Badugi is a draw A unique poker variant where players are allowed to dispose of cards during their turn to enhance their hand by drawing from the deck. This process happens prior to each round of betting and can happen three times during a game of Badugi.
This distinct poker format is classified under lowball poker, where the objective is to achieve the least favorable hand. However, Badugi stands apart with its unique nuances.
The main objective in Badugi is to craft the lowest hand while ensuring that all cards are of different suits – certainly a challenging task.
Here is the full breakdown.
Table of Contents
The Basics: Hand Values
The hierarchy of hands in Badugi diverges significantly from other poker types, though it is still categorized as a lowball variant of poker (worst hand wins).
The aim is to construct the most minimal hand possible with all unique suits.
In Badugi, Aces are considered the lowest rank, while cards of the same suit or paired cards are detrimental to our hand (they work against our goal).
The optimal Badugi configuration (often referred to as a 'hand') comprises A, 2, 3, 4, each from different suits. This combination is termed a 'four high' Badugi.
Let’s see some additional examples–
- 8h 7c 6s 4d – This illustrates an Eight-high Badugi (noting that lower ranks are favorable). The highest-ranked card here is an Eight, and all four cards are of distinct suits.
- Kh 7c 3s 2d – This represents a King-high Badugi. It’s still a decent hand, but it falls short when compared to the previously mentioned Eight-high Badugi.
- Th 7s 5c 2c – This hand is not a four-card Badugi. Because the Five and the Deuce share the same suit, they cannot both be included. Thus, we will choose the lower card to establish our hand, resulting in a Th, 7s, 2c which forms a three-card Ten-high Badugi. It’s important to remember that a four-card Badugi will always surpass a three-card Badugi, regardless of their ranks. Therefore, this hand ranks lower than the first two examples.
- 4d 4h 2c 2s – At first glance, this combination may seem like a viable low card option, but within the context of Badugi, it’s essentially worthless. With only two unique ranks, we can only form a two-card Four-high Badugi.
The Badugi Basics: How to Make Hands
Forming hands in draw variants is typically much less complex than in other forms of poker.
We need to make a four-card hand In Badugi, participants are dealt exactly four cards at any moment.
Thus, our complete hand consists solely of the four cards currently in play.
Blinds
Before the cards are distributed, it is necessary to post the blinds. The small blind is placed by the player immediately to the left of the dealer button, and the big blind by the player two positions to the left.
Badugi is identical to Hold’em and Omaha in this respect.
Pre-draw
In draw games, we eliminate terms like 'preflop' and 'flop'. The term ' flop ' signifies community cards, which are generally not utilized in drawing variants.
Four betting rounds occur in Badugi (alongside three drawing rounds), and we can utilize 'pre-draw' and 'post-draw' to differentiate between them. (Post-draw indicates any betting round that follows the initial draw).
Each participant receives four cards face down. The pre-draw betting round kicks off with the player left of the big blind and proceeds in a clockwise manner.
The Draw
When all pre-draw betting concludes, players will determine which cards they wish to discard.
Players can discard as many or as few of their hole cards as they like, potentially even all four. If they prefer to keep their current selection, they can declare that they wish to ' standpat ” which means to draw nothing.
Beginning with the small blind and moving clockwise, players disclose how many cards they are discarding and draw the same number of cards from the deck.
If (in rare circumstances) the deck is exhausted, the discard pile can be reshuffled and utilized as a new deck.
Post Draw
Following this, there are three further betting rounds, with two of those rounds being followed by chances to draw. The final of the three post-draw betting rounds will be immediately succeeded by Showdown .
Feeling lost? Don’t fret, here’s a straightforward overview of the entire framework -
- Posting of blinds.
- The Deal
- Pre-draw betting round
- Draw 1
- First post-draw betting round.
- Draw 2
- Second post-draw betting round.
- Draw 3
- Final betting round
- Showdown
Much like in Omaha and Hold’em, post-draw betting begins with the player in the small blind (or whoever is positioned directly left of the button).
The pre-draw rounds commence with the player under-the-gun (with the big blind acting last).
The betting procedures within Badugi maintain an identical structure to other triple draw formats, such as 2-7 Triple Draw.
The Showdown
After all post-draw betting concludes, players move into Showdown. Here, players reveal their hands, and the pot is awarded to the player possessing the strongest (lowest) four-card Badugi.
The Badugi Betting Actions
The betting choices presented are comparable in most situations of poker variations .
Here’s a brief summary of the legal options available -
|
BETTING OPTION |
USAGE |
|---|---|
|
Check |
Action proceeds to the left without placing a bet. This can only occur when there isn’t an active bet in the current betting round. |
|
Bet |
We initiate the first bet of the current betting round. Other players are required to match our bet or forfeit their hand. |
|
Fold |
If there’s an active bet in the current round and we decide not to match it, folding entails relinquishing our claim to win the pot. |
|
Call |
If there’s a bet on the table, to 'call' means that we match the current wager and remain in the hand. |
|
Raise |
If a wager exists in the current betting round and we opt to raise, it means increasing the current bet amount. The player who originally bet must at least match our raise, or they will need to fold. |
|
Re-Raise |
A player has already made a raise during the current betting round, and we choose to raise once more. Any subsequent raises after the original raise are referred to as 're-raises'. |
Additional Considerations
It’s crucial to remember that drawing additional cards presents the risk of weakening our hand. A four-card Badugi like a King-high might be enough to win the pot, particularly if we notice the opponent is still drawing cards. (Should they be drawing one, it becomes statistically improbable that they will achieve a four-card Badugi on their next turn.)
Choosing to draw carries its own risks, as our existing four-card Badugi could very well downgrade into a three-card Badugi if we draw.
However, if our opponent is electing to stand-pat , it suggests that they will likely end up with a Badugi stronger than K-high. Thus, we might decide to 'break' our current Badugi and draw again even if we had previously chosen to stay pat in earlier rounds. (New players often mistakenly believe that holding steady early in a hand means they must do so until the Showdown, which is not necessarily true.)
