John Monnette Wins PGT Mixed Games Event #2 for $211,200

John Monnette has won Event #2: $10,300 8-Game at the first-ever PGT Mixed Games tournament series. Monnette and his heads-up opponent, Albert Daher, finally resumed play on Wednesday after pausing the match on Monday so they could compete in other tournaments. The two resumed play just before noon on Wednesday, and it was Monnette who emerged victorious in about an hour's time. For the win, Monnette picked up $211,200 in prize money.

"I feel really good," Monnette said. "It was weird having the delay, for sure. I started the heads-up match, I don't know what it was, 11-2 or something? I was a big dog in chips and then we grinded back and forth, back and forth. But then when we started here today, I was like 10-3, so then the pressure was on me after it wasn't."

When play resumed on Wednesday, Monnette had approximately a 3-to-1 chip lead. Daher quickly doubled his stack to just about tie things up, but then Monnette came right back to open up a lead. Daher was ground down, doubled up once, and then Monnette sealed the deal in a hand of pot-limit Omaha.

During the break, Monnette played Event #3: $10,3000 Triple Stud Mix. Eli Elezra won that tournament, but Monnette had a good showing of his own and finished fourth for $60,000.

 "It was fun to be able to register for the next tournament and final table that," Monnette added. "Albert wanted to play last night, but I wanted to go home and see the kids and get some sleep and he was really cool about it, so we figured out a time to do it before the triple draw tournament."

PGT Mixed Games Event #2 Results

Place	Player	Country	Prize	Points
1st	John Monnette	United States	$211,200	211
2nd	Albert Daher	Lebanon	$149,600	150
3rd	Brian Rast	United States	$105,600	106
4th	Craig Chait	United States	$88,000	88
5th	Damjan Radanov	United States	$70,400	70
6th	Mike Thorpe	United States	$52,800	53
7th	Chris Vitch	United States	$44,000	44
8th	Michael Noori	United States	$35,200	35
9th	Anthony Zinno	United States	$35,200	35
10th	Mike Wattel	United States	$26,400	26
11th	Jeff Madsen	United States	$26,400	26
12th	Benny Glaser	England	$17,600	18
13th	Billy O'Neil	United States	$17,600	18

Event #2: $10,300 8-Game was the biggest of the series so far, drawing 88 entries and generating an $880,000 prize pool. The top 13 spots reached the money.

For much of the final table on Monday, it looked as though Daher was going to run away to the winner's circle. He even started heads-up play with nearly a 5-to-1 chip lead after he knocked out Brian Rast in third place. Daher quickly stretched his lead further and a couple of times Monnette was operating on fumes, but Daher could never really put his opponent away.

Eventually, Monnette worked his way into the lead, but then Daher fought to get it back. The lead changed hands a few more times after that before the two put the battle on hold while they went and participated in Event #3: $10,300 Triple Stud Mix. The heads-up match was then pushed to Wednesday because Monnette made the final table of Event #3 and finished in fourth place.

On Wednesday, there were no lead changes, even though Daher closed the gap to just about even early on. Monnette opened things back up and came out on top in the end to scoop the $211,200 top prize.

The victory also gave Monnette 211 leaderboard points which allowed him to move into a sizable lead at the top of the PGT Mixed Games leaderboard. The player who tops the leaderboard through all eight events will be crowned PGT Mixed Games champion and win the $25,000 championship bonus.

"It's such a cool tournament that's being put on here, such a good series of different tournaments," Monnette said of the series as a whole. "There's what, three more?  It'll be fun. It's all so close though because there's such a small player pool and if anyone wins one more tournament they're going to pass me. I definitely need to try and win something else or at least final table."

PGT Mixed Games Series Leaderboard Top 10

Rank	Player	Country	Winnings	Points
1st	John Monnette	United States	$271,200	271
2nd	Shaun Deeb	United States	$208,800	209
3rd	Eli Elezra	United States	$155,000	180
4th	Albert Daher	Lebanon	$149,600	150
5th	David "ODB" Baker	United States	$147,900	148
6th	Yuval Bronshtein	United States	$145,000	120
7th	Brian Rast	United States	$105,600	106
8th	Nick Guagenti	United States	$104,400	104
9th	Craig Chait	United States	$88,000	88
10th	Johannes Becker	Germany	$87,000	87

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

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