A stunning comeback win for the unbeatable Nicolas Milgrom proved pivotal as the Frenchman, partly backed by PokerStake buyers, won the opening event of the 2025 PGT Mixed Games series. Winning a top prize of over $159,000 for his $5,100 buy-in, Milgrom multiplied his backers’ investments by 31 times as he celebrated victory having been a 15:1 underdog heads-up.

Massive Field for Opening Mixed Games Event

With 130 entrants each buying in for $5,100 in the H.O.R.S.E. event, just 19 players were paid and it was a big name on the PGT in 2025 who bubbled the event. Texas Mike, a.k.a. Michael Moncek, lost out in Stud to Mike Gorodinsky, as a pair of jacks were no good against the sixes and threes held by Gorodinsky.

With the bubble burst, players dropped quickly as the field thinned out and a race to the final table began. David Funkhouser (19^th), Ari Engel (18^th) and Andrew Kelsall (15^th) were among those who min-cashed for $9,750. Jim Collopy came 13^th for $13,000 before PokerStake player Benny Glaser won $16,250 in 12^th place. Jeff Madsen (8^th for $26,200) and another PokerStake legend, Josh Arieh (7^th for $26,000) both posted strong results, with Arieh’s investors celebrating profit in the first event.

Arieh lost his stack to Jerry Wong, who went into the five-handed final table as the chip leader after Steve Zolotow busted in sixth place. Zolotow, a legendary figure on the mixed games circuit, lost to Nicolas Milgrom’s pocket jacks and he couldn’t find a hand in the Stud Hi-Lo hand.

Wong Gets it Right

Heading into the final day, Jerry Wong had a massive lead, with his stack of 9,625,000 well clear of his nearest rival, Huabao Chen, who had 2.4 million chips. An early hand went against Jerry Wong, as Walter Chambers doubled through the chip leader in Limit Hold’em. With a board of falling, Wong’s had made a wheel straight but it was the low end of the straight and Chambers’ was the high as he reduced Wong’s influence at the final table felt.

Huabao Chen was the first player to bust at the final table, and again, it was in Limit Hold’em that the drama played out. Jerry Wong rivered a straight with his catching on the board of as Chen’s was unable to make a superior flush, missing cards on turn and river to bust in fifth place for $39,000.

Jerry Wong rebuilt his previous superiority, establishing a stack of 12 million chips with only around 18 million on the table. It wasn’t him who wielded the axe to send play three-handed, however, as Nicolas Milgrom began his ascent to the summit when he made a nine-eight low in Razz to eliminate Chambers, as the American’s tournament ended in fourth place for a score of $52,000.

Milgrom Makes His Mark

With three players left, Benjamin Miner dug deep but couldn’t come up holding a diamond… or a winning hand. In Razz, Miner was drawing dead on fifth street, as Milgrom made an eight-four on seventh, which left Miner to head home with a score of $71,500 in third place.

Heads-up, Nicolas Milgrom still had to work from a deficit, but starting with 6,175,000 chips to Wong’s 13.3 million looked healthy compared to how it looked a few minutes later. Milgrom was almost finished off in a brutal hand of Stud, losing with a pair of kings to Wong’s trip queens. That pot going the American’s way gave Wong an incredible 17.6 million chips to 1,875,000 belonging to Milgrom.

The Frenchman needed a double-up quickly and got one in Stud Hi-Lo, his aces and nines scooping, before another double in Limit hold’em with a pair of aces brought him back up to a stack of 5.7 million. Soon, Milgrom had the lead, taking the front in Stud, before heading back into the same format. Wong made two pair on fifth street, but lost out when Milgrom made trip tens and after Wong couldn’t improve his hand late on, Milgrom’s stunning comeback was complete. He could celebrate a top-scoring result worth $159,250, a remarkable instant return on any PokerStake backers’ investments on the opening final day of the first event of the PGT Mixed Games 2025 festival.

Wong’s runner-up result was worth a very healthy $97,500 plus 98 PGT points, as Milgrom, who is selling to his PGT Mixed Games series events on the official staking page for the event, took 160 points and the trophy. PokerGO subscribers can watch all the action play out right here at the PokerGO Studio in Las Vegas.

PGT Mixed Games Series 2025 $5,100 NLHE Event #1 Final Table Results:
Place	Player	Country	Prize
1st	Nicolas Milgrom	France	$159,250
2nd	Jerry Wong	United States	$97,500
3rd	Benjamin Miner	United States	$71,500
4th	Walter Chambers	United States	$52,000
5th	Huabao Chen	United States	$39,000