Badugi poker was based to be an Asian card game, and it is increasingly becoming pretty popular in the rest of the globe and also in the online poker rooms over the past few years.
Badugi poker, which is played in an Online Poker Room, is a variant of the well known lowball Poker, and this variant is played with just 4 cards instead of the five cards in regular lowball poker and this game is played with a total of three draws.
Badugi poker room is in reality pretty uncomplicated to study and understand if you have already played a few poker games in any Online Poker room, specifically if you are used to lowball Poker Rooms it can be lot easier.
If you do not have previous experience with lowball poker, no issues, because it is quite simple to learn regardless of whether you have played in an Online Poker Room or not in your whole life.
The important factor that differentiates Online Poker Badugi from other forms of Online Poker is that suits do not really count for winning in other poker variants, but in Badugi suits have a special place in the determination of the final winner in the game.
Though there is no specific ranking of the suits in a particular order, the best hands should not have cards from a similar suit.
Betting rules – Online Poker Badugi
On line poker Badugi variant can be played in limit or pot limit betting structure. Based on the kind of betting structure you prefer to play in you need to decide on the limit Badugi poker room or pot limit Badugi poker room:
• Limit Badugi– Every bet in the Poker Room is pre-determined, for instance: $5/$10 limit.
In the first two rounds the players in the online poker room can bet the low level bet ( in this example $5), and in the couple of final rounds, Online Poker players can either choose to bet low value bet ($5) or high value bet ($10).
• Pot Limit Badugi – The Players in the Pot limit Badugi Online Poker room can bet or raise any amount they require in each of the Online Poker betting rounds.
Beginning from the minimum bet, which can be equal to the big blind and up to the maximum value of the Online Poker Room’s pot value at that point in time when they are making the bet.
Blinds In The Badugi Poker Room
The blind betting method in Badugi is similar to the blind method used in Texas Holdem poker.
The Poker player who is immediate left to the dealer button in the poker room pays the small blind (which is half of the big blind), and the one to the immediate left of the small blind will be betting the big blind (twice the small blind).
The players cannot bet on the small blind value.
The value of the big blind is the minimum bet that any player in the poker room can bet.
Dealing In The Badugi Poker Room
In a Badugi Poker Room, the cards will be dealt in a clockwise direction beginning with the small blind position.
Every Online Poker player will be getting one card at a time and the dealing will be continued until all the players have got four cards.
The random number generator generates the number for each player one each, until there are 4 cards with each player.
First betting round In Online Poker Badugi
After the dealing of the 4 cards is complete, the first Online Poker Badugi betting round begins.
The first Online Poker player who will be acting is the big blind player, the betting round continues clock wise, every Online Poker player is required to raise, call, check or fold.
After each of the players has completed their action, the first draw takes place.
First Draw Round Badugi Poker Room
Every Online Poker player, beginning with the poker player sitting immediate left to the online poker dealer button, has the option of choosing to discard zero to four cards and have then replaced with new ones, keeping the un-discarded ones with them.
Standing pat! If you are not drawing any cards at all then you are called “Standing Pat”.
Second betting round and draw round In Online Poker Badugi – Low Stakes
The Second betting round of Badugi Poker is lot similar to the first round.
Beginning from the player sitting immediate to the left of the dealer button, every Online Poker player in the clockwise direction makes their bet.
The second betting round is completed still using low stakes.
Third betting round and draw round – High Stakes – Badugi Poker Room
The third betting round is completely similar to the former betting rounds; however, in this particular round, high stakes are used.
The draw rounds are also lot similar; however, the random number generator shuffles the number before dealing the replacement for the discarded cards, because the players in the previous rounds would have a math on the cards they discarded in the first and second betting rounds.
To prevent information leakage, the replacement of the discards is done after due shuffling by the number generator.
Final betting round In Badugi Poker Room – Showdown
The final betting round uses high stakes similar to the third betting round in the Badugi Poker Room.
Eventually, if there are more than one poker player heads up in the game there is a showdown and comparison of ranking to determine the winning.
Criteria For a Badugi hand
• The Badugi Hand is made from different ranks and different suits.
• If you have 4 cards from 4 different suites and 4 different ranks – You have a Badugi Hand!!
• The best Badugi hand possible is “A-2-3-4” all from different suits
• A Badugi hand is not easily obtainable with so much of discards and replacements.
• In cases where you are not having a Badugi you will be evaluated with three, two or one card hand.
Judging Three, Two and One card hands In a Badugi Poker Room
• In a Badugi hand similar ranks or similar suits are not permitted.
• If an Online Poker player is up in the showdown with some of the cards matching, he will not be able to use them.
• The similar rank and similar suit cards are not considered for ranking and the final hand can have smaller than 4 cards.
Three cards hand!
If you have KsQs7h4c you will not be able to use both Ks and Qs, your hand will be Qs7h4c, because it is a lowball poker hand you discard the high value king instead of discarding the queen.
One card hand! 8s8s8h8c you can only use one of the cards. You can decide on which suit to use. Since the values are same.
Which Badugi Hand is better than the other?
• A four card hand will beat a three card hand.
• A three card hand will beat a two card hand.
• A two card hand will beat a one card hand.
Hand Ranking in Badugi
• Hands in Online Poker Badugi are not ranked by suits.
• Hands in Online Poker Badugi are ranked by the rank of cards only.
The lower the card rank you have, the better is your place in the Badugi Poker Room.
Showdown in Online Poker Badugi
• The showdown rules are similar to Texas Holdem.
• The player whose last bet was called makes the first show down, if there is one.
• Else the showdown takes place from the player holding heads up clockwise from the dealer.
• After showdown the winner gets the pot.
