Thursday 1 January 2009

How to Play Badugi Poker

To be a master in playing online poker games, you need to know all the variants of the game. One fun variation to learn playing is Badugi. A handful of websites offer this to online players, and if you manage to hone your skills in Badugi, it can be quite a lucrative field to excel in.

What is Badugi?
Also known as Padooki or Badougi, this game is a type of draw poker and is indeed similar to how triple draw is played with one notable exception: its hand values are counted differently from what you’ve learned in traditional poker games.

Its putative origins are in Asia, but Badugi is gaining popularity in the United States. It is the favorite of many South Koreans, and the word in Korean actually refers to dogs with different colored patches or spots in its coat. This imagery best symbolizes the rules of Badugi as hands of different suits can win the pot. Discarding cards in search for a lower hand for the first three rounds are referred to as breakfast, lunch, and supper – all of which a Badugi certainly partakes.

How to Play Badugi
Each player at the table is given four face-down cards. They are not allowed to see other players’ cards but theirs.

Blinds may or may not be used in Badugi. The player to initiate the pre-draw betting round is the player to the left of the dealer, or in the case of inclusion of blinds, the player to the left of the one posting the big blind.

Once every player has called, raised, or folded, the next round commences with every player allowed to discard any of his four cards and receive the same number of replacement cards, also known as draw, in return. The preceding player must conclude his business before the next player draw cards. Discarded cards are not placed back in the deck.

The cycle is repeated four times. In the final round, players may have to go on a showdown if there is more than one player remaining at the table. If, however, only one is left, then that player automatically takes the pot.

How to Count Cards in Badugi
A hand is made up of one to four cards in Badugi, with four card combinations the highest among all, automatically beating other combinations with fewer cards.

If two hands have the same number of cards, they are then compared with each other based on which hand has the best value. Please take note that aces are counted as low in Badugi. Similar to lowball poker, Badugi favors low hands over high hands. If there’s a tie between cards with the highest value then the cards with the succeeding value are compared with each other next.

Ties occur when all cards of both hands have the same values. Suits do not alter the value of cards in any way.

Badugi may also be played with or no limits. Winning strategies in Badugi are similar with what you may use to play triple draw.

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