How Do You Play Badugi Poker?

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Dave | January 3, 2023 | Updated on: January 8th, 2024

Knowing how to play Badugi poker is a significant and essential part of gaining an advantage in the game. This game is similar to poker because it’s played with a four-card hand. If you want to win the game, you need to have the lowest set of cards that don’t belong to the same suit. Read this guide for more on playing Badugi poker.

Play Badugi Poker Online: Players, Cards & Hand Rankings

2-8 players can play Badugi poker with a 52-card deck. The Ace is a low-ranking card in Badugi poker while the King is ranked high. If you want to compare hands, you must keep in mind that each card belongs to a different suit to win.

So, if a player has a card or more that belongs to the same suit, then you will have to eliminate those cards for the hand to be valid.

Badugi Rules:

These are the rules that you have to adhere to when you play Badugi poker online.

  • A hand that has more cards automatically beats a hand that has fewer cards. For example, a Badugi three-card hand will beat a two-card hand, and that will win a one-card hand.
  • If you have two hands with the same number of cards, you will have to compare the highest cards. Therefore, the hand with a lower top card is the winning card.
  • However, if the two hands with the same number of cards have high cards of equal value, then you will have to compare the second highest card. The lower card of the two will win.
  • But if the hands have the same number of cards and all the cards have an equal ranking, then no winner can be declared.

Badugi Poker Game

Deal, Draw & Betting

Badugi can be played on a fixed limit, half-pot limit, and pot game. The dealer will pass the various cards in a clockwise manner. If there are more than two players, then the player situated to the left of the dealer must place a small blind. The dealer’s opponent will have to place a big blind.

As a player, you have three chances to improve your hands by drawing hands. The first active player that is situated on the dealer’s left will start. Then the game will continue clockwise. When it’s your chance to play, you will state how many cards you would like to exchange or discard.

After each player has drawn cards, a new betting round will begin. The first active player will kick off the betting round. Betting rounds are four in total. However, this number of betting rounds is limited to the fixed limit game.

The half-pot and pot games have flexible betting rounds. Plus, after every betting round, the bets may be doubled.  So, the wagers are enormous when the fourth round comes.

Overview

Now that you know how to play Badugi poker, you can implement some strategies to gain an edge. So, all you have to do now is choose one of the casino sites we have recommended for you and sign up. You can also claim free bonuses.

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