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How To Play Badugi Poker
The game of Badugi poker originated in Asia and is a variant of draw poker. It shares many similarities with Lowball, as it is the lowest hand that wins. It differs significantly from most popular poker variants since hand ranking system is different. The strongest hands are those that have no pairs and four low cards, one of each suit. This is known as a Badugi.
How to Play
Blinds
Badugi poker is played using forced bets known as blinds. The Badgui poker player sitting to the left of the dealer button posts a small blind, while the Badgui poker player to the left of the small blind poster will post the big blind. The small blind is usually half the size of the big blind.
The Deal
Each Badgui poker player is dealt four cards face down. The first round of betting then takes place, where you can call, raise or fold. Badgui poker players still left in the hand after this first betting round now have the option to draw. The idea of the draw is that you can choose to discard any cards that you do not want, and have them replaced with new ones that you hope will improve your hand. You click the cards that you want to discard, and then click the “discard” button. The Badugi poker player at this point can opt to discard all four cards if they want. A second round of betting in Badugi poker then takes place, with players having the option to bet or fold, unless there are no bets, in which case the Badugi poker player can check. Once this round of betting is complete, another draw and betting round takes place. Finally, there is a final draw and betting round, after which a showdown occurs if more than one Badgui poker player remains. The player with the best hand takes the pot.
Basic Strategy Of Badgui Poker
The object of the game is to make a Badugi – a four-card low hand with four different suits, and no pairs. The best possible starting hand therefore is 4-3-2-A (with each card a different suit).
Badugi poker hands are ranked by their highest card, with aces always playing as a low card, and straights ignored. A Badgui poker player holding 9-8-4-3 of different suits (a “Nine Badugi”) would lose to an opponent holding 8-7-3-2 (an “Eight Badugi”) of different suits. Likewise, 6-3-2-A (a “Six Badugi”) would lose to 5-4-3-2 (a “Five Badugi”). If the top cards in the hand are tied, then the next-highest card is considered, and so on. Therefore, a 6-5-4-A (a “Six-Five Badugi”) would lose to a 6-4-3-2 (a “Six-Four Badugi”).
If a hand reaches showdown and no Badgui poker player has a Badugi, the player with the best three-card or two-card hand wins the pot. An example would be, if you hold 6h-4d-3s-Ah, you have two hearts, so the highest one is ignored, leaving a 4-3-A-x. That hand is known as a “Three Card Four”, and would lose to any Badugi, but it would beat 7h-5d-4d-3s (the highest diamond is ignored, making a “Three Card Seven”, 7-4-3-x),. All three-card hands, in turn, beat all two-card hands. For example, Ad-As-2d-2c is a “Two-Card Deuce”, 2-A-X-X, because there are two pairs). In the game of Badgui poker, it is even possible to have a “One Card” hand; for example, Qd-Jd-8d-4d has four cards of the same suit, so three of them are ignored, leaving just the 4d, a “One-Card Four”.
It is important to think about position when playing Badgui poker, as the player last to act is able to gain information on what hands their opponent may have, based on the number of cards they have discarded. If a player who acts before you does not discard any cards, it is likely that they already have a strong hand.
Texas Holdem Poker Rules – How to Play Texas Holdem Poker
Texas Holdem Poker is currently the most popular form of poker played around the world. This is due to the fact that it is very exciting, especially in the No Limit form. This poker game takes a great amount of skill and dedication to learn if you want to become a profitable player. Below we will explain how to play Texas Holdem poker.
Blinds and Dealing Rules
The Texas Holdem poker game can be played with anywhere from 2 players on up to 10 players. In this poker game the dealer is designated by a button on the table, and a small and big blind are placed clockwise from that button. The small blind is equal to around half of whatever the big blind is decided on. In Texas Holdem poker blinds are put in place of Antes for a very good reason. This allows the other eight players at the table a chance to simply fold their cards for free. Two people under the blinds are considered already in the hand.
The Dealer will then deal cards one at a time to each person clockwise around the table starting with the small blind. This continues until two rounds are made, leaving each player with two cards of the their own as seen above. Dealing should end with the last card being dealt to the dealer.
Preflop Rules
Preflop action in Texas Holdem poker begins with the person to the left of the big blind and continues on around the table with the big blind acting last. Each person along the way may choose to simply fold their hand for free. They might also Call the big blind value if they choose to play in the hand. Lastly, they can Raise the big blind value to a value of their own. This value is based on whether or not the poker game type is Limit or No Limit. Action continues until there are no more raises and all bets have been called or poker hands have been folded.
Flop Rules
The next stage in Texas Holdem poker is the Flop. The dealer begins by “burning” a single card by placing the next card face down on the table, followed by the next 3 cards face up on the table. These 3 cards make up the flop. Each player now uses the 2 cards in their hand along with the 3 on the table to form their own 5 card poker hand.
This next round of betting on the flop will begin with the small blind, leaving the dealer last to act. Each player may Bet, Call, Raise, or Fold based on their current 5 card poker hand. Action continues in a clockwise order until all raises have been called or all poker hands are folded.
Turn Card Rules
The dealer now proceeds to “burn” another card face down on the table, and then deals a single card known as the turn card. There are now 4 cards on the table, however in Texas Holdem each player still may only use 3 of those cards to make their 5 card poker hand. Once again poker action begins with the small blind and the dealer acts last. Check, Bet, Raise, or Fold.
River Card Rules
The dealer now proceeds to “burn” one last card face down on the table, and deals the final river card to the board. There are now 5 cards on the table, however in Texas Holdem each player still may only use 3 of those cards to make their 5 card poker hand. Poker action begins with the small blind and the dealer acts last. Check, Bet, Raise, or Fold. Once this round of betting is complete, the showdown will take place.
Showdown Rules
When all poker betting is complete the remaining players will turn their two cards face up to display their best 5 card hand. The best 5 card hand will win the pot. Consult any Hand Ranking page for information on hand ranks. The person who initially bets and gets called will show their hand first, generally. The round of play is over, and the next round will begin by shifting the dealer button and blinds clockwise one spot. Wash, rinse, and repeat to have yourself a great time playing Texas Holdem Poker!