How to Play & Tips for Badugi

PLAYING TIPS for BADUGI

HOW TO PLAY BADUGI
The object of Badugi is to end up with the four lowest cards of different suits and different ranks. Aces are ranked as the lowest card, so the best possible hand is 4 3 2 A with no two cards of the same suit. Any hand composed of four different suits and ranks is called a “Badugi” and is ranked better than any hand in which two or more of the cards are of the same suit or rank.

Deal 4 cards face down to each player followed by a round of betting. Each player may now draw up to 4 cards. There are 3 drawing rounds with a round of betting following each.

Badugi can be played with up to 8 players, but, with so much drawing, it is better with no more than 6 players, so as to reduce the chances of needing to re-use previously discarded cards.

SUMMARY of ACTION
Deal 4 cards face down to each player.
Bet
Draw #1: Each player may discard and draw up to 4 cards to their hole cards.
Bet
Draw #2: Each player may discard and draw up to 4 cards to their hole cards.
Bet
Draw #3: Each player may discard and draw up to 4 cards to their hole cards.
Bet
Showdown

 PLAYING TIPS FOR BADUGI
As in all drawing games, there is significant positional advantage to players who are last to act since they are able to observe the actions of other players before they must act. In addition, players in late position are able to assess the relative strength of their hand more accurately. Knowledgeable players typically play Badugi tightly and fold many hands pre-draw.

Another factor affecting the strategy of Badugi involves the number of players. The more players, the more likely there is to be a 4-card badugi. Bluffing with a 2 or 3 card hand is not usually advisable when playing 6-handed or more. When playing with 4 or fewer, bluffing becomes potentially more effective.

UNDERSTAND THE RANKING OF HANDS
It is critically important to understand how hands are ranked and which hands beat which.

Any hand composed of four different suits and ranks is called a “Badugi”. The very best Badugi is 4 3 2 A. The worst Badugi is K Q J T. If there is only one Badugi hand that is the winner. When there is more than one Badugi, the hand with the lowest high card is the winner.
For example: 8♣ 7♥ 6♦ 5♠ beats 9♣ 3♥ 2♦ A♠ since the 8 in the first hand is lower than the 9 in the second.
When the highest ranked card tie, go to the next card: 9♣ 6♥ 5♦ 4♠ beats 9♥ 7♣ 2♦ A♠.

If a player ends up with a hand that contains a pair or two cards of the same suit, one of those cards is disqualified and the hand is valued as a 3 card hand. If there are three cards of the same suit and/or rank, two of the cards are disqualified and the hand is valued as a 2 card hand. Any Badugi beats any 3 card hand and any 3 card hand beats any 2 card hand.
For example: Even the worst Badugi (K♣ Q♥ J♦ T♠) beats A♣ 2♥ 3♦ 3♠ (pair) or A♣ 2♥ 3♦ 4♦ (2 suited cards)

BADUGI HAND RANKS: All cards must be of different suits.

Best
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
10th
Worst

4 3 2 A
5 3 2 A
5 4 2 A
5 4 3 A
5 4 3 2
6 3 2 A
6 4 2 A
6 4 3 A
6 4 3 2
6 5 2 A
K Q J T

STARTING HAND SELECTION
To finish with a strong hand, you must start strong.
In order of preference and strength these are the starting hands to play:
1. Pat hands (dealt four-card Badugi)
2. One-card draws to seven or better in any position.
3. Two-card draws to five or better in late position.

Throw away any hand that requires drawing three cards to make a Badugi. It is way too difficult to make a winning hand if you must draw 3 cards.
The approximate odds of being dealt a pat 4-card Badugi as your initial 4 hole cards is 13:1 (less than 7%). Pat hands are not common, but are also not rare events. In a 6 handed game there is about a 35% chance of one of the players being dealt a pat hand. In an 8 handed game it is close to 46%. The distribution of pat 4-card Badugis is skewed toward high ranked cards. That is, there are more combinations of king-high Badugi than queen-high; more combinations of queen-high Badugi than jack-high, etc. More than half of dealt pat Badugis are kings and queens.

DRAWING CARDS
Avoid making two card draws unless the correct circumstances are present: You are in late position. It is an unraised pot. You hold two unsuited/unpaired cards no higher than 5. Without these conditions you face long odds to win. If someone has raised the pot, you should put them on either a pat hand or a good one card draw. Two-card draws perform poorly in such a situation. Don't make 2 card draws after the first draw.

When drawing one card, there are only ten cards which will complete the Badugi, those being the members of the fourth suit which don't pair any of your other three cards. If you are up against a player with a pat hand, your outs drop to nine, since your opponent holds one of the cards you need.

If a player has a three-card Badugi such as A♣ 2♠ 3♦ 3♥ in the first round, the probability of making a four-card Badugi by the final draw is 51%. With a one-card draw, the chance of making a Badugi is approximately 21% per draw.

Make sure to discard the right card(s). When you have a hand such as 7 6 4 A, with both the six and seven of the same suit, discard the 7 and not the 6, so as to draw to a better hand.

BE AWARE OF POT ODDS
Pot odds often justify or contradict making a draw or calling or folding a hand. With a one card draw to a Badugi, there are no more than 10 cards that will complete your hand. With a one-card draw, the chance of making a Badugi is approximately 21% per draw. A player with a three-card Badugi in the first round has a 51% chance of making a four-card Badugi by the final draw. If the pot isn’t offering the proper odds to draw, fold your hand. If another player is standing pat, that likely reduces your chances even more.

COMMON MISTAKES and HOW TO AVOID THEM

1. Read your hand properly. Nothing is more important than being aware of the precise value of your hand. Make certain that you look at both the ranks and suits.

2. Playing too many hands. It's fun to think that any four starting cards can become a great hand by the end of three draws. The reality is much different. Avoid starting hands other than the ones recommended. Throw everything else away. When you start bad, you usually end up bad.

3. Playing passively with the best hand. Many players are afraid to raise with a marginal or poor pat-hand Badugi (Jack-high or worse). But, this is precisely the type of hand that most needs to be raised and re-raised before the draw. Bet pat hands before the first draw aggressively, particularly with a weak Badugi. Failing to raise with these hands invites more players to stay in the hand. The more players that remain, the more the chances are that someone will out draw you. By reducing the field to heads-up or three-way, you have a much better chance of your hand holding up. An exception to this may be when your hand is so strong that you can afford to slow play. For example, if you are dealt the best possible hand (4 3 2 A of different suits), you can slow down and try and keep as many people drawing as possible, since you can’t be beaten. With luck, someone else will hit a second best Badugi, and you can extract maximum value from them.

You can also be more aggressive when in favorable position. Late position allows more options in your play, depending on how your opponents bet and draw.

4. Playing without proper pot odds. It is important to remember that your odds of completing a one-card draw on the third draw are a little worse than 4.5:1. If your opponent already has a pat hand, you need to consider that some of your outs may only make you a second-best hand. For example, if your opponent holds an 8-4-3-A Badugi, and you have a 6-3-2 one-card draw, the only cards of your suit that will win for you are the A, 4, 5 and 7. (6, 3 or 2 will pair you; 8 or above make worse hands.) In this example your odds on this draw are worse than 10:1.

5. Not breaking up a bad Badugi. If you were dealt a king-high Badugi (where the other three cards are low ones), and get check-raised by a player who drew one on the first draw, you should expect that your hand is now behind a better Badugi. While there may be some chance that the other player is bluffing, that is not usually the case. You should throw away the king and draw to improve your hand. While this might seem risky, you are better off drawing rather than calling down to the end only to find that you are beaten. If you don’t hit after the second draw, consider folding, though you might make that last draw with the proper pot odds. Note that many good players may test whether you actually have a pat hand by raising in position without a made Badugi, hoping that you will break your hand.

6. Never bluffing. Most beginner Badugi players never bluff. Their hands are therefore very predictable. When they have a pat hand, they stand pat. When they need a card, they draw a card. However, it is important to throw in an occasional bluff so long as the circumstances are right. This depends largely on the playing tendencies of your opponents. A solid by-the-book player may be susceptible to a bluff. Against a loose calling station type of player it is useless to bluff. Bluffs might include standing pat late in the hand when in position, and then betting after the last draw to put pressure on opponent to fold, standing pat right from the start with a junk hand, (often with four low cards of the same suit, since that makes it more difficult for your opponents to draw that suit), or betting out after the last draw to represent a made hand, when you didn’t hit and think that bluffing is the only way to win the hand. Don’t be afraid to occasionally be caught bluffing. Getting caught in a bluff will increase the action you get on later hands when you actually have a strong hand. The important thing is not to get caught too often.

WHEN YOU RUN OUT OF CARDS
Badugi rules typically allow up to eight players. As you can imagine it is possible that with each player getting four cards and with three drawing rounds, the deck might run out of cards. In the event there are no cards left to deal, reshuffle all the discarded and mucked cards to create a fresh deck. The likelihood of needing to re-use cards depends a lot on the nature of the game. If it is played tightly, as it should be, the need is reduced. When several players are routinely ignoring typical starting hand advice it's practically inevitable.