Badugi is not yet a familiar game in the poker world, online and offline but it's getting there. Check the online poker sites and most likely it is there, not really the top one but maybe one of the ten.

To those who are encountering Badugi for the first time, it is also known as the Asian poker. It is said to have originated from Korea but there are also accounts that it came from China. You can compare Badugi with the other poker varieties through the following general rules and features.

General Rules and Features.

1. Badugi is a 4-card poker. There are triple draws and four betting rounds in a game. In every drawing round, the player may replace from 0 to 4 cards. Depending on your hand and strategy, you may call, raise, or fold during each betting round.

2. The player aims for a badugi, a 4-card hand without any cards from the same suit and the same value or rank. The value of an ace is 1. However, a badugi does not assure a win because the other players have lower badugi hands.

3. Any hand with two or more cards of the same value or from the same suit may become a 3-,2-,or 1-card hand because if cards have the same value, only one shall remain while the others are discarded. Likewise, if there are two or more cards are from the same suit, only the one with the lowest value shall remain and the others shall be discarded.

4. Hands are ranked according to the number of cards they have. So, a badugi is ranked higher than a 3- or 2-card hand and a higher-ranked hand wins over a lower-ranked one. If two or more players have the same hand, he one with the lower value wins. To cite examples: If hand A consist of 3spade,5heart,6diamond,4club (6534) and Hand B consist of Aspade,4heart,2diamond,5diamond (542A), hand B wins.

5. The amount of betting in each round is based on whether you are playing the Limit, Pot Limit or Half-pot Limit Badugi. This should be agreed upon by the players before the game starts.

What do you think of Badugi so far? Like any poker variation, strategies are very important during the card drawing and betting rounds. Luck plays a very important role during card drawing but what you do with your cards depends on your skill as a poker player.