Badugi Poker Rules

Badugi is an interesting poker variant that has only recently appeared in the West. The game originates from Korea but now it can be found at select card rooms all around the world.

The rules for Badugi may look long but the game is actually pretty simple. It just takes a little while to properly explain the hand rankings. Once you understand the hand rankings, the rest of the game is a cinch. The only online poker site I know of that offers Badugi is PokerStars.

Badugi Hand Rankings

Badugi hands only consist of four cards and the object of the game is to have the best low hand. Low hands in Badugi are ranked a little differently than they are in most poker variants so pay close attention to this part.

In Badugi, aces always count as low and straights do not count against you. Flushes and pairs, however, are bad. We’ll talk more about suits shortly. Anyways, the best Badugi hands are hands that contain all low cards with each card being of a different suit. The best possible hand in Badugi contains A-2-3-4 without any of the same suits.

Any hand that contains 4 different suits is called a “Badugi” and the best Badugi is the hand mentioned in the previous paragraph.

If you end up with a hand that has two cards of the same suit, you will have to discard one of the cards that share the same suit. After that, your final hand would only consist of 3 cards. If you had three cards of the same suit in your final hand, you would have to discard two of your cards and your final hand would only consist of 2 cards.

Any Badugi beats any 3-card hand and any 2-card hand beats any 1-card hand.

At the final showdown, if both players have Badugis, the player with the lowest Badugi wins. If both players have 3-card hands, the player with the lowest 3-card hand wins the pot.

If one player has a 3-card hand and another player has a 2-card hand, the 3-card hand automatically wins. If one player has a Badugi and another player has a 3-card hand, the Badugi automatically wins.

Pairs have the same effect on hands in Badugi. If you have a pair or three of a kind, you have to discard cards out of your hand until you no longer have a pair or three of a kind (or four of a kind).

Rules of Badugi

Now that we have the hand rankings out of the way, the rest of Badugi’s rules are pretty simple.

Blinds

Badugi is played with blinds and a dealer’s button just like in Texas Holdem. The player to the left of the dealer must pay the small blind and the player to the left of the small blind must pay the big blind. The small blind is always equal to one half the size of the big blind.

If you’d like more information about the dealer’s button and blinds, you can check out the rules of Texas Holdem.

Initial Deal and Betting Round

Each player is dealt four cards face down.

After everyone has had a chance to look at their cards, there is a round of betting. The betting begins with the player to the left of the big blind. This player may call, raise or fold. Betting then continues clockwise around the table.

1st Draw

After the betting from the last round has been finished, players may now discard as many cards as they wish and receive new cards. Players may discard anywhere from 0 to 4 cards.

After the players have received their cards, there is another round of betting. This time the betting begins with the first active player to the left of the dealer. This player may check, bet or fold. The betting then continues clockwise around the table.

2nd Draw

The players may now discard as many cards as they wish and draw new cards.

There is another betting round similar to the previous round except now the higher limit is used. So if you’re playing a game of $5/$10 limit Badugi, all bets will now be in multiples of $10.

3rd Draw

The players may discard as many cards as they wish and draw new cards.

There is one final betting round identical to the previous round.

Showdown

The players now reveal their cards and the player with the best Badugi hand wins the pot.

Best Poker Site for Badugi

The best poker site for Badugi is definitely PokerStars. This is a hard game to find online but PokerStars has quite a few Badugi tables and you can usually find a few tables running. I know Carbon Poker also offers Badugi but those tables are usually pretty dead.

Click here to play Badugi at PokerStars