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The first-ever World Series of Poker badugi bracelet has been captured by Michael Rodrigues. The Portugues player outlasted an impressive turnout of 516 entries in the inaugural running of the WSOP $1,500 badugi event, earning $144,678 and his first piece of WSOP hardware.
This was not only Rodrigues’ first bracelet win, it was also his first live tournament win. He came close to a title earlier in the year, finishing runner-up in a European Poker Tour Paris €5,150 no-limit hold’em six-max event for what was then a career-best $76,505 payday. This recent victory saw him increase his recorded earnings to nearly $450,000.
Rodrigues’ two top-two finishes this year were enough to move him inside the top 200 in the 2023 Card Player Player of the Year race, with 1,116 total POY points earned so far this year.
While this was the first stand-alone badugi event at the WSOP, it was not the first time that the unique lowball variant has been spread at the series. Badugi, a triple draw game in which players attempt to make the lowest four-card hand with one card from each suit, was previously featured as part of the dealer’s choice events held in recent years.
This event was slated to run over the course of three days, but an extra day of play was ultimately required. Plenty of big names ran deep, including Terrence Chan (12th), Jon Turner (11th), two-time bracelet winner David ‘ODB’ Baker (8th), bracelet winner Owais Ahmed (6th), and bracelet winner Danny Tang (5th).
Just three contenders remained when play was at around 2:30 AM on day 3. At that point, Yingui Li held the lead while Rodrigues sat in second chip position.
The unscheduled fourth day didn’t take long to wrap up, with the final three battling for just over an hour before Rodrigues emerged victorious. Serhii Popovych was sent packing after around 30 minutes. He got his last chips in against Li before the draws. The both were still drawing one going into the last pull. Li ended up with a 5-3-A three-card badugi, which meant Popovych could win the hand if he found any diamond on the end to make a four-card badugi. He drew up a spade, though, ending with a 7-5-4 three-card to finish in third place. Popovych took home $58,879 for his efforts.
With that, Li entered heads-up play with 7,250,000 to Rodrigues’ 5,650,000. Rodrigues picked off an early bluff from Li to overtake the chip lead. In the final hand, Li raised from the button and Rodrigues three-bet out of the big blind. Li called and took two after Rodrigues stayed pat. Rodrigues bet and Li called.
Rodrigues patted again and Li drew one. Rodrigues bet and Li called all-in for less. Rodrigues stood pat a third time and Li drew one. Rodrigues revealed 7
4
3
A
. Li showed 65A for a live draw at a six badugi before peeling his last card. It was the K, which meant that Li’s run in this event had come to an end in second place. He earned $89,415 as the runner-up, the second-largest score on his tournament resume.
Here is a look at the payouts and rankings points awarded at the final table:
| Place | Player | Earnings | POY Points |
| 1 | Michael Rodrigues | $144,678 | 840 |
| 2 | Yingui Li | $89,415 | 700 |
| 3 | Serhii Popovych | $59,879 | 560 |
| 4 | Matthew Vengrin | $40,996 | 420 |
| 5 | Danny Tang | $28,710 | 350 |
| 6 | Owais Ahmed | $20,577 | 280 |
Visit the Card Player 2023 World Series of Poker page for schedules, news, interviews, and the latest event results.
Winner photo credit: WSOP / Matthew Berglund.
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