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Hal Rotholz Wins PGT Mixed Games Triple Draw Mix

The $10,200 Buy-In Event Drew 51 Entries, Resulting In A $163,200 Payday For Rotholz

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The $10,200 triple draw mix event at the 2023 PGT Mixed Games II festival attracted a total of 51 entries to the PokerGO Studio inside ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. That meant that $510,000 was ultimately split up amongst the top eight finishers in a poker tournament contended over a mix of three games, namely: badugi, triple draw deuce-to-seven lowball, and triple draw ace-to-five lowball.

After two days, the field was narrowed down to a single champion: Hal Rotholz. The New York resident earned $163,200 for the win, the third-largest score on his quickly expanding tournament resume. He now has nearly $1.4 million in lifetime earnings to his name.

This was Rotholz’s 17th cash of the year, with five final tables and this one title. The 300 Card Player Player of the Year points he secured for this victory were enough to move him to 843rd place in the 2023 POY race standings presented by Global Poker.

This win also conveyed 163 PGT points on Rotholz. This was his second cash of the series. With 181 total points, he now sits in fifth in the series-long points race.

By the end of the first day of action, just four contenders remained, with several big names cashing and then hitting the rail late, including Jared Bleznick (8th), Chino Rheem (6th), and David ‘ODB’ Baker (5th). This was Rheem’s fourth cash of the series, extending his lead in the player of the series race.

Day 2 began with four-time bracelet winner and recent PGT Mixed II triple stud event champion Nick Schulman in the lead and Rotholz in second chip position.

Jeremy AusmusBracelet winner Andrew Yeh was the first to fall, running a 907 into the 8-7 of Rotholz in a round of deuce-to-seven to finish fourth for $51,000. Jeremy Ausmus soon followed. He was all-in and at risk heading into the final draw in the same game with 7-5-4-3 up against a 10-6-4-3-2 for Rotholz. Ausmus drew a king on the end to finish third. The six-time bracelet winner earned $71,400 for his efforts, growing his lifetime earnings to more than $16.9 million.

Heads-up play began with Rotholz holding roughly a 3:2 lead over Schulman. The two traded the lead multiple times. Rotholz eventually gained control and began to pull away. The final hand of the tournament arrived during a round of badugi. Schulman raised from the button and Rotholz called in the big blind. Rotholz drew two cards to Schulman’s one. Rotholz bet, Schulman raised all-in, and Rotholz called. Rotholz took one card and Schulman stood pat on the second draw, and the same held true for the final draw. Schulman revealed 9Club Suit5Diamond Suit4Heart SuitASpade Suit. Rotholz had 3Heart Suit2Spade SuitAClub Suit, leaving him in need of any diamond between a four and a nine in order to win the pot and the title. The 4Diamond Suit fit the bill, giving him the nuts.

Schulman earned $107,100 as the runner-up. This was his third cash of the series, with $273,900 in total cashes so far. He now sits in second place in the series-long points race with 274. He has now made 11 final tables and won three total tiles in 2023, good for 62nd in the POY standings.

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

Place Player Earnings POY Points PGT Points
1 Hal Rotholz $163,200 300 163
2 Nick Schulman $107,100 250 107
3 Jeremy Ausmus $71,400 200 71
4 Andrew Yeh $51,000 150 51
5 David Baker $40,800 125 41
6 Chino Rheem $30,600 100 31
7 Julio Belluscio $25,500 75 26
8 Jared Bleznick $20,400 0 20

Photo credit: PokerGO / Antonio Abrego.