Viva Macau Poker - Badugi

Online Badugi has has explosive popularity with Viva Macau's customers. It is an action-packed poker varientthe combines the most exciting elements of poker with a new spin on hand values and psychology.

In Badugi you only receive four cards. It is a lowball poker game with three draws.

The objective is to try to get Budugi, which is one card of each suit, with no pairs. So, if you are holding four different cards of four different suits then you are holding a Badugi! A-2-3-4 with all different suits is the best possible hand.

At Viva Macau, Badugi makes use of a dealer button and uses a blind (forced bet) structure similar to Texas Hold'em, with the two players to the left of the dealer paying the small and the big blind respectively.

Starting with the player who placed the small blind, each player is dealt 4 cards in a clockwise direction. Cards are dealt to each player in a round robin fashion one card at a time. Once everyone has 4 cards the action begins with the player to the left of the Big Blind and continues around the table in a clockwise direction.

Each player has 3 options in the first round; fold their hand, call or raise. To call is to match the current bet. To raise to match the current bet and make an additional bet. If no players raise, each player must match the big blind and the small blind must complete their bet to stay in the game.

Once all players have acted, the first draw will commence. Players remaining in the hand can discard any number of cards in their hand, and be dealt new cards. Players can, of course, keep all their cards in any round and failing to draw in one round does not impair a player's ability to draw in subsequent rounds.

Players will take part in a second round of betting, this time having 4 options. They can check, bet, fold or raise. If a player checks, he stays in the hand without placing an additional bet, but if any player bets, he must match that bet to stay in the game. Once a player bets other players have the option of matching the bet, raising the bet or folding. Checking is no longer an option.

The game will continue with two more draws and two more rounds of betting in a similar fashion. At the end of the final round of betting, the remaining players will participate in the showdown.

At the showdown the player with the lowest Badugi wins. If no player has a Badugi (i.e. they have a pair or they have 2 cards of the same suit) then one card of their pair or same suit doesn't count so player with the best three or two card hand wins. So 5-6-9-K beats A-2-3-3 and 6-7-7-8 beats A-A-2-2.

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