Veteran pro and poker personality Raymond Davis became the first WCOOP Champion in Badugi early Wednesday morning.

Davis, no stranger to the poker world having cashed regularly in major poker events since 2002, overcame a tough final table that included Danny “THE__D__RY” Ryan and Billy “The Croc” Argyros to book the win.

Known for his sense of style and outspoken personality, Davis has taken down six-figure scores in the 2008 $50K H.O.R.S.E. and the 2007 WPT Five Diamond event at Bellagio, but this is his first WCOOP title.

A total of 376 players paid the $320 buy-in to take part in the event, which was added to the WCOOP schedule, in part due to Team PokerStarss Pro Barry Greenstein’s constant requests.

Because Badugi, a four-card draw lowball game, is such an unusual variant of poker, the field contained a high ratio of pros including Daniel Negreanu, Vanessa Rousso, Chris Moneymaker, Gavin Griffin and many others.

Greenstein hosted the event and proceeded to taunt close-friend Davis throughout the final table.

“Normally I would congratulate all of you, but you’re behind Raymond Davis, which is quite embarrassing,” wrote Greenstein in the chatbox at the start of the final table. “I have to root for you Raymond. No one else owes me money.”

Argyros, who is commonly referred to as Billy the Croc, entered the final table as one of the short stacks and didn’t make it long until he was eliminated in 7th place. Argyros later admitted in the chatbox that it was his first Badugi tournament.

The other well-known pro at the final table, Ryan is known as a sit-and-go master, but also finished fifth in the 2008 EPT Copenhagen event. Ryan entered the final table with a medium stack but was eventually ousted by Davis in fifth place.

In the end, Davis entered heads-up play against bobsmith166 with a small chip lead.

The two agreed to an almost even chop, but still played one hour and 30 minutes heads-up before Davis finally landed the knockout blow, winning both the WCOOP title and the $19,912 that came with it.

Here are the complete final table results:

1. Raymond “raydavis77″ Davis – $19,912

2. bobsmith166 – $17,312

3. goleafsgo41 – $11,844

4. Cordelia – $8,460

5. Danny “THE_D_RY” Ryan – $5,640

6. JP OSU – $3,948

7. Billy “crocky” Argyros – $2,820

8. MadisonAce29 – $2,820

Report by PokerListings.com

Scheduled to shuffle up and deal at 16:30 ET on the 8th September 2009, the FL Badugi event has a $320 direct buy-in with the tournament having a $100K guarantee by Pokerstars.

Badugi was originally part of last years WCOOP but was dropped from the schedule so with an event making the WCOOP schedule this year it shows Badugi has made some progress in terms of popularity over the last year.

If a $320 buy-in is too steep, satellites start from as little as $1 or 100 FPP’s. Qualifiers will run around the clock. Good luck if you enter this.

Bookmark our site and you will be the first to get the latest poker news, and indeed any badugi news from the poker world.

Badugi, you mean?

No … In Vegas, a new game has been added to the mixed live games, which is a sick mixture of Badugi and Triple Low Draw, and rumours are this game might be added to online poker site Pokerstars within a year.

Baduci. ‘Badu-ci’.

Basically it’s 2-7 Triple Draw (the “duci,” as in deuce-y part of Baduci), where you try to make the best deuce-to-seven hand. But if someone also can make a 4-card Badugi (A-4 low, no pairs or same suited cards) then that person can split half of the pot.

In Badugi games you are looking to make the lowest possible hand with no pairs, sets or flushes. The nut holding in Badugi is A, 2, 3, 4 with the cards being of different suits. Many people confuse the Ace. In Badugi the Ace is the lowest possible card, it is not a high card so having the Ace is a good thing.

However in the 2-7 part of the game, you don’t want to have an ace in your hand. As you may notice from the name of the game, in 2-7 the lowest card is a 2. This means that when playing the 2-7 portion of the game, the Ace is the highest possible card. So if you have an ace in your hand, the chance of you getting the 2-7 pot is not a good one.

Baduci Rules & Structure:

1. Each player is dealt 4 cards.
2. First round of betting begins to the left of the big blind.
3. Each remaining player can trade in up to 3 cards.
4. Second round of betting begins with the player to the left of the dealer.
5. Each remaining player can trade in up to 3 cards.
6. Third round of betting begins with the player to the left of the dealer.
7. Each remaining player can trade in up to 3 cards.
8. Fourth and final betting round begins with the player to the left of the dealer.
9. Showdown

The person in 1st position after the blinds will have the opportunity to call, raise or fold just like in any other kind of poker. If you call and stay in the pot throughout the betting round, you will have the chance to draw up to 3 of your cards for hopefully better ones.

Once everyone has drawn their cards, another betting round will start. This is repeated allowing 4 betting rounds and 3 chances to trade cards. After the final betting round, if there is more than 1 player left it will be time to flip your cards and see who wins.
Two live action pots in every hand of Baduci!

Some Baduci strategy is to remember that the pot is split in 2, one going to the best Badugi hand and one going to the best Deuce to Seven hand. Now keep in mind that for the 2 different pots, there are some variations. As mentioned above, in Badugi an Ace is low and in Deuce to Seven an Ace is high so although having an Ace is a bad thing for the deuce to seven pot, having an Ace is an excellent card for the Badugi pot.

All you need to do is join SAS to become a member and be able to recieve the password and join the league, all of which is free, and it is a great site that comes highly recommended for players who are interested in staking or being staked.

Details of the Badugi league are as below;

SaS Badugi Mini League

SIX games played on Wednesdays at 15.00 ET / 20.00 UK

EVERYONE Will score points…..
First out will score 1 point and 1st will score 1 point per player registered.

No registration Fee and ALL monies won at the tables is yours.
This is a trial series to see if we can add Badugi to upcoming SaS Events.

Game Schedule as Follows:
Game ONE
Date: May 27th – 15.00 ET/ 20.00 UK
Tourney Name/ID: Badugi Series I – 166879650
Buy-In: $5.50

Game TWO
Date: June 3rd – 15.00 ET/ 20.00 UK
Tourney Name/ID: Badugi Series II – 166880108
Buy-In: $5.50

Game THREE
Date: June 10th – 15.00 ET/ 20.00 UK
Tourney Name/ID: Badugi Series III – 166880442
Buy-In: $5.50

Game FOUR
Date: June 17th – 15.00 ET/ 20.00 UK
Tourney Name/ID: Badugi Series IV – 166881978
Buy-In: $5.50

Game FIVE
Date: June 24th – 15.00 ET/ 20.00 UK
Tourney Name/ID: Badugi Series V – 166882396
Buy-In: $5.50

Game SIX
Date: July 1st – 15.00 ET/ 20.00 UK
Tourney Name/ID: Badugi Series VI – 166910581
Buy-In: $5.50

Staking: ANYONE can be staked for these games.. There are no Staking restrictions attached to this league.
Passwords: The passwords are posted on the SAS site.