First, a quiz. Is Badugi:

a) the latest member of Wu-Tang Clan, selected via an Internet raffle to replace the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard, aka Dirt McGirt, aka Big Baby Jesus?
b) a lowball variant becoming very popular in mixed-game rotations?
c) a virus-generated wart which pops up on the victim’s extremities, most notably the hands and feet?

Since this is a poker website, the answer is obviously “B,” although to be honest, “A” is cooler and “C” has fascinated me since I saw this “Treeman” documentary on Science Channel.

Badugi is the latest entry into lowball and mixed-games, and is now offered in stakes ranging from $.25/.50 to $400/800 on PokerStars. I love the game, because it’s unlike anything being played in card rooms, but it’s definitely poker.

Badugi is typically dealt as a triple-draw limit game (although I think single-draw Pot Limit Badugi would be even more interesting) with blinds. You are dealt four cards to start the hand. You are looking to make your best low hand, discounting any paired ranks and any card which match suits. If you have four cards sharing neither rank nor suit, then all four cards play and you have a Badugi. Each card which pairs or matches suit is ignored when evaluating your hand. For example:

• A 2 8 T = all four cards play…you have a 10-high Badugi
• A 2 2 T = a 3-card 10-high (one of the 2’s does not play)
• A 2 8 T = a 3-card 8-high (the 10 of the same suit does not play)

Any Badugi beats any 3-card hand, which beats any 2-card hand. It may look strange, but K Q J T is better than A A 2 3.

The best possible hand is an A-2-3-4 Badugi. However, you don’t have to make the stone nuts to have a very strong hand. At showdown, a 9-low Badugi is usually good enough to win, and I’m never missing an opportunity to bet with a 7-low, or a good 8 against fairly loose opponents.

And in Badugi, as with any new game, your opponents are almost all going to be loose, and usually weak-loose at that. Lots of Badugi hands look good before the first draw. Your ability to pick playable starting hands will alone insure a good chance of profitable play. For the most part, you’re looking for the same thing I tell people in Razz: a 3-card 8, or better.

You can also play a 2-card A-2 or A-3 hand if you have strong blockers, and position to make a judgment later on in the hand. For instance, a hand like A 2 3 5 isn’t bad in a multi-way pot on the button, because you’re throwing away two cards needed by others to make a strong Badugi. Paired blockers, like with A A 2 3, are just as beneficial to the potential of your hand. Something like A 2 9 J, which leaves you with the same A-2 after the draw, is junk and should be mucked immediately.

One mind-messing aspect of Badugi, therefore, is a 2-card drawing hand, which needs a good deal of help, might be playable…but some pat hands should be folded before the first draw. Let’s say, you’re on the button with Q T 8 5. You’ve got a Badugi, and nothing nearly good enough to draw in the hope of improving. Before you is a raise and two callers. Even if all three players have 3-card hands, drawing 1, you have very little chance of your Q-high Badugi holding up at showdown as-is. You may choose to represent an even stronger hand, and 3-bet before the draw, and continue to show extreme strength by betting and/or raising at every opportunity. This may work, but you’re turning a pat hand into a bluff. Folding before the draw is the most prudent option at most tables.

As with any draw poker game, position is critically important to judge what you’re going to do about taking cards, choosing to bluff, or even getting away from a hand altogether. Implied pot odds play a very important part. At a table where three players, including you, take the 1st draw and stay in, there are usually between 4 and 6 big bets in the pot going into the 2nd draw. You draw to 1 card and miss…you still have a very good 3-card hand, but you’re not made yet. There’s a bet and a call in front of you going into the 3rd draw. What do you do?

This is a classic implied odds problem. We’ll assume you’re drawing to a very good hand, a 9-low Badugi or better. You have three live cards, which you can’t pair out of your suit – if you’re drawing to spades and have A 2 4, you’re left with only six cards left to help you (3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) out of 46 unseen (your A-2-4, plus your three discards are known). You need to find 3-4 more big bets to meet your 8:1 implied odds, which are likely not to happen unless both players stay in until the end. You’re also assuming the six spades you need are all live. Since your opponents obviously have three low cards each as well, this isn’t necessarily the case.

As you get more experience in a game, the last thing you learn is how to effectively bluff. In my few thousands hands of Badugi, I haven’t found a lot of spots yet. My bluffing playbook is pretty sparse. But in a game where very few players have built up any real experience, most of them are just sitting around and trying to make hands. A simple bluff or two amongst a table full of card chasers is often very profitable. So try this one on for size…works great as a semi-bluff, where holding a really good 3-card low might be good enough at showdown if everyone misses. But really, it plays with any four cards:

• In a limped pot, you call from late position (button or cutoff) with any hand
• You take one card on the first draw
• You bet if it checks around, or raise if there’s action in front of you
• If everyone left in the pot takes a card, you stand pat
• Again, play very strong on the third betting round. By this time, you should be heads-up.
• If your opponent takes a card, you’re standing pat and repeating your show of strength on the last street. If he stands pat ahead of you, you’re either drawing one to your semi-bluff, or just releasing your hand if you have air.

It takes a couple times through it to really comprehend the play. But, basically, you’re relying on two concepts here. One, people love to draw cards, so they’ll chase when they shouldn’t. Two, in Badugi, it’s really hard to draw a helpful card when you need to. You’re risking 2.5 bets to win, on average, about 5 bets (if two others reach the 2nd draw with you, a likely scenario), so this only needs to work about 1-in every-3 attempts. This 2:1 price is up against the almost 4:1 odds your heads-up opponent will not catch one of his last two attempts at 6 outs.

This bluff is a huge advantage play while the table is folding…and will again be a huge advantage play when you make a weak Badugi (K- or Q-high) and get paid off by people with 3-card hands.

Badugi is uncharted waters for most of us. Virgin fishing grounds produce the greatest catch. So get your nets ready. While you’re doing that, I’m going to check on those Wu-Tang auditions...

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