Poker: Basic Badugi

Badugi is a four-card drawing game, with three drawing rounds, and all cards kept private until showdown. The goal is to make a hand containing four unpaired cards of four different suits, called a Badugi, and hand values are better the lower they are. Aces are low, and hands are compared from the top down, so 7h 4d 3s 2c beats 7s 6h 3d Ac but loses to 6d 5s 4c 3h. The best hand is 432A. Any Badugi beats any hand that is not a Badugi, but if no player has one, partial hands are compared. Each player makes the best three-card hand he can, under the same rules, with the fourth card not considered. Rarely, if neither player makes a three-card hand, two-card hands can be compared as well.

In limit Badugi games and most big-bet Badugi games, the play begins with the posting of two blind bets and the dealing of cards. Each player receives four cards, and betting proceeds from the left of the blinds. Once betting is complete, each player discards up to four cards, in order, beginning with the blinds. This is followed by another round of betting, and another draw. Then another round of betting, in which the bet size doubles in limit games, and a third and final draw, followed by a fourth betting round and then the showdown.

In some big-bet games, the play begins with antes rather than blinds, and players may check or bet on the first round. If no one bets, all players proceed to the first draw.

Because all seven actions happen in strict positional order, position is a very important concept in Badugi games. The player who acts last has an advantage due to being able to see his opponent’s actions before making his own, and is referred to as “in position.” The player acting first, with the parallel disadvantage, is referred to as “out of position.”

A player who draws fewer cards than his opponent(s) is considered “a card ahead” and usually holds the betting initiative on the middle rounds. Other players will check to his, expecting him to bet.

While players will usually use their draws to try to improve their hand, sometimes players will use their drawing to bluff, usually standing pat (drawing no cards) when they do not have a Badugi, then following up with one or more bets in hopes of making their opponent fold. This is known as “snowing.” Responding to a possible snow by adopting a similar strategy yourself is known as “resnowing.” Responding by calling bets with a hand that cannot beat the draw your opponent represents is known as “snowcatching.”

A drawing hand based on small cards is known as “smooth,” while a drawing hand based on medium cards is known as “rough.” 4h 2d Ac is a smooth draw, while 7s 6c 5h is a rough draw. The same is true within hands: 8d 3c Ah is a smooth eight draw, while 8c 6d 4s is a rough eight draw. It’s generally better to be smooth than rough.

A player who stands pat, and then later decides to draw in hopes of improving, is said to have “broken his hand.”

Though many players will refer to the stages of a Badugi hand with the Texas Hold’em terms “flop,” “turn,” and “river,” I much prefer to use “first draw,” “second draw,” and “third draw” for the draws and “first round,” “second round,” “third round,” and “the end” for the betting rounds, both for the sake of clarity and to remind you that, while there are four decisions per hand in Hold’em, Badugi has seven. I find it very common for players who can’t break free of Hold’em thinking to make the mistake of not thinking sufficiently about their drawing actions.