Inaugural Champion to be Crowned in $1,500 Badugi
At one point late on Day 2 of Event #20: $1,500 Badugi at the 2023 World Series of Poker at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas, David "ODB" Baker joked that the remaining players were among the "top 15 badugi players in the world". If we take that tongue-in-cheek logic to be true, then today on the fourth and final day of the tournament, the best three badugi players out there comeback to battle it out until a champion is crowned.
Leading the remaining competitors is China's Yingui Li on 4,900,000. Portugal's Michael Rodrigues sits second with 4,600,000 and Serhii Popovych completes the trio on 3,350,000. All three players experienced massive swings in momentum throughout Day 3, but now each of them will be hoping for that last bit of run-good to push them over the edge and secure victory.
None of the players will leave with anything less than $59,879, but given that $144,678 sits up top along with the glory of winning a WSOP gold bracelet, there is everything still to play for. That is especially the case as each one of these players would not only become the first ever badugi bracelet winner but at the same time would secure the first bracelet of their career.
Final Table Results
| Position | Name | Country | Prize/Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yingui Li | China | 4,900,000 |
| 2 | Michael Rodrigues | Portugal | 4,600,000 |
| 3 | Serhii Popovych | United States | 3,350,000 |
| 4 | Matt Vengrin | United States | $40,996 |
| 5 | Danny Tang | Hong Kong | $28,270 |
| 6 | Owais Ahmed | United States | $20,557 |
| 7 | Lee Horton | United States | $15,102 |
Play resumes at 1 p.m. on the secondary feature table in the Horseshoe with blinds starting in Level 36 at 150,000/300,000 with limits of 300,000/600,000.
Stay tuned as the PokerNews live reporting team continues coverage through to the conclusion of this event with a winner's interview and tournament recap to follow.