The Basics of Badugi

Online games have brought poker to the masses and popularity is at an all time high. This has in turn lead to the popularity of previously little known variations such as Badugi to be searched out and found as people look for new games.

Badugi is a game for 2 up to 6 players and the game is a low card game, getting used to this can be strange at first especially if you have been used to playing the more popular games such as holdem which is a high card game. As well as been a low card game Badugi is also a draw game, meaning as the game is played out, players have the opportunity to exchange some of their cards with cards from the pack. To begin a game the player will have to make a choice of table to play at, the table can be one of three kinds, limit, pot limit or half pot limit; this refers to the betting structure of the game.

Players receive 4 cards face down from the dealer at the start of each hand. The aim of the game is to have 4 cards that are neither paired or suited, share the same number or suit, ideally the numbers will also be as low as possible. An example of one of the best possible hands would be 4 of H, 3 of C, 2 of S, A of D. If a player has a hand like this it is called by the same name as the game, the Badugi hand.

There are 3 rounds or draws during which you have the option to call/check, raise or fold just as in any other game of poker. You also have the opportunity to replace cards during each draw. Get rid of any matched cards and receive new cards from the stack. If ever player draws cards and the deck runs out of cards, usually the discarded cards are re shuffled and used again.

The pre draw round starts with the player to the left of the big blind, if no blinds the dealer, and goes clockwise. Big Blind is usually placed by the player to the left of the small blind and is usually the size of the minimum bet. The small blind is placed by the player to the left of the dealer and is half the size of the big blind.

Those still remaining at the end having not folded reveal their cards in the showdown. Any paired cards left in the hand at showdown must be discarded.

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