In composing the first three parts of this miniseries, I tried to break down the story of my month as a semipro mixed game player into phases. It started out with early optimism and the hope of validating a long-held belief in my poker abilities through a real-life field test. The second article covered my jumping into the mixed game waters with an initial slow and steady climb. The third article covered my next week-and-a-half of play, during which I suffered a massive downswing and then began a slow and steady rebuild (both financially and mentally) during Mixed Game Festival XII.
By the time the festival ended, my confidence was finally back. I had recouped losses and was back in the black for the trip. What came next was a deliberate pause from poker as I headed to Los Angeles to spend the weekend with my extended family. From there, I headed back to Vegas, returning to the grind that would once again test my discipline and everything I had been “trying to do right.”
If I had to sum up the weeklong stretch of the of the trip that I’ll be covering in this penultimate installment of the miniseries, it would be that I tried to strike the perfect balance between the full-on grind and regular, normal life. Even so, sometimes (as the Hebrew saying roughly translates to): “the operation is a success, but the patient dies.”
Days 17-19 | November 21-23: Resting and Recharging in Los Angeles
The drive from Las Vegas to Los Angeles felt like more than just a change of scenery. As I made my way west, I leaned into something deeply personal and sentimental, listening to and singing along with the music I loved as a teenager back when I lived in LA. It unlocked a part of me that doesn’t surface very often, as my life has changed quite drastically from the years when I was an “LA boy.”
Shabbat with my aunt, uncle, and cousins was grounding in a way that poker simply cannot be. Spending time with some of my closest relatives was exactly what I needed. I rested deeply. I slept well. I ate food that didn’t just taste amazing, but that also brought back memories from my youth. As much as I love the game, it was refreshing to not just have “poker, poker, poker” be the constant focal point of my day.
Poker Calls Twice, But I Let the Phone Ring… and Slept in the Car
On Saturday night, after going out for pizza with my cousins, I had a familiar dilemma. It was late, but I still had plenty of energy, and the Commerce Casino poker room (where I’ve made some great memories) was only 20 minutes away. A little maxim I try to adhere to on my trips is “do on your trips what you can’t do at home.” At home, I don’t have a poker room 20 minutes away. As a matter of fact, Israel doesn’t have any poker rooms. I quite literally have to get on a plane if I want to visit one.
But I resisted, and am incredibly proud that I did! Here’s why:
There were no mixed games running (I checked on the Bravo Poker Live app; and, yes, I checked the Bike and Hustler, too). More importantly, the timing was wrong. Just because I had an opportunity to play didn’t mean it was the right game for me to play, the right time to play, or that I’d be on my A-game. Plus, I’d have plenty more time to play once I’d get back to Vegas. Sometimes it’s important to just say “no” and wait until next time. It felt like the mature decision.
Then, my test got a little bit harder…
I got back to my aunt and uncle’s house to find that I had accidentally been locked out. It was well after midnight, and they (and all my cousins) had gone to sleep. Not wanting to wake anyone up, I once again faced the temptation to go play poker all night rather than sleep.
For any normal, sensible person, the choice would be obvious. For a poker player, not so much. 🤷♂️
Luckily for me, good sense won out… and I slept in the car.
“Yihiye beseder” means “It’ll be alright”
A Glorious, Relaxing Sunday
That I had somehow gotten into such a ridiculous situation was downright comical. I actually laughed myself to sleep. It wasn’t the greatest of sleeps (I woke up a couple times to start the car and blast the heater for a few minutes), but all’s well that ends well. My aunt, uncle, and I had a good laugh when they woke up in the morning and saw my text messages. They let me in, and I managed to snatch another couple hours of shut-eye in a proper bed.
What followed was one of the most relaxing days I’ve had in years: A late breakfast with my aunt and uncle, an hour long visit with my rabbi (he’s been my spiritual advisor for 30+ years, ever since I was his student in ninth grade), a solo lunch at a great Chinese restaurant, and a few unhurried hours spent chilling at a local public park where I had made many a memory as a kid. It was an ultra-rare day where I had nothing planned and just “let the day come to me.”
It felt like a gift. No rushing. No schedule. No work. No social media doomscrolling. No defaulting to YouTube or Netflix. Just mindful presence. It was just perfect. All of that culminated in an awesome family BBQ at my cousin’s house that felt like an early Thanksgiving.
I set out back towards Las Vegas that night with a full stomach and a full heart; my mental and spiritual batteries had been topped off. I was filled with gratitude for the weekend that had been and with excitement for the days that awaited me in Las Vegas. The four-hour drive back that night passed in a flash. Rather than feeling the emotional drop that can follow such a high, I felt energized. Refreshed. Ready to return to a city I love and make the most of the remaining time I had as a semipro mixed game poker player.
No matter how many times I do this, it’s just as exciting every time.
I ❤️ you, Las Vegas!
— Robbie Strazynski (@cardplayerlife) November 24, 2025
Day 20 | November 24: Back to the Grind, Back to Reality
This day felt like it marked the beginning of my trip’s home stretch. It was time to shift fully back into play mode, but before hitting the felt, I eased back into the day responsibly. I caught up on some work, did laundry, went for a walk, and sat down to eat a proper lunch.
Again, all of that might sound utterly trivial and simple, but it’s so easy to just throw good habits out the window and slip into bad ones. The path of least resistance is always so much more tempting than committing to the discipline of a healthier routine. I’m glad to say that I won that battle!
Part of an A-Game mentality in poker and in life is developing and sticking with routines.
During the first part of this trip I went for a walk every morning.
It was rainy throughout my Mixed Game Festival.
It’s so easy to NOT get back on the horse.
Discipline FTW 🔥🏃♂️💨 pic.twitter.com/wwGjpeBTbf
— Robbie Strazynski (@cardplayerlife) November 24, 2025
Poker-wise, the day ended up being a marathon. I logged 15 hours of play across Wynn, Resorts World, and Orleans. The first session, marking my return to the $20/40 streets, sadly couldn’t have gone worse. Once again, I could not get anything going. Despite playing patiently and making the right moves and decisions, I just couldn’t win. Bad cards. Bad draws. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Honestly, it felt at though I was cursed specifically in the $20/40 game. I got crushed and lost the remainder of what Eli had given me to play with. That ended up being my fifth and final $20/40 session for the trip.
As I walked out of the room utterly deflated, I sent Wynn floorman Chris Schmiz the message below. My hopes of having monster sessions in the big game were dashed. At least the trip wasn’t coming to an end on a sour note though. There was still plenty of poker left to play.
Indeed, dropping down to $8/16 changed everything. It was as though the storm had suddenly dissipated and the skies were sunny once again. My card distribution didn’t feel especially favorable; just normal. Booking a modest win helped my confidence return, and frankly it was astonishing how quickly my mood shifted.
I suppose that even though I’ve played (and have won) in plenty of $20/40 (and higher) sessions, things are just different when playing fully in my comfort zone. I don’t know how to fix/change this situation other than to keep taking select shots at playing higher and slowly making those stakes an extension of my comfort zone. Thankfully, again due to Eli’s incredible generosity, my strikeouts in the higher stakes games didn’t negatively affect my own bankroll.
When the game broke, rather than make a dumb decision to play $1/3 Texas Hold’em (yes, this still had to be an active decision), I drove over to Orleans and late-registered a $150 HORSE tournament. Much like the disciplined decisions I had made earlier in the morning, this was the better, smarter move. I flew to Vegas to be a semipro mixed game player, after all, so I had to stick to that path.
I fought and bobbed and weaved my way to ninth place out of 40! Alas, only the top five finishers made it into the money.
Mixed game tournaments demand patience and a stubborn refusal to quit. Every chip must be treasured, and they’re so important to have for the inevitable downswings so that you can then build up and maximize your rungood when it eventually comes. Mine never arrived though, nor did the $2,016 first place prize money that I had my eye on. Dang, that would’ve made such a big difference in so many ways.
Part of me wanted to jump right back into a cash game, but I realized that I was bummed about not having cashed in the tournament and thus wouldn’t be playing my A-game. So, instead, I walked upstairs to catch a movie (Running Man). That decision mattered a lot.
Post-movie, I felt great… so then I returned to the tables for what ended up being an all-night $8/16 Omaha 8 or Better session. I did so because I genuinely wanted to play, not because I was tilted. I walked away eight hours later having won a little more than a rack ($230) and deeply aware and grateful that I was living the Cardplayer Lifestyle I had dreamed about for years.
Day 21 | November 25: Running on Empty and Loving It
Oh, you thought I went to sleep after that all-nighter? Well, you’d be incorrect.
I quit playing at 9am and went straight to Bellagio to discuss plans with Craig Larson for a future Mixed Game Festival. The meeting went great (Gdwilling, it’ll be happening next summer!) and afterward I enjoyed a wonderful “celebratory” lunch before finally grabbing a short one-hour nap and taking a much-needed shower. The one thing I didn’t do was go for my daily walk… alas, I’m only human. 🤷♂️
Salmon, broccoli, hash browns, and cantaloupe taste amazing when you’re celebrating life rungood
Then, it was straight back to the poker tables. I headed to Resorts World where I played eight hours of $8/16 mix. I wouldn’t have pushed myself if I didn’t feel on my A-game, but I honestly felt absolutely fine. Three cheers for youthful energy! I stayed disciplined, avoided spew, and managed to accrue about a rack and a half of profits before finally calling it a day. Being awake for 36 hours and still playing solidly felt surreal.
“This is heaven,” I remember thinking. The camaraderie. The comfort. The rhythm of the room. “I can order food. I can get a massage. I am nowhere near tired of poker. I’m surrounded by friends with whom I love spending time playing. I want to do this forever!”
Up to that point, when on my own dime in the lower-stakes mixed games (aside from the one major mistake of playing heads-up against Ruth earlier in the trip) I had been a pretty consistent cash game winner for three weeks. That felt validating, despite tournament buy-ins eating into what remained of my profits. Eventually, if you keep at it, the tournament breakthroughs are bound to come as well and balance out all the red ink. Surely, I’m destined to have more than $380 in lifetime winnings on my Hendonmob page, right?!
With all of that said, and the consistency and my mistakes all accounted for, reality matters. I feel plenty comfortable playing in $4/8 and $8/16 mixed games, but it is not a stake you can realistically support a family of five on, especially if you factor in tournament variance. That, in turn, reinforced what I’d being aiming to achieve with the trip: “semipro” status. It just makes so much sense to me. Low-stakes mixed game poker, when played well, can be a meaningful supplement, but not the sole pillar. Having it as “something extra” beyond my regular revenue streams makes the entire experience healthier, emotionally and financially.
Day 22 | November 26: Respecting the Grind, Then Failing at It
After a great night’s sleep, I headed to Aria to play in a $9/18 mix.
On my way there, I had some time for some broader reflection. Having been working in the poker industry for so long, I already had a ton of respect for the grind. For the players who do this every day. For those who depend solely on poker income. Now “in it” myself for the first time, that respect had only grown. The discipline, mental fortitude, and emotional resilience required are enormous, especially for tournament grinders and mixed game players with limited options versus their Texas Hold’em-playing counterparts.
Plus, you also have to manage overhead costs relentlessly. Accommodation, food, transportation, rake, and GTO use of the comps you earn while playing all matter. Every leak adds up. Those leaks naturally also include not tilting away your chips at the tables, or spewing away any hard-fought profits in the casino pits.
All of that is hard enough to do when you’re winning, but that much more challenging when you’re losing and still have to show up to play the next day. Some days you’ll break even and sometimes days and even weeks might go by and you’ll have “nothing to show” for all that effort. That’s exactly what the grind is: showing up every day, slowly and steadily “chipping away” and trying your best to make money, and remaining as disciplined as possible throughout. It really is, as the saying goes, “a hard way to make an easy living.”
Ironically, on the very day I was thinking most clearly about discipline, I once again abandoned it.
First time playing $9/18 mix… Let’s see what all the fuss is about 😉
Cc: @ARIAPoker pic.twitter.com/TTEoXmL9jH
— Robbie Strazynski (@cardplayerlife) November 26, 2025
The Tilt Cometh, and Taketh Away
I started fine, then for some inexplicable reason just loosened up and began playing poorly. By four-and-a-half hours in, I was down two racks ($600) and should have thrown in the towel. Instead, I rebought. I played better after that, but wasn’t hitting and continued bleeding until the game broke with me down $800. Very frankly, I had run cold, but that was compounded and the situation exacerbated overall by my having tilted, not remaining patient, and not quitting earlier.
That’s when I really should’ve stopped for the day. But no. I doubled down on my mistake while in the precise mindframe to worsen the loss both quantitatively and qualitatively. I drove to Orleans hoping to win some back. Four hours later, I had blown another $400 playing $8/16 Omaha 8 or Better and $4/8 Limit Hold’em. It was pure spew and a massive self-inflicted blow to my bankroll. It takes so much time and effort, and good decision making and rungood to make $1,200 playing low-stakes mixed game poker. I had completely blown it all over the course of two sessions on one rotten day. Starting off the day with 12 hundred dollar bills in your wallet and ending it with an empty wallet just makes you want to cry.
This was my low point of the trip. The only saving grace at that moment was that the following day was Thanksgiving. Honestly, it was pretty hard to be in a thankful mindset after the catastrophic day I had had at the felt.
Day 23 | November 27: Thanksgiving, Perspective, and Partial Redemption
I had gone to sleep resolved to abstain from playing poker the following day. Thanksgiving would be spent with Eli and his family, and I intentionally brought no cash with me to the meal in order to avoid any temptation of heading straight to play poker from there. It was a wonderful experience and exactly where I needed to be.
Grateful today for so many, many things… among them, one of the best friends a guy could ever have.
❤️ you @elielezra1 — thank you for making me feel like part of the family!
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! pic.twitter.com/WJRTpoDnEk
— Robbie Strazynski (@cardplayerlife) November 27, 2025
After the meal, I spent several hours in front of my computer catching up on projects that had started to pile up. That, too, is part of being a semi-pro. Poker cannot come at the expense of everything else. Only at 11pm, with a clean desk, did I head out to play poker again.
I started out at Orleans playing $4/8 Omaha 8 or Better, ran cold, and lost just over a rack ($115). On the drive back, I finally gave in to temptation and stopped at South Point to jump into a $1/3 No Limit Hold’em game and “try to win back the $115 I had lost.”
To be clear, there’s nothing wrong with Texas Hold’em, and I’ve played tons of it over the course of my life. But this trip was about being a mixed game semipro. Nonetheless, the session went pretty well. In just under an hour, I managed to profit $150 and smartly get up from the table. While it didn’t come anywhere close to making up for the day before, it felt good to book the win. Plus, frankly, just one “Hold’em slip up” in a month isn’t too big a deal for a mixed game semipro.
One Week Left To Go
It felt like déjà vu. After just over 160 hours of playing poker, I (once again) had essentially zero to show for all my effort. Two horrific sessions over the course of one shitty day of poker had wiped out all the progress I had made over the previous week. It just goes to show how cruel the game can be. The game doesn’t care that you “do everything right an overwhelming percentage of the time”. You’ll sometimes get punished, harshly, for your mistakes. Even when you’re disciplined. Even when you rest and eat healthy and exercise. Bottom line, when discipline mattered most, I slipped hard and paid dearly for it.
With just one week left in Las Vegas, the question now was simple and heavy: Could I recover financially and mentally from my biggest self-inflicted loss of the month? Or would this mistake define the trip?
Be sure to check out the fifth and final installment in this miniseries to find out.
Robbie Tracker: 161 hours of poker played | $40 overall profit
