“What game are we playing?”
Two-time Oscar nominee James Woods was getting caught up with the details just before the start of play as the final 15 players gathered to decide a winner in the $2,500 Mixed Triple Draw event on Saturday. The details — like which game you're playing — are important, and they would cost Woods dearly later on.
This particular mixed tournament uses three ‘lowball’ games: badugi, ace-to-five, and deuce-to-seven. The overall point of all three is to make the lowest hand. There are differences between them that we will get into later.
Woods was the first to arrive on Saturday, and he found the perfect chair before he waited patiently for the others. The actor was wearing his Porsche jacket and a blue hat with the California state flag and an American flag sticker on the brim with ‘I Voted by Mail’ across the top.
If you follow Woods on social media, you may know that he is a controversial personality. He shares posts that many would consider problematic, but it’s a toxic internet persona that is juxtaposed with a relatively soft-spoken and friendly poker player. Woods is among friends at the WSOP, and you rarely hear him doing anything other than laughing or talking about cards.
The usual suspects
A few moments after he arrived, Woods was joined by a roster of final table regulars like Yuval Bronshtein, Chino Rheem, Johannes Becker, David ‘Bakes’ Baker, and Benny Glaser, who already has two bracelets at the 2025 series. It was the usual mix of credible foes that a non-pro might face as they chase their first bracelet late in a mixed-game event.
Woods shared a table with Bronshtein, and they mixed it up early in a hand of ace-to-five. The ace plays low in ace-to-five and straights are ignored, which is why Woods went a little quiet when Bronshtein turned over 
to beat his 
. It was an early hit that sent him near the bottom of the leaderboard.
Meanwhile, three players busted in the first twelve minutes, including Rheem, and the final 12 redrew to two tables, where Baker joined Woods and Becker on one while Glaser held it down on the other.
Politics did come up, technically, when a player asked about the Pacific Palisades fires. “My house survived,” Woods said. “But the whole hillside needs to be rebuilt.”
Woods has been outspoken about the politics behind the fire recover, particularly against Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and California Governor Gavin Newsom, but not at the WSOP.
“Don’t get me started,” he said to the table with a small burst of energy. “I might just shove in.”
Woods has the bluffs in him
Woods picked up a few chips, and the energy carried into badugi, where players want four low cards of different suit and rank. The ace is low and straights don’t count — you just want four different cards in four different suits.
“I have a really good one,” Woods told George Alexander. “I’m not bluffing. I want to make the final table.”
The final seven was in sight with 11 players left. Woods bet, and Alexander folded. “I said I’d show you, and I’ll show you.” It was a ten-low badugi. Not a bad hand.
It cut both ways a few minutes later when Woods motioned at PokerOrg’s Jo Kim. “Don’t go away. No matter what, I’m showing this hand.”
Becker called and drew two cards in ace-to-five. Woods, who drew none, tossed out a bet, and Becker folded quickly.
“Blocker paradise!” Woods yelled as he turned over 
— a stone-cold bluff.
The sequence was a surge of much-needed chips for Woods, who would use them to tread water to the final table bubble, where a big mistake would cost him his tournament life.
Not like that
The game was once again ace-to-five, and Woods was once again trading bets and raises with Alexander. With nearly half his stack in the middle, Woods confidently held a ‘nine-eight’ — 
— a decent hand in deuce-to-seven.
“Oh my God,” Woods said. “I’m playing the wrong game.”
It was true. Alexander turned over and took the pot with his low ace. Woods needed to make a move on the final table bubble, but not that one. A few moments later, Woods took his shot with the rest of his stack and , but Alexander was back again with to send him home.
Becker and Bronshtein had already hit the rail, but ‘Bakes’ Baker, Glaser, and Alexander went on to the final table with Michael Balan, Mark Klecan, Chris Klodnicki, and Schuyler Thornton to play for $208,552 and the bracelet. They left behind Woods, who settled for $17,000.
