It is true what they say – time flies when you’re having fun. The final day of Mixed Game Festival XV crept up with no warning as the crowd started to gather at Bellagio for one last day of fun-filled dealer’s choice action. Things got off to a good start, with three tables running right off the bat – two $4/8 and one $9/18.
But while poker obviously plays the critical role in our Mixed Game Festivals, they’re not really about the stakes or the money. They are about friendship, camaraderie, and genuine love for different poker variations. And if you don’t want to take our word for it, just ask Josh Arieh, a seven-time WSOP bracelet winner who came in of his own volition and spent a few hours splashing around with us in the $4/8 streets.
Playing Poker For the Love of the Game
It’s not typical to see big-name players in small stakes games, which is understandable: they have other obligations in life, and when they go to play poker, they tend to gravitate toward games that fit their usual stakes or buy-in level (i.e., make sense financially speaking).
Which is why it came as quite a pleasant surprise when Josh Arieh reached out and said he’d love to come and spend some time playing low-stakes cash games with us at Bellagio. Arieh is primarily a tournament player, and he hasn’t really played in any cash games in a long time, but he put all that aside and decided that he wanted to be a part of the Mixed Game Festival.
Josh explained that he decided to pay a visit purely for for the love of the game and “to support mix. No Limit Hold’em has had such a big boom, and mixed games are just so niche”. Josh further shared that he actually took his first steps in poker playing mix.
While he understands the intensity and the appeal of No Limit Hold’em very well, Josh believes (rightfully so) that mixed games create a much better background for fun and camaraderie, as players aren’t constantly forced to make decisions for their entire stacks.
Despite laying claim to over $16,000,000 in tournament winnings and seven bracelets, it is clear that Arieh is a real man of the people. Even playing for the lowest stakes imaginable, he chose to spend hours splashing around at the tables and genuinely enjoyed every moment of it!
Making his first ever Mixed Game Festival appearance — welcome to 7x WSOP bracelet winner @JoshuaArieh 🥳
Thanks for coming to splash around with us in the @BellagioPoker $4/8 dealer’s choice streets 😁 https://t.co/DpQ2gkPRST
— Robbie Strazynski (@cardplayerlife) October 9, 2026
But for Josh, poker isn’t just about money. He describes the game as one big puzzle that he constantly tries to figure out, and, no matter the stakes, he always plays to win. That’s just his winner’s mentality.
But Josh also demonstrated why he’s a winner in life away from the tables, too. For every pot he won (and there were quite a few!), Josh told the dealer to pick one stack before pushing it his way and to keep it as a tip, showing a very generous side and adding plenty of energy and good karma to the table.
Had a blast splashing around yesterday in the @cardplayerlife mixed game festival! Mixed games is the best poker format!
New games I learned a love
– Texaha
-omaJack
-Dramaha 49💉💉💉
— Joshua Arieh (@JoshuaArieh) October 10, 2026
Mixed games may not be quite as popular as Hold’em or PLO, but with the likes of Josh Arieh and Eli Elezra helping to promote them, the future looks bright, and the Mixed Game Festival will continue to proudly carry that torch.
Pokercoaching.com Player of the Day: Kentaro Fujita
The final Pokercoaching.com Player of the Day for MGF XV comes all the way from Japan. Kentaro Fujita traveled over 5,000 miles from Tokyo to Las Vegas to enjoy some poker, and to attend his first Mixed Game Festival.
It wasn’t just poker that brought Fujita to the US. He actually came on a business trip, as he works as a travel agent for cruise ship sales. After spending the first couple of weeks of his trip doing the work, it was time to play, and that’s what brought him to Las Vegas for some poker fun!
Kentaro told us that he usually comes out for the World Series of Poker, but since he wasn’t able to do it this year, this business trip popped up as a great opportunity to make up for it. Since he had heard such good things about the Mixed Game Festival from his friends, Fujita decided to try it for himself and had a blast throughout the week!
Back home, he plays mix in home games and at some tournaments spread across amusement casinos, primarily those that are a part of the Japan Open Poker Tour (JOPT). These tournaments don’t offer cash prizes (as that would be illegal in Japan), but there are still cool rewards up for grabs, as well as the prestige that comes with winning.
Fujita actually had a very good run in the $300 Triple Draw Mix tournament on Day 3 of the festival, finishing in third place, although he attributes that finish more to luck than his skills.
He tells us he picked up on quite a few new and interesting variations at the Festival, like Watermelon, Oma-jack, and Peek-a-Dugi, and can’t wait to tell his poker buddies about them and discuss game strategy when he gets back home.
RunGoodGear Dealer of the Day: Armani Peters
Armani Peters, the RunGoodGear Dealer of the Day, is a shift manager at Bellagio, although he tells us that he will still jump into the box if there is an emergency or if a particular dealer needs to urgently step away.
Armani, and yes, that is his real name, has been living in Las Vegas since 2007, and he’s been with Bellagio since 2013. He started his poker journey as a player, but made a transition to the industry side of things, looking for a more reliable paycheck.
Like other staff members we talked to during the Mixed Game Festival, Armani takes tremendous pride in working at Bellagio. He loves interacting with new people every day, as well as interacting with regulars in new ways. In the end, he describes it all as a “bunch of brothers and sisters who all enjoy gambling.”
Having spent over a decade at Bellagio, he’s seen quite a bit, but he tells us that some of his favorite moments were when the late Doyle Brunson would ride in on his scooter, and they had to quickly shuffle people around and move them out of the way. Armani shares that Doyle knew him by name, and that always felt special.
When he’s not working, he enjoys smoking meat and cooking food for his friends and family, a fun hobby that those close to him probably appreciate.
It’s a Wrap for 2026, But the Mixed Game Festival Will Be Back
From the pizza party on Day 1 over a couple of tournaments, to two days filled with cash game action, Mixed Game Festival XV met and exceeded expectations once more.
The T.O.R.S.E. tournament on Day 2 and the Triple Draw Mix event on Day 3 both attracted a fair number of players, and the attendance was greater than what you’d expect during a random week in off-season October. But, once more, the old adage holds true: if you build it, they’ll come.
Of course, throwing in some goodies into the mix always helps, and, thanks to its generous sponsors, the Mixed Game Festival has managed to do it quite masterfully. In addition to three Grand Prize seats into the $1,100 Bellagio Fall Classic Main event provided by BetMGM Poker, players picked up swag from RunGoodGear, quality poker decks provided by Faded Spade, D&B poker books, and hat + hoodie combos from Pokercoaching.com.
After five days, another Mixed Game Festival comes to a close, and our founder recorded a special thank you message to everyone who showed up in support throughout the week.
A personal message, as Mixed Game Festival XV draws to a close.
Shabbat Shalom, from @BellagioPoker, and thanks everyone! ❤️ https://t.co/fK9nVJB2sA
— Robbie Strazynski (@cardplayerlife) October 9, 2026
The sad news is that there are no more Mixed Game Festivals planned for 2026. The good news is that plans are in the works to take the Mixed Game Festivals to the next level in 2027. We plan to return to the Bellagio and hopefully another Las Vegas casino as well, plus we’re hoping to bring a Mixed Game Festival (or two) to US destinations outside of Las Vegas.
We don’t have concrete dates and details just yet, but if you want to be among the first ones to find out, make sure to subscribe to the Cardplayer Lifestyle newsletter. It’s completely free, and it brings you the kind of poker content you actually want to read!
Thanks for reading our daily recaps, and we’ll see you next time!
