he decided to give it a try and see what’s what.
Over the years, Terry’s understanding of mixed games has grown, of course, but what really attracted him was the atmosphere and the fact that everyone was so welcoming and didn’t mind that he was making mistakes – which is easy enough to do in general, let alone if you’ve never even heard about some of the game variations!
From that festival at Resorts World, he made it a point to come EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. He even flew halfway across the world to play in Malta!
Editor’s note: Terry, please forgive me for the typo in your name from the Tweet below, from four years ago 🤦♂️😂
This is Jerry. He just so happens to be on a Mediterranean cruise this week that stopped in Malta.
Realizing this overlapped with @PokerLifeMedia #MixedGameFestival III, he packed his shirt from MGF II at @ResortsWorldLV ahead of time and decided to come play cash games! ❤️ https://t.co/BIBi3kqSJw
— Robbie Strazynski (@cardplayerlife) October 27, 2022
Terry started playing poker in 2005. He was invited to a friend’s home for a poker tournament with a $20 buy-in, which, at that time, he considered a pretty big amount. But from that moment on, he fell in love with the game, and he tells us with a loud laugh that, from there, he got “degenerated.”
He admits that he has a bit of a cheat that allows him to attend the festivals, as he is a COO of a regional airline company, so he can get cheap flights.
When it comes to choosing between mixed games and Hold’em, Terry explains that he still loves Hold’em tournaments, but if it’s a choice between a low-stakes Hold’em cash game or a mix, he’ll “always go for a mix, and it’s not even close.”
As someone who’s been there pretty much from the start, Terry has seen the Mixed Game Festival grow and change, and he reflected that “it’s really great to see many new faces every time, but also some people who, like me, keep coming back. We’re all kind of Festival groupies, haha!”
Beyond work and poker play, Terry spends his free time skiing, camping, and enjoying his family. He recently became grandfather for the first time, and he makes it no secret that he’s over the moon about it. Congratulations!
RunGoodGear Dealer of the Day: Ben Baggett
Ben Baggett was the Day 3 pick for RunGoodGear Dealer of the Day, but he is not actually a dealer. Living in Las Vegas since 2018, he’s been with Bellagio the whole time, and he is a shift manager/floor supervisor.
Like many others, Ben got into poker by playing the game. He used to enjoy playing as a way to relax and decompress, and from there, he got interested in the industry side of things. He spent a year working in a poker room in California before coming to Vegas.
Ben tells us that the best part of his job is networking and having opportunities to meet people from all walks of life and hearing all sorts of stories, and it all happens organically. Everybody coming to the room is connected by their shared love for the game.
Bellagio is one of those properties that really live by the customer-first ethos, and Ben explains that “being able to meet and fulfill someone’s requests and seeing how happy that makes them is very satisfying and rewarding.”
As for the Mixed Game Festival, this is the fourth time it’s taking place at the property, and it is nice to hear from one of the people in charge of running things on the ground that the feeling toward the crowd that frequents the festivals is overwhelmingly positive.
Ben says that everyone he’s come across has been very polite and friendly, not just toward him, but toward staff in general, and “that helps create a nice and welcoming atmosphere for everyone. That even extends to making close calls at the tables, in situations where one of us may not be very experienced with a particular poker variant being dealt.”
He explains that “the number of games in the rotation has grown to over 35, and I enjoy the challenge of learning new variants, but it’s much easier to do so when players don’t expect you to just know everything and are ready to offer assistance.”
Away from work, Ben enjoys disc golfing with his friends, which also gives him an opportunity to take his two German shepherds for a walk, so it’s a real win-win.
What’s in Store for Mixed Game Festival XV Day 4?
The two tournaments that were on the schedule for Mixed Game Festival XV are in the books, and the three Grand Prize seats in the $1,100 Bellagio Fall Classic Main Event have been given away, but the Festival isn’t over just yet.
We still have a couple of days to go, and some more things to look forward to. On Thursday, Poker Hall of Famer Eli Elezra will be joining the action for a while, so if you want to mix it up with the legend, make sure to call (702) 693-7290 and reserve your seat.
That’s for the “official” items on the agenda, but as we’ve seen it time and time again, one can never tell what’s going to happen at the Mixed Game Festival, and if you’re not there, you risk missing out on the magic of the moment.
