Badugi Poker: History, Rules and Hand Rankings

Badugi is fun new game of low hand poker that is quickly gaining in popularity in the west. This is largely a result of the three rounds of burning cards that are at the heart of the game with the extra round of betting and chance to draw that comes with it. Keep in mind that Badugi is not necessarily a gambling game as it is just as easily played with play chips.

History

Badugi began in Korea and did not appear in the West until approximately 2007. Some speculate that this an adaptation of an earlier form of low hand poker. In the last year, the popularity of Badugi has spread to an ever growing number of both online and B&M poker rooms. The game gets its name from the South Korean name for a dog with different spots of color, similar to the goal of the game, having one card of each suit, which is called a Badugi.

Rules

In the beginning of a hand of Badugi, each player is dealt four cards face down. There are no shared cards. After a round of betting, each player can exchange up to four cards for new ones or choose to stand pat. This is repeated two more times until there is a final round of betting. If there are any remaining players in the hand, they turn over their cards and the lowest hand wins the pot.

The goal of the game is to have the lowest Badugi, a hand consisting of four cards with one card of each suit. Any hand that contains a pair or two cards of the same suit automatically looses to a Badugi. If there are multiple Badugis at the table, the lowest hand wins. A strait does not count against the value of the hand.

Hand Rankings

Having a solid understanding of hand rankings is extremely useful in quickly becoming a winning player at Badugi. Because there are so many new players in the game, a good portion of the players at a given table are just looking to make any Badugi at all and get over excited when they one. This makes them easy pickings if you know what you have in your hand. Knowing exactly what beats what is not as obvious as in regular poker, so having hand rankings on hand will let you know when you actually have a monster. Here are the the top 20 Badugi hand rankings:

1. A234
2. A235
3. A245
4. A345
5. 2345
6. A236
7. A246
8. A346
9. 2346
10. A256
11. A356
12. 2356
13. A456
14. 2456
15. 3456
16. A237
17. A247
18. A347
19. 2347
20. A257

SOURCES:

http://www.pokerlessons.net/badugi_hand-ranking.php
http://www.pokereagles.net/poker-rules/badugi-rules.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badugi
http://www.poker-vibe.com/how-to-play/badugi/