Badugi is a relatively recent addition to the poker repertoire. It can be played online (such as Doyles Room and Carbon Poker) and in card rooms in California. Treasure Island in Las Vegas now spreads Badugi, too. Sometimes it is spelled "Badougi" or even "Padooki."

Badugi is a triple draw game, like 2 thru 7 or Ace to 5. It is also a lowball version of poker. Finally, it is a four-card version of poker. Putting all these elements together, the game is played as follows:

Aces are low only. The best hand is unsuited A thru 4. If two or more of the four cards are suited or of the same rank, only one of them can count in the hand. Having all four cards of different ranks and different suits is called a "Badugi" or "Badugi Hand." The lowest possible Badugi Hand is A-2-3-4 of different suits and is the absolute nuts. Straights are disregarded.

Like Hold'em, Badugi has a dealer button, a small blind, and a big blind. Each player receives four face-down cards, and betting begins to the left of the big blind. Players can fold, call or raise, with the big blind being the base bet.

Then there is a draw of zero to four cards, starting with the active player to the dealer's left and a second round of betting ensues (starting at the dealer's left). Players have the added option of checking in the betting rounds after the first.

This is followed by a second draw and a third round of betting, in which the stakes in Limit Badugi double.

Then a third and final round of draws occurs and the fourth and final betting round, followed by a showdown, if applicable.

Possible betting structures are like those in Hold'em: Limit, Pot-Limit and No-Limit. There can also be a half-pot-limit variation. As in Hold'em, the cost of the call is included in the calculation of the value of the pot.

Badugi alters traditional poker intuition in a couple of ways. Not only is it a lowball game, and not only does the hand have just four cards, but in many circumstances, one or more of the four may be "counterfeited" and disqualified for play at showdown. This occurs when two or more of the four cards are suited. Only one of them can be played. Likewise, if two or more of the four cards are of the same rank, only one of them can play.

Hand ranking proceeds as mentioned above. At showdown, if more than one Badugi is in play, the hand with the lowest high card wins. (If there's a tie, compare the second-highest card, and so on, just as in conventional lowball.) If no four card hands are in play, then the three card hands vie for winning. If no one has a four-card hand or a three-card hand, then the two-card hands can dispute the pot, and finally, a one-card hand can win if it is the lowest rank of the one-card hands in play, and no hands are in play with more than one live card in them. Badugi players recite their hands in descending order as a four-digit number. (add trailing zeros for missing cards). This makes it easier to know whose hand beats whose.

If a hand can be evaluated in more than one way, the better (that is, lower) evaluation prevails. For example, KH, JS, 7H, and 6C can be either K-J-6-0 or J-7-6-0. The second version is the one that counts.

Badugi strategy is like that of other forms of draw poker and lowball. For example, drawing against a pat player is risky (unless he or she is bluffing). Position matters, as diagnosing the opponents' hands and bluffing are both easier to accomplish from the late betting positions. The more players in the game, the more likely a four-card hand will win. For example, with six players, it is bad tactics to bluff with a three-card hand. With three or four players in the game, a three-card hand could in fact be a winner.