The betting structure and overall play of the game is identical to a standard poker game using blinds, but, unlike traditional poker which involves a minimum of five cards, players’ hands contain only four cards at any one time. During each of three drawing rounds, players can trade zero to four cards from their hands for new ones from the deck, in an attempt to form the best badugi hand and win the pot.
Definition
Badugi is a Korean variant of poker with four pocket cards. The name means “spotted dog” in Korean. “Spotting” of winning combinations – all cards in the final hand must be of different denominations and suits. However, despite its Korean roots, Badugi combines two traditional American games: Razz, where the lowest value hand wins, and Lowball 2-7, where players can change their pocket cards on any of the three trading streets, in our opinion, this game is really challenging.
Game rules and combinations
According to the rules of Badugi, combinations with lower cards are stronger than combinations with higher ones. The game takes into account not only the seniority of the cards, but also the suits – when repeating suits or denominations, one of the repeating cards in the combination is excluded. The lowest card in Badugi is an ace. Therefore, the best possible combination is A234 offsuit, which is otherwise called the best badugi.
How to determine who won at the showdown:
- First, cards that are repeated in suit or face value are excluded from each hand. In the case of suited cards, the highest is removed.
- The hand with the most cards remaining always wins the incomplete hand. Therefore, hands with repeated cards are considered weak and undesirable.
- If both players have the same number of cards in the final combination, the face value is compared, starting with the highest card – the one who has the highest card in his hand is lower than the opponent’s highest card wins. If they are equal, compare the next in order of precedence.
