Badugi

In Badugi, each player gets 4 cards and tries to get the lowest hand using cards of different suit and rank.

Setup:

• Each player is dealt 4 cards face down.

• A dealer button rotates clockwise each hand.

• Blinds are posted the same as Hold’em: small blind (SB) and big blind (BB).

Betting & Drawing Rounds:

1. Pre-Draw

   • After blinds are posted, each player is dealt 4 cards.

   • First betting round, starting left of BB.
     
     

2. First Draw

   • Players may discard 0–4 cards and draw replacements.

   • Next betting round.
     
     

3. Second Draw

   • Same as first draw (discard/stand pat).

   • Next betting round.
     
     

4. Third Draw

   • Final chance to draw.

   • Last betting round.
     
     

5. Showdown

   • Remaining players reveal their hands.

   • Lowest Badugi wins.

Hand Rankings:

• Badugi = 4 cards of different suits and ranks.

  • Example: 4♠ 6♥ 8♣ J♦

• If no one has a Badugi:

  • Best 3-card low hand (all different suits) wins.

  • If still no valid 3-card hand, compare 2-card lows, etc.
    
    

Ranking Order:

• Hands are compared first by number of unique cards (4-card beats 3-card, etc.).

• Within the same category, lowest high card wins.

  • Example: 7♠ 5♦ 3♣ 2♥ (a “7-Badugi”) beats 9♠ 4♦ 3♣ 2♥ (a “9-Badugi”).

• Aces are always low.

Key Rules:

• Pairs and duplicate suits don’t count toward your best Badugi.

  • Example: A♠ A♥ 5♠ 7♦ → best hand is A♥ 5♠ 7♦ (3-card).

• The nut hand (best possible) is A-2-3-4 all different suits.

• Betting limits can be fixed limit, pot limit, or no limit depending on house rules.

Quick check FOR new players

1. Build the lowest set of cards with all different suits and no duplicate ranks.

2. 4-card beats 3-card beats 2-card beats 1-card.

3. Within the same length, compare from the highest card downward (low wins).

4. If all ranks match, it’s a split pot — suits and spare cards don’t matter.