Badugi fundamentally fits into the category of draw poker and is probably not at all familiar to most poker players. It is a very interesting game though for its odd betting structure and method of play. It is a four-card game consisting of three drawing rounds in which the players place their bets and begin the task of building the winning Badugi hand into showdown. In Asia, the game is widely played and is trickling slowly into North America. Badugi is for the most part played as a fixed limit game with two blinds, from then on it is similar to many other poker variations. Tournament play will often include pot and no limit games.

The Workings of Badugi

The game commences with a four-card face-down deal to each player. The first betting round ensues. The first player to place a bet is the one just before the large blind. A player is allowed to call, fold, or raise to the house limit. The players who did not fold are now able to draw from no cards at all up to four. These cards remain in their hands and are not played. Because of this rule, a player must pay strict attention to his discards and revalue his odds. In some games, the rounds are referred to as the time of day, much like streets in Texas Hold’em.

Do not discount the fact the hands that win in Badugi, will get you nowhere in traditional poker. It is essential that you master the composition of hand rankings in Badugi. Do not play without a thorough knowledge of this. In this game dual suits and duplicate cards are of no use, only discrete suits and values are of any worth to your hand. As a matter of fact, the name Badugi is in reference to a hand comprised of distinct suited cards. At the end of the game, while everyone is comparing hands, the first item to look for is the active card count followed by the lower value of the highest card keeping in mind that aces are low. Ergo, the best of the best Badugi hands will consist of ace, two, three, and four, all unsuited. The worst of the worst would be four kings.

Badugi Strategies to Win

Badugi is somewhat like 2-7 triple draw poker in it shares with it the three drawing rounds. The hand rankings are nothing alike as the no duplicate rule in Badugi is certainly not the rule in triple draw. Most poker variations will stress the importance of the player’s position at the table and with Badugi position is even more critical in determining the strength or weakness of opponent’s hands. If a player can see the draws his opponents make, he can determine the value of their hands relative to his own, many draws show a weak hand, few draws a stronger one.

A badugi is a hand complete with four cards. Imagine that you have a Badugi and desire to calculate the odds of your opponents hand while he draws. If the player swaps one card, he must draw the suit that is not represented in his hand. Odds here are 10 in 52 because the drawing player also does not want a match on any of the three cards in his pre-draw hand. Factor into your calculations also that the poor guy may draw one of the lower high value cards to his great dismay.

Now suppose you hold a four-card ten high hand, another players chances of hitting on a lower, distinct value are 6 in 52 because any cards higher than ten in the right suit cannot best your hand.

Before beginning that first betting round, the player has a little more than a 50% chance of drawing to a discrete four-card hand during each round, which adds up to a 20 % chance of doing so in each round.

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