Almost as soon as I got back home to Israel from my summer trip to Las Vegas, I began planning for the next one. Specifically, I started working on putting together what would become Mixed Game Festival XII. Truthfully though, I had “bigger dreams,” far beyond “just” hosting another five-day poker event. I wanted the next Vegas poker trip to be longer. I needed it to be longer.
My poker-writing inspiration Brad Willis once said something that has always stayed with me: “A lot of the best writing comes from people who have been in the middle of the experience they are writing about.”
For 16+ years I’ve written about the game, promoted mixed games, interviewed the people who play them, and watched countless others live the poker-grinding life I’ve (not so secretly) envied. I was always the tortoise — patient, deliberate, watching, and dreaming. While so many others were playing poker at the tables, I worked alongside them… and carved out whatever precious little time I could to play. As it happens, I’ve felt that some of the best writing I’ve done has been about the special experiences I’ve had as a player.
READ MORE: The Low-Stakes Player Who Swam with the Sharks in the $80/160 Mix
But my kids used to be a lot younger, and my priorities were exactly where they needed to be. Now the circumstances are different. My kids are older, more independent, and I’m 44 years old. I’m no longer content just writing about poker world anymore. I desperately want to be a part of it as a player, too.
As such, you could only imagine my elation as I booked my trip to Las Vegas for November 4-December 4. This was really happening! I was going to have the opportunity to live the life of a semipro mixed game poker player for an entire month!
OMG. Wow, what an incredible start to the trip…! #upgrade 😲
Maybe someone at Delta saw it was my birthday yesterday? 🥳
When you’ve got a 7,500-mile trip to take, this is just a WHOLE other level of travel!
So grateful 🙏 not gonna take a single moment of this for granted. pic.twitter.com/VyGmS8GUVB
— Robbie Strazynski (@cardplayerlife) November 4, 2025
The Poker Dream I Finally Let Myself Prioritize
Thus, beyond hosting and promoting the latest Mixed Game Festival, I headed out to Las Vegas aiming to see if I could really do it — to live, at least temporarily, as a semipro mixed game poker player.
Playing poker is just something that I love to do. I’ve longed for this for years: the rhythms of the grind, the challenge of the games, the camaraderie of regulars who share this passion for poker and live a “Cardplayer Lifestyle.” More importantly, as I wrote back in September, I’ve started cultivating a more professional mindset when I play, and I believe I have enough skill to compete “on the big stage in Vegas” and win.
Early this year, I declared my intention for 2025 to be my “year of volume.” Prior to departing on this trip, I had logged more hours this year than any year before — something that would have seemed absurd to me a decade ago. But the goal wasn’t just to play more. It was to play seriously, to test myself, to see if poker play could contribute something meaningful to my family’s income.
In 2024, I played 545 hours of poker.
I decided to make 2025 “the year of volume”.
I have played 581 hours of poker this year… and I’m about to embark on a month-long trip to Vegas.
I turn 44 years old today, and I’m just so grateful and in love with the game. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/eLmqTvIwLT
— Robbie Strazynski (@cardplayerlife) November 3, 2025
Thankfully, I wasn’t risking anything dramatic besides simply not being home for a month. But even that involved some sacrifice. My wife, Miriam, carried that weight with love and optimism, giving me an extraordinary amount of support and space. She hoped — right alongside me, from 7,500 miles away — that I’d win, that I’d prove my theory to be true, and that I’d come back feeling fulfilled. She is the one who made this whole experiment possible, and she deserves enormous thanks.
My Documentary Approach: How This Miniseries Came Together
From the beginning, I knew that if I wanted to truly capture what a month as a mixed game poker semipro feels like, I needed to document it in real time. So I did my best to be disciplined and professional throughout the trip.
During each day — whether I played umpteen hours of poker or none at all — I jotted down little notes. Sometimes I snapped a picture. Other times I recorded voice notes, to be sure I’d remember the exact tone of how I was feeling. The point was to preserve the details while they were still fresh in my mind. To capture the emotions I was feeling before they got diluted or diminished by hindsight or rose-tinted lenses.
At the end of every day — whether that “end” came at 11 p.m., 3 a.m., 5 a.m., or even 7 a.m. the next morning — I sat down and turned those notes, pictures, and voice recordings into diary entries. The process was cathartic. The consistent documentation of what happened at and away from the felt each day during my trip helped me unwind, decompress, and make better sense of everything.
The 9,000+ words I drafted over my month in Las Vegas served as the clay that I ended up molding into this five-article miniseries. There’s no fanciful reconstruction from memory weeks later. No romanticizing. No airbrushing. No forgetting or intentional omission of critical details. Just the reality of what it’s like to spend a month battling, studying, grinding, trying to find the right balance, and living the mixed game poker life.
Where I Fit in the Mixed Game Poker Ecosystem
I’m obviously not the first person to take a shot at playing poker semiprofessionally. But I think there’s some uniqueness in what I attempted: namely playing low-stakes mixed games, as opposed to no limit Texas Hold’em.
For further context, I’ve built my bankroll over the years overwhelmingly playing low-stakes mixed game poker; very slowly and steadily. Typically I only play once a week, in my home game, for approximately 5-7 hours. Thus, one week of dedicated play (e.g., 8-10 hours per day) in Vegas would equate to “a couple months” of what I usually play.
I’ve never had any big tournament wins or “inordinately huge sessions” (for good or bad). Sitting at just under the five-figure dollar mark, I figured this was enough to take with me to Vegas for sessions at limits ranging from $4/8 to $9/18, perhaps play in the occasional low buy-in mixed game tournament and, if things went well, perhaps take a couple shots at $20/40.
In a best-case scenario I had hoped to approach $5,000 in winnings, which would be amazing! In a worst case scenario I envisioned losing about half my bankroll, which would suck. Hitting either of those extremes would be difficult, given the nature of mixed cash games, and neither extreme would make a massive difference to my life, which is something I’m supremely grateful for. At the end of the day, I aimed to be a semipro; i.e., that any poker winnings would be in addition to revenues I’d earn from my regular work. And if I’d lose, it would only affect my bankroll and not my family’s financial situation.
Against Whom Did I Play?
Over my month in Las Vegas, I’m fairly certain I didn’t encounter any full-time professionals regularly playing the lower-limit games I was mostly in. I don’t believe it’s financially feasible to make a full living at stakes lower than $20/40. But semipro? Supplementing other income? I believed that to be entirely possible.
I believe that most of the mixed game players I shared the felt with fell into a few categories:
- vacationers testing the mixed game waters
- retirees playing to stay sharp, social, and energized
- self-employed players or those with flexible income streams
- locals squeezing in a session before/after work
I also felt that while the atmosphere was certainly different when I was playing in tournaments, or on the rare occasion that I wasn’t playing in a mixed game, there was one noticeably common trait to pretty much everyone I played with in the mixed cash games: joie de vivre. The low-pressure-but-serious vibe of these games fits perfectly into a healthy, active, social life.
All of us were having fun, trying to win each other’s money, and aware of how fortunate we were to be playing a game we loved “on a random Monday afternoon”. More than once I caught myself thinking and hoping: “maybe this could be what my retirement will look like someday?”
What This Miniseries Will Aim to Capture
This five-part miniseries will tell the full story of my month in Las Vegas: the ups, the downs, the breakthroughs, the setbacks, the grind, the fatigue, the joy, the uncertainty, and my ever-present gratitude running through all of it.
Frankly speaking, this trip wasn’t just about poker. It was about finally giving myself permission to chase a dream I’ve held on to quietly for years and discovering what happens when you put yourself directly in the center of the experience.
I can’t wait to share it with you.
Finally learned my lesson and remembered to get a window seat…
…and was rewarded with the most glorious view 😍
Few things get my heart going like this amazing city.
Let a wonderful month begin!
Ah… Las Vegas ❤️ pic.twitter.com/aXfh13bKVn
— Robbie Strazynski (@cardplayerlife) November 5, 2025
