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Thread: Beginners Guide to Badugi

  1. #1
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    Beginners Guide to Badugi

    I asked a mate exactly what the heck it was and he linked me up to this...

    Basic rules
    There are three draw rounds in which you can discard as many cards as you wish. The goal is to get the lowest 4 cards of diffrent suits, without pairing your hand. The best hand that's possible is A234 rainbow, after that the best hand is A235r, A345r, A236r, et cetera. Note however that KQJT rainbow beats A234 if the A234 is not of diffrent suits. Pairs negate the diffrent suit.

    Basic Strategy - 8max
    The first thing that I'm going to discuss is the 8-handed play. The starting hands you want to be playing in general are 3 cards under 8 of diffrent suits, A2 or A3 of diffrent suits (in late position if people folded to you), and all badugi's (a badugi is 4 cards of diffrent suits that isn't paired). You will want to raise all of these hands. If someone raised before you and he is unknown, I would suggest to 3bet whenever you have 3 low cards of 6 and under, or a made badugi. I would flat with hands like A377 though, as they are most valuable as well. Very critical information: In a heads up pot, you should almost always bet if your opponent discarded more cards then you did, regardless of what you drew. Put pressure on him.

    Basic Strategy - HU
    Obviously, HU is a very villain-dependant game. I would open the button every time I have 2 cards under 7, or 3 cards under T, and obviously any badugi. The key thing is adapting to reads of your opponent. Does he ever stand pat as a bluff? Does he open hands in which he discards 2 cards? This should determine your calling and/or raising range when you're in the bb. I can't say much more about it as it's really all about adapting to your opponent.

    Adapting to new information
    The most crucial thing to use is information. If someone is standing pat, it generally means he has a made badugi. If you don't have a badugi, you can be quite certain that you're an underdog if you don't haveo ne. This is however where our hand selection comes into play. Say you have A23r3 and villain has 27TJr. We have 3 draws and 7 outs. Depending on the odds, you'll have to decide whether to draw or not. Please note that people are very bad at folding badugi's, even king high ones when their opponent is standing pat, so don't worry about them possibly folding when you hit your badugi and they're standing pat. They'll accomodate.

    Folding Badugi's?
    There are definitely situations in which you want to fold a badugi. Say you're playing a competent player. He raises UTG and you look down at KT78r and 3bet him. He calls and discards 1 card, you stand pat. He then proceeds to checkraise you after the first draw. This could definitely be a point in which you want to muck your hand since it's unlikely that he will bluff someone that's standing pat. I believe you can fold badugi's up to 9 high with the right read, so don't be shy to fold if you do think you're beat, even though you think you'll look silly for folding after standing pat. Make the right decision!

    Common situation
    You raise in MP with A255 and get 3bet from the BTN. You call and discard 1 card, BTN discards 1 card too. What should you do here? It depends on the villain. In general, I would opt to checkcall this street and checkraise him after the second draw, assuming you both discarded 1 card on the second draw and you didn't improve. This is because if you both don't improve, you are very likely to have the best hand with a 5-high 3card badugi. This means you're actually a big favorite. I'd also wait until after the second draw because the bets will double as big, so you get to build a pot twice as big. He will also often call a river bet if you discard a card on the third draw simply because he's clueless (most Badugi players still have no clue what they're doing). This depends on what level you're playing at though.
    Last edited by thefairy; 01-04-2009 at 12:28 PM.
    :idea: stop being a moron :idea:

  2. #2
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    Great article but I'm still confused on some things.

    There are 3 card badugis and 4 card badugis? If I have A23 all different suits, does that beat A234 with same suits? If I have 68JA all different suits, does that beat A234? Seriously confused about hand rankings here.

    [quiote]You are likely to have the best hand with a 5-high 3 card badugi[/quote]

    So you can have 1, 2, 3 and 4 card badugis? When do badugis start beating A234s? Uhhhh!

  3. #3
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    if you have a pair, i think a23 (3) beats say a34x but not a23x (x being non paired and rainbow)
    :idea: stop being a moron :idea:

  4. #4
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    Haha I accidentally entered a Badugi MTT game the other day. Literally knew none of the rules at all for the first few hands. After a quick google and wiki check I did quite well in the end.
    It's quite easy to get the hang of (although hard to explain).
    I recommend just playing and maybe just bet on your first few hands just to play it out (even if -EV) just to learn how it works. I got the hang pretty quick.
    The game I played seemed pretty easy. I don't know if it was just luck though.

  5. #5
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    Did you enjoy it? Are the rumours true? Is it the next NLHE? Please say no!!!

  6. #6
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    razz for the next NLH, i have never been beaten HU online (played it twice , cough)
    :idea: stop being a moron :idea:

  7. #7
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    I think Badugi might be the next NLHE to be honest! It seems to have come about from nowhere, and taking off quite a bit already.

    Fairy, Razz is a great game! Would love a heads up match sometime if you're interested?

  8. #8
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    for sure gaz! i think it is underated!
    :idea: stop being a moron :idea:

  9. #9
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    Yeah it definitely is!
    Its the only Limit game I like to play really! I started getting into it when I used to play the HORSE freerolls on pokerstars, and I just really like the game! Unfortunately its hard to get a live game going, cause not many people are interested in playing it! Are you at Leicester uni (I really should know by now :P)?

  10. #10
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    So let me get this straight, flushes, full houses & sets are a bad thing? Was this game created by losing players?
    Just sounds like the opposite of NLHE to me.
    My biggest problem with taking up new games is that I have invested way too much time and experience into NLHE. I would play badugi at low-low limits and purely for enjoyment. But for profitability I couldn't deviate from NLHE.
    Strick
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    [QUOTE=thefairy;30204]to be fair films can be quite emotional, i did cry at marley and me earlier.[/QUOTE]

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