Written by :
Published on :
A popular poker event in Las Vegas scheduled for next week has been canceled, with organizers citing the conflict in the Middle East.
Cardplayer Lifestyle Mixed Game Festival typically features daily.mixed cash games with stakes of $4/$8 and $8/$16 and higher stakes upon request.
Robbie Strazynski runs the event. He currently resides in Israel and is unable to leave that country due to the conflict that has engulfed much of the region.
Israeli and U.S. airstrikes pounded Iran in an escalating campaign that U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday would likely take several weeks. Tehran and its allies retaliated across the region, striking Israel and a variety of targets inside Gulf states, including energy facilities in Qatar and the American Embassy in Saudi Arabia. The initial strikes began early Saturday morning resulting in the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
"I have very unfortunately had to make the decision to cancel Mixed Game Festival XIII," Strazynski wrote. "For those who don’t know, I live in Israel. As of this writing, our skies are closed 'indefinitely' due to the ongoing situation in this part of the world. British Airways cancelled my ticket almost immediately. Even our national carrier, El Al, which always flies (even during wartime), is not currently allowing people to purchase new tickets as it focuses its operations and resources on bringing citizens stranded abroad home to their families."
He added that, because he is the "face of the event", Strazynski opted not to have someone locally oversee it in his absense.
Very regretfully, I have had to make the decision to cancel Mixed Game Festival XIII at @PokerRoomRWLV.
Details in the just-published article on @PokerLifeMedia.
To the players, sponsors, room staff and supporters, please accept my apologies.https://t.co/Du6KTAN1co pic.twitter.com/JNKraeSJVs— Robbie Strazynski (@cardplayerlife) March 2, 2026
"At the end of the day, I set a type of standard and that's what the property, the sponsors, the players are expecting, and it just doesn't feel right to me when I've kind of given them, okay, this is what you kind of expect," he said.
The festival was slated to run from March 8-12 at Resorts World and then March 15-19 with daily cash games and four tournaments on the itinerary.
Even if Israel were to open its airspace back up for commercial traffic, Strazynski said he'd still be unable to fly to the U.S.
"But even if I could somehow manage to find a way out of Israel and make it to Las Vegas, the bottom line is that it would just be wrong to leave my family under these circumstances," Strazynski wrote.
Strazynski put out a video wishing those who planned on attending are able to receive refunds. It's not immediately clear how that process will work.
