Badugi Poker Strategy

Winning tips and strategies for badugi poker

Card games always have a large element of luck involved. But while you can't control the cards you're dealt or that you draw, you do have control over how you play them. Here are some thoughts on how to improve your odds at winning at Badugi Poker. The rules can differ from how you played at home and how it is played online so be sure to read our Badugi Poker rules article.

Your Opening Hand in Badugi Poker

Remember there are four betting rounds in Badugi -- twice as many as in a standard game of 5 Card Draw Poker. One Fixed Limit Badugi Poker Strategy this would suggest is to be thinking early about limiting your losses. It could cost quite a bit to hang around in the hopes of drawing better cards. Building a hand of low cards from different suites is a difficult task so there are some minimum opening hand requirements expert players have suggested. If your initial deal turns up 2 cards of different suites lower than 4, you should consider staying in the game. If one of those cards is an ace, that's even better. Three cards of different suites with a high card of 7 is also a relatively safe hand. If that initial deal hasn't yielded those minimums, you should give serious thought to folding.

	Best Badugi Poker Room - There are very few places to play Badugi Poker online and Pokerstars is the best by far. Their real money Badugi traffic peaks at over 200 players (at once) every day. They offer stakes ranging from $.25/.50 to $400/800. Players from the USA will have no trouble finding their accounts or getting their winnings since Pokerstars is the fastest paying room in 2010. New Badugi players will receive a 100% match in their first 3 deposits, for a maximum bonus of $600. All you need to do is visit Pokerstars, download the software, enter the marketing code PSP11820 during sign-up and the bonus code STARS600 if you decide to make a deposit.

Best Badugi Poker Room - There are very few places to play Badugi Poker online and Pokerstars is the best by far. Their real money Badugi traffic peaks at over 200 players (at once) every day. They offer stakes ranging from $.25/.50 to $400/800. Players from the USA will have no trouble finding their accounts or getting their winnings since Pokerstars is the fastest paying room in 2010. New Badugi players will receive a 100% match in their first 3 deposits, for a maximum bonus of $600. All you need to do is visit Pokerstars, download the software, enter the marketing code PSP11820 during sign-up and the bonus code STARS600 if you decide to make a deposit.

Badugi Poker - Your Draws

After the first draw see you need to be holding at least three cards you can work with. If anyone at the table has stood pat -- not drawn any cards -- the three cards you have need to be as low as possible -- 7 or less is what the experts say. If you don't have that, get out. After the second draw you'd better now have three off suite cards, the lower the better. If not you should try to assess what your opponents might have and consider bluffing. Again, if anyone stands pat, consider folding. You can get an idea how good your opponents' hands are by how they are betting. If you are holding four off suite cards where Jack is your high card, you might want to hang around depending on the betting action. After the final draw suppose you have four cards off suite, with 8 high. Bet and bet hard, unless the prior betting action suggests that someone else at the table may be looking at a Badugi. If you have a playable three card hand, what you are willing to risk depends on the prior betting action of your opponents. Once again, if someone has stood pat on this draw round, you should consider folding.

Bluffing In badugi Poker

At best, bluffing is a risky strategy in any poker game. In Badugi Poker it is probably best done in the earlier draw rounds. At this point in the game if no one is heavily invested in the pot, other players might try to minimize losses in upcoming rounds if they see you standing pat. The position in which you are playing is an important consideration in bluffing strategy. If you're the last to draw you already know how many cards each of your opponents has taken. This knowledge can increase the odds that your bluff will be successful.