Badugi Rules
How to play Badugi & where did it come from?
The poker game called Badugi originates in Asia (Korea). It's only very recently
been introduced to the western world as a main stream game and is proving to be very profitable for
a few astute players that are taking the time to learn it as most people have no clue how to play it.
The Rules Of Badugi
Badugi is a draw variant of poker. It's actually quite similar to triple draw where the best low hand wins.
There are a few things about Badugi that do make it very distinct however and is often played in a limit format but has also been known to be played as a pot limit game.
Badugi Game Structure
Dealer selection
The dealer is chosen by whoever is dealt the highest cards. The two players to the immediate left of the deal will post the small and big blinds.
Each player then gets dealt four cards each in a clockwise manor starting from the small blind.
First round betting in Badugi
The first player to start off the betting after the hole cards have been dealt is the player that is under the gun (much like other variants of poker). The bets at this stage are small bets for the limit poker (most popular variation) format and the rest of the players have the choice to fold, call or raise the small bet, again in clockwise order.
In between each round of betting, players are allowed to draw for new cards (draw poker). You can change as many as all four cards or none at all, it's up to you. This obviously has a baring on how strong or weak other player may think you are.
Second round of betting
Once again the betting starts from the small blind player. The bets are still in small at this point.
The third betting round
Again the small blind kicks things off but now the bets are big bets which is a limit game is double the small bet size.
The final betting round
This fourth betting round also uses big bets (the same as in the previous round).
As soon as the betting in this round has finished,
all of the players that are still in the pot and haven't folded will turn their cards over to see who has the best Badugi hand.
Badugi hand ranking
In Badugi rules the lowest hand wins but there are a few things that you
need to know in order to correctly asses hands.
Firstly aces are low so an A,2,3,4 hand is better than a 2,3,4,5 hand.
The next thing to understand is that all of your cards need to be different suits. So if you have say two hearts in your hand then you have to discount one of them (the highest one) and then you have a 3 card hand. The same goes if you get to the final round of betting with two cards of the same suit, you have to discard two cards which leaves you with a two card hand.
A Badugi hand if a four card hand where all cards are different suits. A 3 card hand isn't a Badugi hand. A four card hand is stronger than a
3 card hand and a 3 card hand is stronger than a two card hand etc.
If the final players that are showing their hands down both have the same amount of cards in their hand then the one with the lowest high card wins.
For example a hand like T,9,7,5 beats J,2,3,4 even though most of the cards in the second hand are lower.
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