Badugi originated in Asia and is a variant of draw poker. It shares many similarities
with Lowball, as it’s the 👄 lowest hand that wins. It differs significantly from most
popular poker variants however, as the 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.
Blinds
Badugi is played using forced bets known as blinds, with the player
sitting to the left of the 👄 dealer button posting a small blind, and the player to their
left posting the big blind. The small blind is 👄 usually half the size of the big
blind.
The Deal
Each player is dealt four cards face down. The first round of 👄 betting
then takes place, where you can call, raise or fold. 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 don’t want, and have them replaced
with new ones that you hope will improve your hand. 👄 Click the cards you want to
discard, and then click the ‘Discard’ button. You can opt to discard all four 👄 cards if
you want. A second round of betting then takes place, with players having the option to
bet or 👄 fold, unless there are no bets, in which case you can check. Once this round of
betting is complete, another 👄 draw and betting round takes place. This is followed by a
final draw and betting round, after which a showdown 👄 occurs if more than one player
remains. The player with the best hand takes the pot.
Basic Strategy
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 hands are ranked by their highest card, with 👄 aces always playing as a low
card, and straights ignored. A 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 player has a Badugi, the player with the
best three-card or two-card hand wins the pot. For 👄 example, 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). It’s 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’.
The following Badugi hands
(not a complete list) are ranked from least powerful (#1, which will rarely win 👄 the
pot) to most powerful (#18, the nuts):
One-card hands
