Michael Casella Fends Off Stars To Win WSOP Badugi Bracelet

The first bracelet of the 2026 World Series of Poker to be awarded in a draw game saw a field of 554 entries narrowed down to just three contenders. Among the trio battling for the $1,500 badugi title were a pair of tournament poker heavyweights in seven-time bracelet winners Scott Seiver and Nick Schulman.

After a long battle, though, it was the third player who emerged victorious: California’s Michael Casella, an experienced chess player who is a frequent poker competitor around Los Angeles hotspots like Commerce Casino and Parkwest Bicycle Casino. Casella secured his first WSOP gold bracelet and $141,963 as the champion.

This was the second-largest recorded score for Casella, trailing only the $201,455 he earned with a runner-up finish in the 2025 Mega Millions event at The Bike. He now has over $713,000 in lifetime cashes after this win at the series.

Nick Schulman

“I’m relieved. He [Schulman] was all-in so many times, and he’s such a good player so anything can happen. Each time he won I felt like I could lose at any time,” Casella told PokerNews live reporters after closing out the win. “I’ve been competing my whole life in chess. It’s very demanding physically and emotionally, so I can handle heads-up poker better.”

Casella was also awarded 840 Card Player Player of the Year points for the win. This was his fifth final-table finish of the year, and second POY-qualified title. He now sits just outside the top 250 in the 2026 POY standings presented by CoinPoker.

Narrowing The Field

The top 83 finishers in this event earned a piece of the $735,435 prize pool, with notables like David ‘ODB’ Baker (50th), Matthew Wantman (45th), Jean-Robert Bellande (31st), Nick Guagenti (29th), Ryan Riess (27th), Benny Glaser (25th), Ryan Hoenig (22nd), Ben Yu (21st), Max Neugebauer (19th), Chris Moneymaker (12th), and Yuri Dzivielevski (10th) all running deep.

Dzivielevski, a five-time bracelet winner from Brazil, was the first to fall on day 3. He was one of ten players to advance to the final day of play. Casella held the lead when cards got in the air. Jon Turner (9th) was the next to hit the rail, with Kyle Arora (8th) hot on his heels. That set the official final table of seven with Casella out in front and Seiver, bracelet winner Gary Benson, and Schulman rounding out the top four.

Walter Chambers was bounced in seventh place ($15,560) after getting all-in with a three-card three against a made jack badugi for Stephen Nussrallah. Despite scoring that knockout, Nussrallah was ultimately the next on the chopping block. He ran into a pat queen badugi for Seiver. Nussrallah had a three-card six heading into the last draw, but was unable to improve any further and settled for $21,279 as the sixth-place finisher. Seiver then landed the final blow against Brant Hale (5th – $29,824) to overtake the lead.

Casella Closes It Out

Gary Benson fell just a few spots shy of a second bracelet. The Australian had 8♠2♥A♦ going into the final draw facing the pat Q♦8♣7♥6♠ of Schulman. Benson drew up another heart, the 4♥, leaving him with a three-card hand. He earned $42,815 for his fourth-place showing.

Scott Seiver

Casella won a big clash with Seiver during three-handed action, showing down a five badugi to best Seiver’s six. Seiver was soon all-in and at risk with 5♠4♥A♣ against Schulman’s 8♣7♥6♦3♠ and one draw remaining. Seiver picked up an unhelpful 4♣ on the end to finish third ($62,920). This score moved Seiver’s career earnings to just shy of $27.8 million. The 41-year-old is off to a strong start in his quest for this year’s WSOP Player of the Year title. He secured the award in 2024 after winning three bracelets across 17 cashes.

Casella held more than a 3:1 chip advantage over Schulman when heads-up play began. The final two went back and forth for several hours. Schulman was able to overtake the lead briefly, but spent most of the battle with his back against the wall.

In the end, Schulman’s final stand saw him get all-in ahead of the final draw with 6♦5♣4♠ facing the 5♦2♠A♥ of Casella. Both players drew queens, and both hit suits that they already held. As a result, it was a showdown of two three-card hands, and Casella’s was best. Schulman earned $94,607 as the runner-up. The 41-year-old Poker Hall of Famer now has nearly $26.2 million in lifetime cashes to his name. 

Final Table Results

Photo credits: WSOP / Travis Bell, Lennart Hennig.