Maxx Coleman Wins PGT Mixed Games $25,000 10-Game Championship

The main event of the 2023 PGT Mixed Games II festival was the $25,300 ten-game championship, drawing a total of 29 participants and generating a prize pool of $725,000. The top five players secured cash prizes, with the lion’s share of the winnings going to Maxx Coleman, who emerged as the champion, earning $235,630 – the fourth-largest win of his tournament career.

This victory propelled Coleman’s total tournament earnings past the $4 million mark, marking his ninth recorded title, including two bracelets from the World Series of Poker.

In addition to the prestigious title and the substantial cash prize, Coleman also received 174 PokerGO Tour points as the champion. This marked his second successful cash in the series, as he had previously finished ninth in the $5,100 ten-game event earlier in the festival. His accumulated 188 points placed him in fifth position in the PGT Mixed Games II series-long points race.

The tournament’s second and final day saw nine players return to the PokerGO Studio inside ARIA Resort & Casino. Jeremy Aumsus, a six-time bracelet winner, was eliminated on the bubble, ensuring that the remaining five contenders would earn at least $50,750. This amount was eventually awarded to Dylan Weisman, a bracelet winner and recent dealer’s choice event champion, who finished in fifth place during a round of no-limit deuce-to-seven single draw lowball.

John Hennigan, a six-time bracelet winner, saw his run in the event come to an end during a hand of no-limit hold’em. Hennigan pushed his short stack from the button with Q-6 suited, only to run into A-K held by bracelet winner Alex Livingston in the big blind. Livingston flopped kings and eights and maintained the lead, eliminating Hennigan in fourth place with a $79,750 prize.

Chino Rheem, a three-time World Poker Tour champion and PokerStars Caribbean Adventure main event winner, was the next to be eliminated. Rheem went all-in with A-9 against Coleman’s pocket nines, but the pocket pair held up, resulting in Rheem’s third-place finish with a $116,000 payout. Rheem’s strong performance during the festival, which included a victory in the $10,000 big bet mix, earned him the series champion title and a $25,000 championship bonus.

Heads-up play began with Livingston holding 3,365,000 chips and Coleman with 2,435,000. They negotiated a payout restructuring, guaranteeing Coleman $220,630 and Livingston $232,870, with $25,000 and the championship title still up for grabs. The two competitors exchanged the chip lead multiple times.

In the end, Coleman secured a significant pot with an A-Q hand, creating the nut straight in limit hold’em, giving him a roughly 5:1 chip lead. Shortly thereafter, with limit hold’em still in play, Livingston went all-in with a 10Diamond Suit5Heart Suit2Diamond Suit flop, holding JHeart Suit10Heart Suit against Coleman’s ASpade Suit7Club Suit. The QDiamond Suit turn and 4Diamond Suit river failed to assist Livingston, leading to his second-place finish with the $232,870 he had negotiated for. With this deep run, the third-place finisher from the 2019 WSOP main event has now accumulated nearly $8 million in career tournament earnings.

Here is a look at the payouts and rankings points awarded in this event: