Badugi is four low cards of different suits, and Pagat's best hand is A-2-3-4

A badugi uses a 52-card pack. Pagat allows two to eight players, and the Washington sheet says the same, with no joker.

The dealer pitches four cards face down. There is a betting round, then a draw, and that pair repeats until three draws are done. Four betting rounds is the count both sheets print.

Pagat says you may exchange any number from zero to four. Exchanging zero is standing pat in badugi, which means you keep the four cards you were dealt. The Washington sheet says each player may discard any number and receive replacements.

Draws start with the first active player to the dealer's left. If a button is used, the Washington sheet starts the draw to the button's left. Replacements are face down.

The Poker hub collects the other low games. Deuce-to-seven with three draws is a five-card low, not this four-card pattern. The face-up Chinese layout is a different way to set thirteen cards.

Ace is low on both sheets. King is high. Straights do not count on the Washington sheet, and Pagat never uses high-poker ranks to score the hand.

The best hand Pagat prints is A-2-3-4 with one card of each suit. Pagat's nickname for that best badugi is the wheel, and the nickname is not a second ranking.

The Washington extract we read does not print the characters A-2-3-4. It does print that the ace is always low and that the lowest high card wins among four-card hands.

That is the same direction. The spelled nuts stay attributed to Pagat.

Suits do not break a tie on Pagat. If the ranks match, the hands split. The Washington sheet says discounted cards are never used to break a tie.

Four hole cards that must use two is a high game with a board. Do not read a flush on this low sheet. A flush is a problem here, because two cards of one suit cannot both count.

Every card in the counted hand must differ in suit and in rank. Pairs and repeated suits are removed until that is true.

Any four-card badugi beats any three-card hand. A three-card hand beats a two-card hand, and a two-card hand beats a one-card hand. Both sheets say this.

Among hands with the same count, compare the highest card, and the lower one wins. If those tie, compare the next card, then the next.

Pagat's examples include 8-7-5-4 beating 9-4-3-2, because 8 is lower than 9. They also include 10-7-5-4 beating 10-7-6-A, because 5 is lower than 6.

K-Q-J-8 beats 3-2-A on Pagat because four cards beat three. A hand that looks pretty and still has a pair is not four live cards.

The Washington sheet is explicit that only the lowest card of a duplicated suit counts, and only one card of a pair counts. Its tie example is an 8-5-2 three-card hand beating 8-5-3. The unused cards do not save the higher hand.

Pagat uses blinds when more than two play. The player left of the dealer posts a small blind, and the next player posts a big blind, normally twice as large. Heads-up, the dealer posts the small blind.

Betting starts left of the big blind, and the minimum bet is normally the big blind. If nobody raises, the big blind may still bet.

After each draw, the first active player left of the dealer starts the next round.

In a fixed-limit game, Pagat says the bet doubles after the second draw, so the third and fourth rounds are the big bet. Pot limit and half-pot badugi are named on that page. The half-pot formula sits on a betting page we did not open, so the formula is not published here.

The Washington sheet allows forced antes for everyone, or a blind structure. Wagering must follow WAC 230-15-135, which we did not open, so the legal limit numbers are not published.

The sheet calls the game nonhouse-banked. It does not print a percentage taken from the pot.

The Washington sheet names a four-suit hand a badugi and prints no rake. Do not invent a collection, a time charge, or a drop. If a room card adds one, that card is the source, and this note does not have it.

A ring game that keeps running is a different seat. Showing the undealt board is a different argument, and it does not create a rake either.

If only one player remains at any point, that player takes the pot without showing, on the Pagat page. If two or more reach the end, they show in turn, starting with the last player who bet or raised, or with the first active player left of the dealer if the last round checked.

Players show all four cards even when the live badugi is shorter than four. The cards speak, and the holder of the best reduced hand wins.

Equal hands divide the pot. Suits do not rank one badugi over another.

Pagat also describes a progressive variation, with a limit set in advance, for example a four-card hand with nothing higher than a 9. If nobody qualifies, the pot stays and the deal repeats.

That 9 is Pagat's example, not a law for every table. Another table can name a different ceiling, and this note does not pick one.

A buy variation asks the dealer to name a price, paid to the pot, for exchanging a card near the end. Pagat says the exact buying procedure was not explained.

No single price is printed. Leave it unpublished.

The ante draw game exchanges cards once, under a cap that depends on which sheet you adopt. This game draws three times.

Neither sheet prints $1. The pictures only make the ante rule addable. They are not a win.

Example 1: four players each post $1 before the deal, so the pot is $4. No rake is subtracted, because no rake is printed. The $1 posts are an illustration, not a badugi collection.

Example 2: after the first betting round the pot is $20, and you draw two cards. The $20 does not grow because the new cards look low. It grows only if somebody bets on a later round.

Example 3: two $50 Coinflip stakes on this site make a $100 pot, the fee is $5, and the winner receives $95. That fee belongs to Coinflip, it is not a drop on this lowball game, and we did not time a cash-out.

The sheets we opened put players against players. A house percentage is not on them.

How PvP compares: Poker on this site is a player table, and this note does not put the four-card low on it. Fairness recomputes a settled round that publishes a seed. That check does not audit Pagat, and it does not audit the Washington commission.

This site does not deal badugi. Slott takes 10% of a winning pot, which is a different game. Purple and Silver roulette keep about a 7.88% edge after the 5% win fee.

Say the reduced hand before you call a large bet.

• [ ] Count four cards before the first bet.
• [ ] Drop pairs and repeated suits before you name the hand.
• [ ] Remember that any four-card legal hand beats any three-card hand.
• [ ] Compare from the top card down, and prefer the lower top.
• [ ] Treat A-2-3-4 in four suits as Pagat's best hand, not as a promise.
• [ ] Leave the Washington rake blank, because the sheet prints none.
• [ ] Leave the half-pot formula blank unless you open the betting page.
• [ ] Do not pay a buy price this note does not print.
• [ ] Set a loss stop before the first blind or ante.
• [ ] If the draws become a chase, call 1-800-GAMBLER.

The helpline page prints 1-800-MY-RESET and says that line is not a crisis service. A crisis is 911 or 988.

Do not play if you are under 18, or under a higher local age. Do not play where the game is illegal. Do not stake rent or money with a due date.

Three draws feel like three chances to fix a hand. They are three chances to put more money in a pot you can still lose. The sheets do not store a debt the next card must repay.

This page is an editorial note. We did not open a card-room account, and we did not time a cash-out.

Cash-out minimum on this site is $20 in BTC, USDC, or ETH. If the session stops being optional, call 1-800-GAMBLER and open responsible gambling.