Badugi

Badugi is a four-card variant of draw-game poker.

The object of the game is to make a Badugi - a four-card low hand with four cards each being of a different suits and rank. In Badugi, Aces are always low and having more than one card of the same suit or rank is bad. The best possible starting hand therefore is 4-3-2-A (with each card a different suit). To a beginner, the game sounds simple enough but determining the hand rankings can confuse people. Please see the hand rankings below:

One-card hands:

1) Q J 8 5

[5-x-x-x] (three of the diamonds are ignored)

2) K J 9 4

[4-x-x-x] (three of the spades are ignored)

3) A A A A

[A-x-x-x] (three of the Aces are ignored)

Two-card hands:

4) Q J J J

[Q-J-x-x] (the Js and another Jack are ignored)

5) T T 9 9

[T-9-x-x] (one Ten and the Nine of the other suit are ignored)

6) 9 8 7 6

[7-6-x-x] (the two highest spades are ignored)

7) 3 2 A A

[2-A-x-x] (the 3c and one Ace are ignored)

Three-card hands:

8) K K 2 A

[K-2-A-x] (the Kd is ignored)

9) Q Q 2 A

[Q-2-A-x] (a Queen is ignored)

10) Q J T 9

[J-T-9-x] (the Qs is ignored)

11) Q J T 6

[J-T-6-x] (the Qs is ignored)

12) K J 8 6

[J-T-6-x] (the Qs is ignored)

13) 4 3 2 A

[4-2-A-x] (the 3c is ignored)

14) 3 3 2 A

[3-2-A-x] (a Three is ignored)

Badugis:

15) K Q J T

[K-Q-J-T] (the worst Badugi)

16) 8 7 2 A

17) 8 5 4 2

18) 4 3 2 A

[4-3-2-A] (the best Badugi)

To help understand the ranking of hands, the above Badugi hands (not a complete list) are ranked from least powerful (#1, which will rarely win the pot) to most powerful (#18, the nuts.)

As you can see in the charts above, Badugi hands are ranked starting from their highest card, with Aces ranking as the lowest card. Straights are ignored. A player holding 9-8-4-3 of different suits (a ‘Nine Badugi’) would lose to an opponent holding 8-7-3-2 of different suits (an ‘Eight Badugi’). Likewise, 6-4-2-A (a ‘Six Badugi’) would lose to 5-4-3-2 (a ‘Five Badugi’). If the highest cards in opponents hands are tied, then the next-highest card is considered, and so on.

If a hand reaches showdown and no player has a four-card Badugi, the player with the best three-card badugi wins the pot. If no one has that, the best two-card hand wins the pot. For example, if you hold 6 4 3 2 , you have two hearts, so the highest heart is ignored, leaving you with a 4-3-2-x. That hand is known as a ‘Three Card Four’ which would lose to the worst four-card Badugi, but it would beat 7 5 4 3 (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, and two-card hands beat a one-card.

How it’s Dealt:

Draw games are played using 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. Badugi is sometimes played with an ante, to be posted by either just the big blind or all players.

Each player is dealt four cards face down followed immediately by a round of betting. Players still remaining in the hand after the first round of betting is complete now have the opportunity to draw. In order, clockwise from the button, each of the remaining players will select which (if any) card(s) they want replaced by pushing them forward, faced down. Player may discard all four cards. Player may also choose to ‘Stand Pat’ and not discard any cards. Once a player has announced how many cards they want to exchange, there is no changing that decision.

After the first draw, there is another round of betting, beginning with the first active player to the left of the button until action is complete. If you are playing single draw, that’s it, time for showdown!

If you are playing Triple Draw, there will be two more draws with a round of betting following each, for a total of three draws and four rounds of betting. If more than one player is still left after the final round of betting, it’s time for showdown where the player holding the best Badugi hand wins the pot.

If two or more hands have the same value, the pot is equally split among them, odd chip awarded to player(s) in the worst position.

Reshuffling:

In draw games, it is possible for more cards to be needed than are remaining in the deck. In this case, the cards are reshuffled, and play continues using the shuffled cards.