Badugi - Strategy

Strategy

Badugi shares many strategic similarities with other forms of draw poker, and many of the strategic concepts used in draw apply to badugi as well. In general, drawing on the last round against an opponent who has not drawn is considered a mistake, unless special circumstances warrant this maneuver.

Like other card games with a fixed order of play, position can be an important component in badugi strategy. Players who are last to act often have an opportunity to bluff since they are able to observe the actions of other players before they act. In addition, players in late position are able to determine the strength of their hand more accurately by observing the actions of other players.

When drawing one card, there are only ten cards which will fill the badugi, the members of the fourth suit which don't pair the other three cards. A player holding a badugi can use this to estimate odds. For example, a player with an 8 high hand, knows at most 5 cards (A thru 8, less the three pairs) will fill an opponent's hand.

Another aspect of the strategy of badugi involves the number of people at the table. The more people there are at the table, the more likely there is to be a 4 card badugi. Bluffing with a 2 or 3 card hand is not usually advisable when playing at a 6 player table. However, when you are playing with fewer than 4 people, bluffing becomes more effective with a three-card hand.

If a player has a three card badugi such as A♣ 2♠ 3♦ 3♥ in the first round the odds of you making a four card badugi by the final draw is 51%. If all players are still drawing A♣ 2♠ 3♦ is the best possible hand so betting or raising is the proper strategy to maximize your overall win rate. If you have a one card draw your chance of making a Badugi is roughly 21% per draw.

In badugi the pot odds justify or contradict making a call or folding a hand. Therefore it is very important to always keep in mind the important probability percentages and draw chances. If you can guess how many outs you have in order to beat your opponent then you can calculate the percentage of hitting your hand compared to the size of the call with the pot. Based on this information you should maximize the expected value of your bet. For example you have 9 outs from 47 cards. Your chance of hitting is 19.1%. Now let’s assume the pot is $10 and you have to call $2, so your pot odds are 16,6% (=2/(10+2)). This means the chance of hitting your hand is higher than the odds you have to call, so in this example you should make the call to make a profit in the long run.