Fri 27 Feb 2009
badugi
Posted by Spencer under Poker Strategy
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earlier in year I taught myself badugi in the 10/20 stars game. First impression was that its very swingy – i made 50 bets in 1st 45 mins and lost them back over next hour as I explored 2 card starting hands. There is definitely much potential in badugi tho for a low-mid limit player. I’d highly recommend people add it to their repertoire for when their main game isn’t looking attractive. no 5/10 stud games going and the 3/6 4th % is stuck at 20? your normal O8 game filled with tight regulars? hop into some badugi and ride the rollercoaster.
I may expand these comments ito a proper badugi article at some point but for now some brief tips/comments.
1) position is very important. You get to see not only other people’s betting actions but also other people’s drawing actions before you have to act. The gap between playable hands in ep and in lp is wide.
2) The most common weakness people have is drawing too light. They will look at the pot odds for making their badugi rather than for making a badugi that is likely to be good.
3) Full ring a badugi will often be necessaryto win. Short-handed good 3 card lows should be value bet confidently on the river.
4) If you figure to have the best 3 card low bet it. For value. This is where most of your profit comes from.
5) If you don’t figure to have the best 3 card low you should often be folding.
6) The 2nd most common weakness is folding to a show of strength too often. As such one of the most important plays you have should be the checkraise bluff out of position – usually on the 2nd draw. If you figure not to have the best low draw you make a two-way check (you’re happy with a free card) and then raise if bet into. you stand pat and bet the hand the rest of the way. People will often fold/break rough badugis and draw to 3 card lows intending to fold the river if they miss. This adds up to huge profit for you. The most amusing thing about this is that someone will fold A35 on end unimp to this line but call if they catch a King badugi despite the hands being essentially equivalent. You need to pay attention to who this play works on and exploit them ruthlessly while making note of who it won’t be profitable against. Getting caught in this will lead to people paying you off more when you actually do have it.
7) paying attention to people’s play will bring rewards more quickly in this game than in any other – when people show a hole in their game to you, you get frequent opportunities to exploit it.
I played a hand earlier where I cold called an aggressive ep raise with Ad 2c 6s Jd on the button – both blinds came along.
BB draws 2 the rest of us (including pfr) draw 1. I catch Kh for a smooth (!!! 
) K badugi.
PFR bets, I raise and sucessfully isolate. He calls.
PFR draws 1. I stand pat. He check calls.
PFR draws 1. I draw 1.
With a rough K I would stand pat and check behind, call/fold depending on opponent as I can’t value bet the K hi badugi.
However my A26 is almost equivalent to the K hi badugi so by drawing I give myself a chance to catch when he does and win a pot I would have lost. I also open up this opponent’s betting range on end so I can snap call with my smooth 3 card 6 and if he checks to me I can now value bet.
