Rules of Badugi Poker

Badugi is very different from other poker games. It is a four card lowball triple draw game where not only do suits matter, but the number of valid cards in your hand matters.

Badugi follows the same blind structure as many other poker games, with a small blind and a big blind driving the action. Each player receives four cards. Betting proceeds in the same way as Texas Holdem. Once betting is complete there is a draw. There is a round of betting after the draw starting to the left of the dealer. This continues until three draws have been completed. There is a final betting round and a show down. Badugi is commonly played either fixed-limit, with betting levels doubling after the first draw, half pot-limit or pot-limit.

Rank of Hands in Badugi
The objective in Badugi is to hold four low cards. The catch is that if any of your cards duplicate in either rank or suit, the duplicate card does not count. This means a player may be left with a one-, two- or three-card hand. All four-card hands ("Badugis) beat all three-card hands, all three-card hands beat all two-card hands, which beat all one-card hands. If two players have the same number of valid cards, the lowest hand wins, so the best hand would be 4 3 2 A of mixed suits. The worst hand would be K K K K, which one count as a one-card king.

Tactics
If more than two players go to a showdown, you will probably need a Badugi to win. If someone does not draw at the last hand, they almost certainly have a four-card hand and your three-card hand, no matter how strong it is, will probably not win.