The PokerGO Tour Mixed Games festival is supposed to attract some of the best online poker players, but one man continues to stand out. Dan Zack was the big winner at this festival a year ago and is looking to make another run this year.
Last year was the first year for the PGT Mixed Games festival, and Zack earned a cash prize in five of the eight tournaments played. That was enough to award Zack for Player of the Series, and he is in a great position to repeat.
Zack picked up a huge payday by winning the $10,200 buy-in eight-game event, number four on the list of tournaments. The win earned Zack over $195,000, and he also made 360 Player of the Year points by winning the tournament.
Not only will the POY points add up at the end of the year, but Zack also took home 195 series points for this event. He is now sitting in fourth place and within striking distance of taking over the top of the leaderboard.
Some Great Competition
Sixty-one entries entered this tournament, and everyone pushed to earn the biggest prize. Zack immediately jumped out when looking at the list of contenders, but there were some other big names in the field.
Dylan Weisman has already won a bracelet on tour and entered the second tournament with the chip lead. Some other bracelet winners were competing in this field, including John Hennigan.
Zack had the second most chips heading into the final table, and there were moments where it looked like he would come up short. When just three players were remaining, Zack lost a tough hand that put him in a vulnerable position moving forward.
That’s when Zack’s skill appeared to take over as he doubled up on two straight hands to get back into things. There was still some work to be done, though, as Zack entered heads-up play with a sizeable disadvantage.
The final hand was exciting as both players decided to go all-in before the flop, setting the stage for a dramatic turn. A nine on the river allowed Zack to take home the top prize to increase his lifetime earnings to nearly $4 million.
A Look at the Payouts
Jim Collopy took home second place in this tournament, and that win was $122,000, pushing his career earnings to $6.8 million. Weisman ended up in third place in this event and took home a nice prize of $85,400.
Joshua Rhodes was another big name competing in this event, and he wound up in fourth place with a payout of $61,000.
This was one of the marquee events of the entire series, and it was no surprise that so many big names were interested in getting into it.