How to Play Badugi
Badugi is a draw poker game that also shares a trait of lowball poker in that the lowest hand will win. A strong “Badugi” will consist of four low cards all of a different suit with no pairs. The best Badugi that can be made is a rainbow ace, two, three, and four with the worst Badugi possible being a rainbow king, queen, jack, and ten. In the situation that a player has a hand with a pair in it or 2 (or more) cards of the same suit, the lowest cards of different suits will then be used to make a 3-card (or 1 to 2-card) Badugi.
Badugi Rules
A standard game of Badugi will have up to 8 players and will consist of 4 betting and 3 drawing rounds. Badugi is most often played using the fixed or ‘limit’ betting format and has forced bets otherwise known as the blinds which are paid by the two players to the immediate left of the dealer button.
A round of Badugi will start with the blinds being posted. The small blind’s bet will generally be half that of the big blind. Once the blinds are posted, each player will be dealt 4 cards face down starting with the small blind and ending with the button.
After all players have been dealt their cards, the first of four betting rounds will start beginning with the player to the immediate left of the big blind. This position is also known as being “under the gun.” Each player will have the option to fold, call or raise. When the action reaches the big blind, this player will also have the additional option to ‘check’ if the pot went unopened since this player already has the minimum required amount invested from posting the big blind bet.
With the first round of betting completed, the first of three drawing rounds will then take place. Starting with the player closest to the left of the button, each player will choose which of his or her 4 cards they wish to discard in exchange for new cards in attempt to make the best Badugi possible. All 4 cards can be discarded or a player can choose to ‘stand pat’ which means that they do not wish to discard any of their cards. This will continue around the table until all players remaining in the hand have acted.
The second, third and fourth betting rounds will give all players the additional option to check as opposed to calling or raising, assuming that a raise was not made before them. In between the second and third betting round will be the second drawing round and between the third and fourth betting round will be the third and final drawing round. In the case that 2 or more players make it through all 4 betting rounds, there will be a showdown where the hands of the players left in the pot will be shown and the player with the best Badugi will be awarded the pot.
Once the winner has been rewarded the pot, the dealer button will move one seat to the left, new blinds will be posted and then a new hand will be dealt.
Badugi Hand Showdown – What Hand Beats What
Sometimes it can be confusing as to what hand beats what at showdown while playing Badugi. So, here are a couple tips to help clear up the confusion.
- Any 4-card Badugi beats a 3-card Badugi. A 3-card Badugi beats and 2-card Badugi and so forth.
- In the case of two 4-card (or 3, 2 and 1) Badugis, the high card is considered first when determining a winner. So, if one player has 2, 4, 5, 6 and another player has A, 2, 3, 7, the first card compared is the 6 and 7 with the player holding the 2,4,5,6 being the winner. If the players share the same high card, then the next highest card is then compared and so on.
- If two players have the exact same hand, they tie. While some games do rank tied hands according to suits, Badugi does not.
Badugi Basic Strategy – A Couple Tips
Here are a few basic Badugi tips for those of you that are completely new to the game. They won’t make you a Badugi master, but they should help you from becoming the ‘dead money’ at the table.
- Position is key. Position is important in all forms of poker, but is definitely one of the most important variables in draw poker games. The reason being is that if you are in position, you can see how many cards your opponent(s) is drawing. If your opponent draws 3-cards on the first round, you might be able to bluff him or her off their hand by drawing none (regardless of your actual hand). Also, if your opponent draws 1 or 2 cards, you can then evaluate how likely you are to improve your hand and decide whether it’s worth the possible cost that you’ll pay to do so on future betting rounds.
- Hand selection is important. Again, this is another tip that applies to any poker variant. However, you play your cards much more in a game like Badugi then you do in a game like Hold’em. So, I would suggest playing hands that have potential such as 3 (of 4) cards to a 7-low or 2 (of 4) cards to a 5 low.
Summary of How to Play Badugi
As you can probably tell, Badugi is a real simple game to learn how to play. My advice would be to start at the free money games at your favorite online poker site (here are a list of poker sites with Badugi games) until you get the hang of it and then try the cash games and MTTs/SNGs to find which form of Badugi suits you best.
Related "How To" Posts:
- How to Deal a Heads Up Texas Hold’em Game
- How to Bet on the River in NL Hold’em
- How to Play AA Under the Gun
Written by Matt Geer