Badugi Poker Rules

An increasingly popular draw poker game on online poker sites and in casinos and card rooms alike is Badugi poker, not to be confused with Baduci poker.  Badugi is unlike any poker game that you've played before, and once you've gotten the hang of the Badugi poker rules, you're likely to find that it is one of your favorites; at very least, you'll see that's a break from the ordinary, more traditional poker games that you may be more accustomed to playing. Badugi is a draw poker game, like 5 Card Draw, 2-7 Triple Draw and 2-7 Single Draw . The goal is to build the lowest four card hand using four different suites. You read that right:  in this game the worst hand is the winning hand.  If your hand includes one diamond, one club, one spade, and one heart -- one card from four different suites -- and the cards are all different ranks -- you have a "Badugi".  If you only have three cards from different suites, you have a "three card hand" and two cards of different suites is a two card hand.  A Badugi beats a three card and a three card hand beats a two card.  But what happens if two players end the game with a Badugi?   Or if two or more players end up with three card hands?  How do you determine what makes up the worst hand?  What does it take to win this game? I personally tend to play mostly Stud poker and mixed variants like H.O.R.S.E but Badugi poker has become one of my favorite card games. Check out this Badugi poker strategy article before you hit the tables:

• Badugi Poker Strategy

Scoring In Badugi Poker

Your hand is ranked according to the highest card you're holding in your Badugi, three hand, or two hand. Suppose you're holding a three hand of a deuce of clubs, five of spades, and seven of hearts.  Your hand is a "7" -- after your highest card.  An opponent holding a three of hearts, a four of diamonds, and a 6 of clubs would have a "6" and would beat you since his or her "6" is worse than your "7".

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Badugi Poker Game Play

The game of Fixed Limit Badugi Poker begins like any draw poker game with a deal but only four cards, not five.  Players in Fixed Limit Badugi do not "ante up" to build the pot as they do in other poker games, they use "blinds".  The bet is "blind" because you haven't seen your cards yet and who kicks off the betting depends on where each player is seated in relation to the dealer. The actual amount of the betting follows "fixed limit" rules, depending on the size of the blind - big blind or small blind.  Big or small simply relates to the size of the bet.  Suppose the betting limits agreed upon before the game or set by the house are "fixed" at $2/$4.   The small blind player is the one immediately to the left of the dealer and the big blind player is to the left of the small blind.  A big blind bet is set at the upper limit -- $4 while a small blind bet is at the lower limit --$2.

The Showdown In Badugi Poker

After the initial betting round in Fixed Limit Badugi Poker each player can keep the cards they were dealt or draw up to four new cards.  Keeping the cards you were dealt is called "standing pat".  There are three more betting rounds, where players discard, draw, and bet.  "Showdown" in Fixed Limit Badugi Poker is the end of the game when players lay down their hands and the best -- or rather the "worst" -- hand wins.  That's it.

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• Badugi Poker Strategy

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