Photo Credits: WSOP
Michael Casella beat one of the toughest short-handed finishes of the early 2026 WSOP to win Event #8: $1,500 Badugi for $141,963 and his first bracelet.
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Casella came into the final day with the lead and had to protect it against a final stretch filled with major mixed game names. Schulman and Seiver both entered the closing phase chasing an eighth bracelet, while Gary Benson also stayed in the hunt until fourth.
Casella, a California player with regular experience in Los Angeles games at Commerce Casino and Parkwest Bicycle Casino, held steady through the long finish. The result gave him the second-biggest live cash of his career, behind the $201,455 he won for finishing second in the 2025 Mega Millions event at The Bike.
He told reporters:
“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. I’ve been competing my whole life in chess. It’s very demanding physically and emotionally, so I can handle heads-up poker better.”
The event paid 83 players from a $735,435 prize pool. Deep runs also came from David “ODB” Baker, Jean-Robert Bellande, Nick Guagenti, Ryan Riess, Benny Glaser, Ben Yu, Chris Moneymaker and Yuri Dzivielevski. PokerNews listed the tournament as Event #8: $1,500 Badugi and confirmed the 554 entries, $735,435 prize pool and Casella win.
The final table narrowed fast before the three biggest names took control. Walter Chambers went out seventh, Stephen Nussrallah followed in sixth, and Brant Hale finished fifth as Seiver built momentum. Schulman then ended Benson run in fourth with a queen badugi. Casella hit back hard three-handed, beating Seiver with a five badugi against a six, before Schulman removed Seiver in third. Heads-up lasted more than three hours. Schulman survived several all-ins and briefly took the lead, but Casella closed it when both players drew queens and his three-card five-two-ace beat Schulman three-card six-five-four.
Badugi remains one of the more specialist WSOP formats. Players try to make the lowest four-card hand with one card of each suit, so final-table edges often come from draw decisions, patience and pressure rather than big all-in flips.
| Place | Player | Payout |
| 1 | Michael Casella | $141,963 |
| 2 | Nick Schulman | $94,607 |
| 3 | Scott Seiver | $62,920 |
| 4 | Gary Benson | $42,815 |
| 5 | Brant Hale | $29,824 |
| 6 | Stephen Nussrallah | $21,279 |
| 7 | Walter Chambers | $15,560 |