ITH Poker Forum

[jeffnc]

The idea, presumably, being to win a big pot when you hit? You would generally not be putting in more chips UI in that case, yes?

Win a big pot when you hit, yes, but also win a medium pot when you miss, either by continuing to bet and getting people to fold, or by having the best hand at showdown. Change A, 3, 5, K to A, 2, 3, K and it's a no-brainer. A, 2, 3 can easily win a showdown unimproved. Aware players will fold if you continue to bet even if you draw 1, because they'll put you on a tri they can't beat, and might not have the odds to draw.

So is it fair to assume, then, that anyone betting in later rounds generally has a (probably decent) Badugi (or is bluffing), and that a K Badugi is roughly equivalent to A-hi in holdem?

Yes. Or more accurately, it's about equivalent to a pair of 2s, while a good tri is about equivalent to A high.

[IH8Folding]

As what i have known that badugi is is a draw poker variant similar to triple draw, but with hand values similar to lowball. Right?

[clabbers]

Badugi is a triple draw game. You are dealt 4 cards instead of 5 and the hand values are described in the second post in this thread. Like in Razz or A-5 you count top down to determine winner among equal numbers of badugi cards. Thus 8765 badugi beats 932A badugi while 876 beats 92A three card badugi. Among equal three card or shorter badugis, the fourth card does not figure in.
Ac 2d 3h 4h splits the pot with Ad 2h 3s Ks and also with Ah Ad 2s 3c. Hope this helps.

[jeffnc]

I find this is a good game to introduce in dealer's choice games, because it's pretty easy to learn. However most dealer's choice games revolve around Holdem and Omaha games, which are almost always played NL and PL respectively. So my advice is to not play PL Badugi - it doesn't play well and isn't fun for newer players. So you should play a limit game. But this also doesn't work well with the existing blinds in your dealer's choice game, and you don't want to screw the 2 guys to your left by always having to post large blinds.

For example, if you play $1/2 blind dealer's choice game, then I'd recommend keeping the blinds the same, but make it a $5 bring in. Then play basically $5/10 limit Badugi. This keeps the game about the same level as the $1/2 games and no one gets hurt - they can just fold their weak hands and they don't have to pay big blinds.