Event #23: $1,500 Badugi
Day 1 Started
2025 World Series of Poker
Event #23: $1,500 Badugi
Day: 1
Event Info
2025 World Series of Poker
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1
Buy-in
$1,500
Prize Pool
$708,885
Entries
534
Level
30
Limits
150,000 / 300,000
Ante
0
Entries
534
Players Left
98
Players Left 1 / 534
Filter
(1)
Welcome back to PokerNews, the official media partner of the 2025 World Series of Poker and home of live updates from all bracelet events.
Event #23: $1,500 Badugi is one of the more unique events on the 2025 WSOP calendar, and it begins today at 2 p.m. local time at the Horseshoe and Paris, Las Vegas. Badugi is a four-card lowball poker variant where players must make the best "badugi," a four-card hand with no duplicates in rank or suit.
Fifteen levels, each lasting 40 minutes, are the order of the day on Day 1 of this three-day event. Players will take 15-minute breaks every two levels, but there is no dinner break scheduled. Should any player dust off their 25,000 starting stack, they can reenter for another $1,500 up to the completion of the ninth level (~8:45 p.m.).
Surviving players return to the lowball action at 1 p.m. local time on Friday, June 6, where levels extend to 60 minutes, remaining at an hour long until a champion is crowned on Day 3. Day 2 will see bracelet-hopefuls fight it out for 10 levels, with 15-minute breaks punctuating the action every two levels, and a 60-minute dinner break after Level 21 (~7:30 p.m.).
David Prociak won the $1,500 Badugi event in 2024, outlasting 486 opponents. Prociak collected $129,676 for the win, plus the second gold WSOP bracelet of his career.
“I have two fourths, two thirds, two seconds, and now I have two firsts,” the newest Badugi champion said, beaming. Last year, Prociak finished in second place in two events, the $1,500 Mixed NLH/PLO, and the $1,500 Short Deck. “It feels great; winning one could be a fluke. Winning two, you just can’t be a fluke. Coming in second twice last year sucked; now I feel like I can actually take in some compliments.”
| Year | Entrants | Champion | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 487 | David Prociak | $129,676 |
| 2023 | 516 | Michael Rodrigues | $144,678] |
Planning on playing this event? PokerNews activates MyStack for every WSOP event, regardless of that tournament's buy-in, allowing you to directly adjust your chip counts in our live reporting.
MyStack is a free poker tool that allows you to control your chip counts on our live reporting pages. Once you have created a free PokerNews account, you can use MyStack to update your chip counts in real time; hopefully, your stack will continue increasing throughout the event!
Become a Bigger Part of the Action With MyStack
Never Miss a Moment with MyPlayers on PokerNews
Stay closer than ever to the action with MyPlayers. This brand new, free feature on PokerNews puts your favorite poker players front and center. Whether you're keeping tabs on legends like Daniel Negreanu or following a friend grinding their way through a Day 2, MyPlayers delivers real-time updates tailored just for you. No subscriptions, no paywalls - just the hands, chip counts, and bustouts that matter most.
It’s simple: log in, search for any player in our live coverage, hit the star, and they’ll be added to your personalized MyPlayers list. You’ll see their progress across all live-reported events, with chip counts and updates pinned right where you need them at the top.
From railbirds to backers, MyPlayers is the smarter way to stay connected to the game.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for updates on this and all bracelet events at the 2025 WSOP!
Badugi is a four-card lowball poker variant where players must make the best "badugi" - four cards with no duplicates in rank or suit.
More commonly found in cash games, it is on rotation for high-stakes mixed games and is part of other mixed-game variants like badeucy and badacey.
It is believed that badugi originated in Canada during the 1980s under the name 'Off Suit Lowball'.
The name allegedly comes from the Korean word baduk or badug which refers to a black and white pattern, with badugi a common name for a black and white spotted dog. The board game Go was called baduk in Korean
Click here to go over the poker rules for Badugi.
Level: 1
Blinds: 100-200
Limits: 200-400
Level 1
: Limits 200/400, 0 ante
Blinds: 100-200
Limits: 200-400
Limits: 200-400
The players have taken their seats and cards are in the air.
Level 1
: Limits 200/400, 0 ante
Blinds: 100-200
Limits: 200-400
Limits: 200-400
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
25,000 | |
|
25,000 | |
|
25,000 | |
|
||
|
25,000 | |
|
25,000 | |
|
||
|
25,000 | |
|
|
||
|
25,000 | |
|
25,000 | |
|
25,000 | |
|
25,000 | |
|
25,000 | |
|
|
||
|
25,000 | |
|
25,000 | |
|
|
||
|
25,000 | |
Level 1
: Limits 200/400, 0 ante
Blinds: 100-200
Limits: 200-400
Limits: 200-400
Action was picked up with multiple bets already in the pot prior to the draws, with Haresh Thaker in the big blind, William Mattison on the button, and Michael Dwyer in the hijack.
Thaker drew one from the big, while Dwyer drew two and Mattison drew one. Thaker bet, earning two quick calls.
On second draw, Thaker stood pat while Dwyer drew one and Mattison upped his draw to two. This time when Thaker bet, only Dwyer called.
Dwyer drew one again after Thaker stood pat and he quickly let his hand go as Thaker tossed in a bet.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
27,400 | |
|
23,000 | |
|
22,000 | |
|
||
Level 1
: Limits 200/400, 0 ante
Blinds: 100-200
Limits: 200-400
Limits: 200-400
Kelt Davis called in the hijack which saw Steven White call on the button and Sean Yu checked his option in the big blind.
On the first draw, Yu drew three with both Davis and White drawing two behind him. Action checked around to White who bet and Yu immediately raised, which saw only White continue.
The second draw saw Yu stand pat and White drew two, prompting an auto bet from Yu. White looked down at his two cards and pitched his hand, ceding the pot to Yu.
Yu tabled K♠J♥6♦5♣ for a king-dugi as he raked in the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
28,100 | |
|
24,700 | |
|
|
23,900 |
Level: 2
Blinds: 200-300
Limits: 300-600
Level 2
: Limits 300/600, 0 ante
Blinds: 200-300
Limits: 300-600
Limits: 300-600
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
25,000
25,000
|
25,000 |
|
25,000
25,000
|
25,000 |
|
25,000
25,000
|
25,000 |
|
25,000
25,000
|
25,000 |
|
25,000
25,000
|
25,000 |
|
||
|
25,000
25,000
|
25,000 |
|
|
25,000
25,000
|
25,000 |
|
25,000
25,000
|
25,000 |
|
||
|
25,000 | |
|
||
|
25,000
25,000
|
25,000 |
|
||
|
25,000
25,000
|
25,000 |
|
|
||
|
25,000
25,000
|
25,000 |
|
|
||
|
25,000
25,000
|
25,000 |
|
25,000
25,000
|
25,000 |
|
|
||
|
25,000
25,000
|
25,000 |
|
|
||
|
25,000
25,000
|
25,000 |
