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.