To be a master in playing online poker games, you need to know all the variants of the game. One fun variation to learn playing is Badugi. A handful of websites offer this to online players, and if you manage to hone your skills in Badugi, it can be quite a lucrative field to excel in.

What is Badugi?
Also known as Padooki or Badougi, this game is a type of draw poker and is indeed similar to how triple draw is played with one notable exception: its hand values are counted differently from what you’ve learned in traditional poker games.

Its putative origins are in Asia, but Badugi is gaining popularity in the United States. It is the favorite of many South Koreans, and the word in Korean actually refers to dogs with different colored patches or spots in its coat. This imagery best symbolizes the rules of Badugi as hands of different suits can win the pot. Discarding cards in search for a lower hand for the first three rounds are referred to as breakfast, lunch, and supper – all of which a Badugi certainly partakes.

How to Play Badugi
Each player at the poker table is given four face-down cards. They are not allowed to see other players’ cards but theirs.

Blinds may or may not be used in Badugi. The player to initiate the pre-draw betting round is the player to the left of the dealer, or in the case of inclusion of blinds, the player to the left of the one posting the big blind.

Once every player has called, raised, or folded, the next round commences with every player allowed to discard any of his four cards and receive the same number of replacement cards, also known as draw, in return. The preceding player must conclude his business before the next player draw cards. Discarded cards are not placed back in the deck.

The cycle is repeated four times. In the final round, players may have to go on a showdown if there is more than one player remaining at the table. If, however, only one is left, then that player automatically takes the pot.

How to Count Cards in Badugi
A hand is made up of one to four cards in Badugi, with four card combinations the highest among all, automatically beating other combinations with fewer cards.

If two hands have the same number of cards, they are then compared with each other based on which hand has the best value. Please take note that aces are counted as low in Badugi. Similar to lowball poker, Badugi favors low hands over high hands. If there’s a tie between cards with the highest value then the cards with the succeeding value are compared with each other next.

Ties occur when all cards of both hands have the same values. Suits do not alter the value of cards in any way.

Badugi may also be played with or no limits. Winning poker strategies in Badugi are similar with what you may use to play triple draw.

If you want to try a different variant of online poker, you might like to try the Red Star Poker room.

If you’re planning to test your luck at online poker tables under the California sun, do make sure you’re aware of the different rules of locally favored poker variants.

California Lowball Poker
California lowball poker used to be the most popular variant of the game in California. It reached its peak in the 1970’s but gradually lessened as community card poker and stud poker rose to fame. Nevertheless, you’ll still see numerous game rooms in California still offering this particular poker variant.

How to Play California Lowball Poker
This game is also known simply as low or lowball poker. In contrast with most poker variants, lowball poker actually count players with traditionally poor or low hands as winners.

California lowball poker subscribes to the ace-to-five low rule. Cards with values A, 2, 3, 4, and 5 make up a wheel and it’s the lowest possible hand to have in the game. Flushes are disregarded while aces are counted low. 7 card stud, and triple draw occasionally, subscribe to this rule.

Other lowball poker variants use a different counting system. With an ace-to-six low rule, for instance, a wheel will be made up of cards A, 2, 3, 4, and 6. Flushes and straights are considered high hands while aces are still counted low. This rule is also known as 6-4 low. London lowball is arguably the most popular poker variant subscribing to this rule.

For a 7-5 low rule, cards, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 make up the lowest possible wheel. Aces here, however, are considered high while flushes and straights are still counted as high hands. If you get a wheel consisting of cards 2, 3, 4, 5, and A, what you’d have is just an ace high without any pairs. This rule is also known as deuce-to-seven low. Kansas City lowball poker subscribes to this rule and is often played no-limit.

Finally, with a 6-5 low or deuce-to-six low, flushes and straights are once again disregarded and aces count as high.

High-Low Splits in Lowball Poker
When splitting the pot is permissible, every game has two possible winners: one would hold the lowest possible hand while the other would hold the highest possible hand. In most cases, games played high-low split often subscribe to the ace-five low rule. There is almost always a qualifier. It is a condition to determine which hands can be considered as low or not. Almost all games use 8 as a qualifying digit: hands with 8 and below are considered low while anything higher than 8 are considered high hands.

Ties occur more often with low hands than high hands. If three players have the same low hand value while another player has a high hand, half of the pot will go to the player with the hand while the other half will be equally divided between the three players.

On the other hand, an ace-to-five high-low split also increases your chances of getting a scoop or winning both hands. You can do this if you get a low straight or flush since it can be counted as both a low and high hand.

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If you’re raring for something new outside stud and draw poker then why not try your hand at community card poker? Community card poker games can get terribly exciting as they give more clues about a player’s possible hand with the use of board cards.

Texas Hold’em Poker
Often referred to as the Cadillac of Poker, Texas Hold’em is arguably the most popular poker variant today, sweeping across Europe and the United States and dominating online and real-time casinos. Texas Hold’em can easily allow eight to ten players to compete against each other.

Players are dealt with a pair of hand cards each. The first two players to the dealer’s left will post the small and big blind respectively. Succeeding players can then either call, raise the bet, or fold. The first three board cards revealed make up the flop and initiate another round of betting. The cycle will continue as the fourth (turn) and fifth (river) card is revealed. If all five board cards make the best possible hand, the pot shall be divided equally among the players.

Omaha
This poker variant is often confused with Texas Hold’em but is, in fact, different in two notable ways. Firstly, players are dealt with four cards each rather than just two hole cards. Secondly, the best winning combination must be made up of exactly two hole cards and three from the board. No other combination is acceptable.

Omaha High follows the same hand ranking in traditional poker games while Omaha Hi/Lo subscribes to another set of rules. In Omaha Hi/Lo, players are allowed to split the pot. In this case, players with the lowest and highest hand are qualified to win.

Players can aim to scoop the pot or have the highest and lowest hand at the same time, which therefore negates any possibility of splitting your winnings with other players. Players also have the option of having two separate hands, just as long as they still subscribe to the two-hand and three-board card combination.

To qualify for a low hand, your cards must have values equal to eight or lower. Pairs are not considered as low hands but flushes and straights may pass as low.

Royal Hold’em
This is another variation of Texas Hold’em. It’s played with a stripped deck, wherein everything but aces, kings, queens, jacks, and tens are taken out of the game.

Double Board Hold’em
Yet another variant of Texas Hold’em, this game makes use of two sets of community cards, with each row consisting of five cards. Players with the highest hand for each row wins. It is also occasionally referred to as double-flop hold’em.

Pineapple
This poker variant is a cross between Omaha and Texas Hold’em. There are several ways to play Pineapple. In all versions, players are dealt three cards each.

In the Lazy Pineapple or Tahoe version, players are given the option to use none or just one instead of the usual minimum two of his hole cards. In Crazy Pineapple, players can only discard one of their hole cards prior to the fourth street. Both versions are often played hi-lo.