Badugi Triple Poker

Badugi is a four card version of triple draw, lowball poker where you must try to have one card of each suit, and no pairs. If you are holding four different cards of four different suits then you are holding a Badugi!

Badugi uses the same blind (forced bet) structure of other poker games, with the two players to the left of the dealer paying the small and the big blind respectively.

Each player is dealt four cards and play begins with the player left of the big blind and continues in a clockwise direction.

Each player has three options at this stage, fold their hand, call the big blind (bet equal to the big blind) or raise (bet a higher amount). Once all players have acted, all players remaining in the hand can then discard any number of cards in their hand, and be dealt new cards. Players can keep all their cards in any round if they are confident of the cards they hold. If a player draws no cards in one round they can still draw in subsequent rounds if they feel they need to improve their hand.

After the first round players again have three options, they can check, bet or fold. If one player bets, all other players have to equal that bet amount or fold before the next draw takes place.

There is then a third betting round which is followed by a final draw.

After the final draw there is a final betting round which is followed by a showdown.

At the showdown the player with the lowest badugi wins, A-2-3-4 all different suits is the best hand.

If no player has a badugi (ie they have a pair or they have two cards of the same suit) then one card of their pair or same suit does not count so the player with the best three or two card hand wins. So 5-6-9-K beats A-2-3-3 and 6-7-7-8 beats A-A-2-2.