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Badugi on the Rise at PokerStars

Badugi, one of the lesser known poker games, was recently added to the roster at PokerStars. In the past few months, Badugi has received a lot of attention at the online poker room and continues to climb the popularity ladder in 2009.

There are very few online poker rooms offering the game of Badugi, which certainly left the managers of Poker Stars.net to wonder just how well it would attract online poker players. Any doubts may now be set aside as Badugi has drawn thousands of players just in the month of January.

Badugi is virtually unlike any other poker game. It could be compared to Low-Hand poker games, but the hand development rules are completely different. A player gets only 4 cards to work with, followed by three draw phases.

A Badugi hand may consist of no pairs and no same-suit cards, with the winner being the payer with the lowest hand. If, after three draws, a player has a pair or same-suit, the highest of the two is left out, leaving a 3 card (or less) hand. A 4 card hand always beats a 3 card hand, regardless of the numerical values. Aces are always low and straights do not count. A hand of A-2-3-4 off-suit is best possible hand, known as Badugi.

PokerStars offers Badugi in both cash games and tournaments, Multi-Table and Sit’n’Go alike. Badugi Ring Game stakes range from $.25/$.50 up to $10/$20, Fixed Limit only. Multi-Table Badugi Tournaments are offered with buy-ins of $2+$.20 up to $20+$2 in both Fixed Limit and Pot Limit. Over on the Sit’n’Go side, PokerStars has Badugi tournaments with buy-ins ranging from $1+$.20 to $200+$15 in Fixed Limit, plus Turbo Badugi.