How to Play Badugi

A four-card draw lowball variant you'll see in mixed games and high-stakes cash — the rules, hand rankings, and core strategy.

Badugi at a Glance
🎴 Game: Badugi (a.k.a. Padooki)
🃏 Type: Draw / Lowball
👥 Players: 6-8
✋ Cards Dealt: 4 per player
🔄 Draw Rounds: 3
🏆 Best Hand: A-2-3-4 rainbow (all four suits)
💰 Betting: Fixed Limit (most common), Pot Limit

Badugi, also known as Padooki (Korean for “spotted dog”), is a unique lowball draw poker variant. You will most often find it in mixed games, high-limit Las Vegas cash games, private home games, and select tournaments. The objective is to make the lowest possible four-card hand using all four suits.

The game plays best with six to eight players. Like Hold’em, there is a dealer button, small blind, and big blind. But the similarities end there. Badugi is a draw game, most closely resembling 2-7 Triple Draw in structure: you receive your cards, then have multiple opportunities to exchange them.

Badugi Hand Rankings

Traditional poker hand rankings are thrown out entirely. The goal is to hold four cards of four different suits and four different ranks, with aces low and kings high. The best possible hand, A-2-3-4 of four different suits, is called “the wheel” and has over a roughly 2,800-to-1 chance of being dealt on the initial four cards.

4-Card Badugi (Best Category)

A hand with four different suits and four unique ranks. For example, A-2-3-4 with each card a different suit is the best possible hand. Hands are compared from the highest card down. A 9-high Badugi beats a 10-high Badugi. Think of each hand like a 4-digit number: the lower number wins.

3-Card Hand

A hand where one card is “dead” due to a duplicate suit or rank. For example, if you hold A-2-2-7 with three different suits, the paired 2 eliminates one card, leaving a 3-card hand of 7-2-A. Any 4-card Badugi beats any 3-card hand, no matter how low the 3-card hand is.

2-Card Hand

A hand with two dead cards, leaving only two usable cards. This happens when you have multiple duplicate suits or ranks. Any 3-card hand beats any 2-card hand.

1-Card Hand (Worst Category)

Extremely rare and nearly unplayable. This happens with four cards of the same suit or four of a kind. K-K-K-K is the absolute worst hand possible in Badugi.

Reading Badugi Hands

Think of each hand as a number. A hand of A-2-3-K rainbow reads as “K32A” while 8-9-T-Q rainbow reads as “QT98.” The lower number wins. When both highest cards match, compare the next card down, and so on.

How a Badugi Hand Plays Out

1
Post Blinds
The small blind and big blind post their forced bets, just like in Hold'em.
2
Deal Four Cards
Each player receives four cards face down.
3
First Betting Round
Starting left of the big blind, players can call, raise, or fold.
4
First Draw
Each player may discard up to four cards and receive replacements, or "stand pat" (keep all four).
5
Second Betting Round and Draw
Another round of betting, then a second draw.
6
Third Betting Round and Final Draw
A third round of betting followed by the final draw.
7
Final Betting Round and Showdown
One last betting round. Remaining players reveal their hands. The lowest Badugi wins the pot.

Basic Badugi Strategy

The central strategic challenge is drawing toward the lowest possible Badugi while reading your opponents’ draw patterns. Completing a Badugi is genuinely difficult, so three-card hands win pots frequently.

Badugis Are Hard to Complete

A player holding three perfect low cards of different suits before the first draw only has approximately a 51% chance of completing any Badugi after all three draws. Three-card hands win a large percentage of pots.

Starting Hand Guidelines

✅ Play 3-card hands (three different suits, all 8 or lower) drawing one card
✅ Draw two cards only if your remaining cards are two unique low cards (A, 2, 3, or 4) of different suits
❌ Never play a hand that requires discarding three or four cards
❌ Fold rough Badugis like 7-J-Q-K rainbow in multiway pots where opponents will likely outdraw you
⭐ Standing pat (drawing zero) is a powerful play — even with a mediocre Badugi, pat hands pressure drawing opponents
Reading Opponents Through Draw Counts

The number of cards an opponent draws is your single most important piece of information. Standing pat means a made Badugi. Drawing one means three good cards. Drawing two is speculative. Bet into players who are still drawing, and respect opponents who stand pat early.