The board read 5♦7♦6♣4♣A♥ with around 3,500,000 in the middle. Liran Betito had bet 3,600,000 from the big blind, and Michael Holmes was sitting in the hijack. He considered his options for a bit, counted out the remainder of his stack worth 3,650,000, and then opted to fold.
On the next hand, Kevin Rand raised it up to 400,000 from the cutoff and both Betito in the small blind and Clayton Fletcher in the blinds decided to call.
The flop came J♥4♥5♥, and both Betito and Fletcher checked. Rand continued with a bet of 325,000 for Betito to respond with a raise to 975,000. Fletcher snap-folded but Rand needed some more time before opting to fold too.
Stuart McMahen was all-in for 2,350,000 against Shaun Deeb with the cards turned up.
Stuart McMahen: K♥Q♣J♣10♦
Shaun Deeb: A♥K♦6♥3♠
The flop of 6♠10♥J♥ gave McMahen top two pair and Broadway draws, while Deeb had flush and straight draws. The 5♦ turn changed nothing, while McMahen made a full house on the 10♣ river to double his stack.
Shaun Deeb raised to 850,000 from under the gun, and Stuart McMahen made the call from the cutoff. The action folded to Jerome Hickel in the big blind who three-bet the pot. Deeb called for his remaining 125,000. McMahen tanked and then folded for the cards to go on their backs.
Shaun Deeb: 8♠8♦3♥3♦
Jerome Hickel: K♠K♦9♣4♥
The flop came 10♦5♦5♠ to keep Hickel ahead.
The turn was the 8♥ for Deeb to hit a full house.
"That's a great card for you," Hickel commented.
The river completed the board with the K♥ for Hickel to hit the higher full house.
"Oh, but that's a great card for me," Hickel added while rapping the table as Deeb made his way out of the tournament area.
The final sixteen players racked up their chips and then made their way to their new seats on the final two tables.
Tomorrow, Wednesday, June 7 at 2 p.m., Event 20: $1,500 Badugi will get underway at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, June 7, but if you don't know how to play, fear not as we've put together this primer to get you up to speed and ready to compete.
Badugi is a four-card triple draw lowball poker variant that isn’t as well-known as other games, but those who learn and play it often characterize it as a fun alternative poker game filled with action.
A lot of players enjoy Badugi because it has a fairly simple objective and, because the format and goal differ from many other variants, there are different strategies employed.
Although the exact origin of the game is unknown, many believe it originated in South Korea in the latter half of the 20th century, while others claim it was popularized in Canada in the 1980s where it was called “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.
Jorge Ufano raised to 550,000 under the gun and was called by Joseph Altomonte next to act as well as Xing He in the big blind.
The flop came 9♠6♠6♦ and He check-called a bet of 600,000 from Ufano and Altomonte got out of the way.
The 10♦ hit the turn and both players quickly checked. When the J♥ hit the river they checked once more. He tabled A♠9♦3♠3♣ for nines and sixes but ultimately lost to Ufano's K♦K♥10♥2♣.
The following hand, Noah Goldman raised to 550,000 in the cutoff and Jorge Ufano three-bet to 2,075,000 from the big blind which was enough to take down the pot.
