Aloisio Dourado was tantalizingly close to capturing his first World Series of Poker bracelet in 2023. The Brazilian fell just short in that year’s $1,500 eight-game mixed event, with his pocket queens losing to running tens for Shaun Deeb during a round of no-limit hold’em to end his run in second place. Just shy of two years later, Dourado managed to battle his way back to a heads-up match at the series, this time in the $1,500 badugi event.
This time around, Dourado was able to close out the title. He bested a field of 534 entries to hoist the hardware and secure the top prize of $138,114.
“It means a lot to me,” Dourado told PokerNews reporters on the scene. “I’m feeling very fortunate to be here, to be able to play and to be able to fly from Brazil three years in a row, trying to win a bracelet.”
The third-annual running of this event drew a record field, topping the previous top turnout of 516 set in the 2023 debut of a standalone badugi bracelet event at the series. As a result, the prize pool swelled to $1,561,140 with the top 81 finishers making the money.
Plenty of big names cashed, with deep runs from the likes of Dan Zack (32nd), Ryutaro Suzuki (29th), John Monnette (18th), David ‘ODB’ Baker (17th), Matthew Wantman (15th), and Andrew Brown (8th).
Redemption Day for Dourado
The third and final day of this event saw seven players return to Horseshoe Las Vegas to play down to a champion, with Dourado out in front to start. He added to his stack early, scoring a knockout with a seven badugi to send bracelet winner Matthew Schreiber home in seventh place ($15,030).
Bracelet winner Dominick Sarle then busted Anthony Arvidson (6th – $20,558) and David Margolis (5th – $28,838) to narrow the field to four. Dourado did his best to keep pace with the surging Sarle, ending Jonathan Glendinning’s run in fourth place ($41,462) to set up a fairly even playing field for the final three.
While stacks were close to start, Dourado was able to pull away from the pack as three-handed action continued. James Newberry’s final hand saw his three-card six bested by the three-card five of Dourado. Newberry earned $61,061 as the third-place finisher.
That left Dourado with 9,650,000 to Sarle’s 3,700,000. The gap was even larger by the time the final hand was dealt. All of the chips got in before the final draw. Sarle opted to pat, and was met with a quick pat from Dourado. Sarle had made J♣8♦6♠A♥, but it was second best to the 6♣5♦4♥2♠ of Dourado. With that, Dourado locked up the bracelet, while Sarle settled for $92,058 as the runner-up.
From Brazil to Badugi glory! 🇧🇷🥇
Aloisio Dourado locks up his first WSOP bracelet in Event #23: $1,500 Badugi and bags $138,114!
What a run, what a smile, what a win 😄💰 Emotions like this only happen at WSOP! #WSOP2025 pic.twitter.com/4FQYL44AYm
— WSOP – World Series of Poker (@WSOP) June 8, 2025
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Prize Money | POY Points |
| 1 | Aloisio Dourado | $138,114 | 840 |
| 2 | Dominick Sarle | $92,058 | 700 |
| 3 | James Newberry | $61,061 | 560 |
| 4 | Jonathan Glendinning | $41,462 | 420 |
| 5 | David Margolis | $28,838 | 350 |
| 6 | Anthony Arvidson | $20,558 | 280 |
Photo credit: PokerGO / Miguel Cortes.
