It seems that Norwegian Tobias Leknes has conquered nearly everything in his illustrious career, the only thing that might have been missing is the elusive World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet, and he is on a mission to secure it this year. Leknes had a promising opportunity in Event #11: $1,500 Badugi, entering the final day as the chip leader.
Known as one of the best mixed games players in the world, Leknes boasts twelve WCOOP and seven SCOOP titles, including two in Badugi events. On top of that, he’s a three-time Norwegian champion, truly having seen it all at the green felts. Although Leknes hasn’t frequented many WSOP series in the past, this was a prime opportunity to snatch a first-ever bracelet, but ultimately, he finished in fourth place, earning $38,597.
The final day started with ten players, and Leknes maintained his chip lead by knocking out Laurent A Boublil in eighth place, forming the unofficial final table. Only David Prociak and Brandon Cantu seemed capable of keeping up with the Norwegian mixed-game wizard.
After Cantu’s elimination in sixth place, Prociak briefly took charge, but Leknes soon regained the chip lead, holding 40% of all chips with five players remaining. However, another contender got into the mix as Matt Grapenthien eliminated Tomasz Gluszko in fifth and soon matched Leknes chip-for-chip.
From this point, it was Prociak’s moment to shine. He won two big pots from Leknes, establishing a significant chip lead. The remaining players, including Leknes, had smaller and smaller stacks by the minute. Ultimately, it was Leknes who was first on the chopping blocks.
In a crucial hand, Prociak opened from the cutoff, and Leknes called all-in from the small blind. Grapenthien three-bet from the big blind and Prociak called. One the first draw, Leknes and Prociak drew two, while Grapenthien already stood pat. On the next two draws, both still drew cards, and Prociak proceeded to call Grapenthien’s bets. The action went check-check at the end, and Leknes showed a three-card badugi 7♠3♣2♠A♥, matching Prociak’s 4♥3♥2♣A♦, but Grapenthien’s ten-badugi scooped the pot, eliminating Leknes in fourth place.
Edward Yam, another short stack, was the next to go, setting up a heads-up battle between Prociak and Grapenthien, with Prociak holding almost a 6:1 chip lead. Despite Grapenthien finding one double-up, that was all she wrote. In the end, it was David Prociak, a business owner and part-time poker player, who secured his second WSOP bracelet.
“I have two fourths, two thirds, two seconds, and now I have two firsts,” Prociak told WSOP after his victory. “It feels great; winning one could be a fluke. Winning two, you just can’t be a fluke. Coming in second twice last year sucked; now I feel like I can actually take in some compliments.”
For Tobias Leknes, there will be many more opportunities in this year’s WSOP to claim his first coveted bracelet. PokerPro wishes him luck, and we’ll keep an eye on him throughout the summer.
Event #11: $1,500 Badugi Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
| 1 |  David Prociak | United States | $129,676 |
| 2 | Matt Grapenthien | United States | $84,650 |
| 3 |  Edward Yam | Hong Kong | $56,508 |
| 4 |  Tobias Leknes | Norway | $38,597 |
| 5 |  Tomasz Gluszko | Poland | $26,988 |
| 6 | Brandon Cantu | United States | $19,330 |
