Nick Guagenti Wins PGT Mixed Games Event #5 for $171,075

Nick Guagenti is the winner of Event #5: $10,300 Triple Draw Mix at the PGT Mixed Games series. Guagenti defeated Alex Livingston in heads-up play to take the title. The two made a deal during heads-up play, with Livingston locking up $153,225 and Guagenti locking up $151,075. They left $20,000 to play for, and Guagenti won it to pocket a total of $171,075 from the victory.

"I feel good," Guagenti said. "It feels good to win."

Guagenti has fared well in tournaments at the PokerGO Studio over the years. He had a final table in the first event of this series, and last year at the 2022 Poker Masters, Guagenti won the $10,000 8-Game Mix event for $186,000. He also took sixth in the 2021 U.S. Poker Open $10,000 8-game Mix event for $40,800.

"I have done well here," Guagenti said of his times playing in the PokerGO Studio. "I think I've final tabled four out of six times I've played here. I like the structure, I love the place. The whole atmosphere just puts me in a good mood and it's easier for me to play when I feel that way. I'm running good too, obviously."

Guagenti now has two top-three finishes during this PGT Mixed Games series, and this victory put him at the top of the series leaderboard heading into the final three events. Guagenti took third in the opening event, Event #1: $10,300 H.O.R.S.E., for $104,400 and 104 points. In addition to the prize money he added for this win, Guagenti added another 186 points to move to 290 total. That's enough to move ahead of John Monnette's total of 271. At the end of the series, the player with the most points will be crowned series champion and win the $25,000 championship bonus.

PGT Mixed Games Event #5 Results

*Deal was made.

Nick Guagenti and Alex Livingston were basically tied for the chip lead coming into Thursday's final day of action. Livingston had Guagenti slightly edged by 60,000 in chips and these were the two who made it to heads-up play.

Damjan Radanov was the first player eliminated on Thursday, falling in sixth place and getting knocked out by Livingston. Dan Shak was next to bust, and he was eliminated by Guagenti. Livingston eliminated Mike Gorodinsky in fourth place before Guagenti busted Mike "Crazy Mike" Thorpe in third place.

Heads-up play began with Livingston out in front. He had 7,450,000 in chips to Guagenti's 2,900,000. Guagenti battled back to nearly tie the stacks, and that's when the two looked at the numbers and came to a deal for altered payouts. With the deal, Livingston locked up $153,225 and Guagenti locked up $151,075. They left $20,000 to play for and cut the level time down to 20 minutes per level.

It was a back-and-forth affair between Guagenti and Livingston, but eventually Guagenti pulled away. On the final hand, Guagenti made numero uno in a hand of 2-7 triple draw to eliminate Livingston.

"I love triple draw," Guagenti said. "I didn't learn triple-draw games until maybe eight or nine years ago. Adam Friedman let me sit behind him in a cash game and watch him play, and we talked about the games for a little bit. It helped me learn the games to be able to start playing, and the more you play a game the more you're going to learn it. I love triple-draw games. I think they're amazing. They're so much fun. The sweating, everything, everything about them I enjoy."

As mentioned before, the victory put Guagenti at the top of the series leaderboard. Livingston's second-place finish got him 138 points to move him to 164 total. That allowed him to jump up to sixth place.

PGT Mixed Games Series Leaderboard Top 10

To follow the entire PGT Mixed Games series, stay tuned to the PGT.com live reporting section.

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