Where to play Badugi online?

Presently the poker enthusiasts can play Badugi game on both the Merge Gaming and PokerStars.

PokerStars is the great place to play Badugi onlineBadugi is available in ring games, sit 'n go tournaments and scheduled multi-table tournaments.

Pokerstars advantage: it has enough traffic to provide a constant spread of Badugi games.

Also, badugi is offered on most of the Merge Gaming Network online poker-rooms.

Here is the list of poker-roooms where you can play badugi:
 

1. PokerStars (world's largest room)

2. Bluff Room

3. Carbon Poker

4. Poker Host

5. Poker Nordica

6. OddsPoker

7. FeltStars

8. Aced Poker


PokerStars
supports the great variety of funding methods, but doesn't accept U.S. players.

The Merge Gaming Network accepts USA poker funs. 

The Merge Gaming supports the various payment methods including:
Click2Pay, Neteller, 1-Pay, ClickandBuy, EcoCard, EntroPay, eWalletXpress, InstaDebit, Visa/MasterCard, Moneybookers, Paysafecard, echeck, Webmoney and Bank Wire Transfer.

 

Tournaments Strategy

You can think of a tournament as having three stages: early, middle and late.

Getting it on from the start.
Early in a tournament, especially in multi-table affairs, your best strategy is to sit back and get a feel for the other players. Be very careful to not overplay or over-bet your hands, because to win you have to survive - and survival isn't an option if you don't have any chips. "Slow and steady" is the rule of the day.
In tournaments that are deeply stacked or have especially large fields of players, keep an eye out for players that seem antsy or anxious. These types of tournaments take forever to play, and if you have an opponent who's showing open signs of wanting things to move along, almost certainly he'll make a bad, aggressive move at some point. Although they're dangerous to play against, in early and middle stages you'll find that a disproportionate share of your chips come from these jitterbugs.

If you find yourself with a nut hand, make sure not to over-bet it. You're better off winning a small pot than making a large bet that isn't called, because you'll need those chips later - it will also give you a reputation at the table for being someone who plays very solidly and tends to under-raise. This rep will be helpful if and when you try to pull off a bluff later.

Online Tournaments

Tournaments are an interesting form of the game - more so now that television focuses almost exclusively on tournaments and tournament play.
In a tournament, you get a specific and predefined number of chips. When you lose them all, you're bust and removed from the tournament. 
All tournaments have a unique structure in the form of entry fees you pay. the chips you get for that money, and the speed at which those chips will be blinded off.

Entry fees.
In the world of tournaments, you pay an entry fee, which goes directly into the prize pool. On top of this, you fork over a registration fee (typically 10 percent of the entry fee), which goes to the house.
If you see tournaments talked about in writing or online, the entry fee and registration fee are usually represented by something like "$50 + $5", meaning $50 to the prize pool and 5 bucks to the house.
A tournament with no entry fee "$1 + $0" means that all the money goes directly to the prize pool. From a mathematical point of view, aside from freerolls (see the nearby sidebar), these are the best deal going in a poker room because you're never leaking any money to the house.
Unless the tournament says something like "+ $0", "No registration fee", or "All monies go to prizes", you should assume that you'll have to pay a registration fee and you need to read the fine print to find out what it is.
 

Badugi Tips for Beginners

Many of the tips that apply for other poker games can also be used to Badugi. Here is a list of advices that a player must keep in mind when he wishes to play badugi game:

Starting Hands. Commonly you have a playable hand if you have four cards of a seven or less and or 2 cards of a five or under. Anything lower than an eight and less badugi probably isn’t worth taking to the showdown.

Position. Position is extremely important in Badugi game. The player wish to be the last to play so he have the complete information with which to choose the decision.

Bet. In badugi there is no method a player can obtain any information regarding the card combination the opponents have. In such a circumstance, always look out for the stake that is being made. In case the opponents opt for higher bets then it displays that they have a very strong hand.

Starting Hands in Badugi

When you have the starting hand in Badugi, you need to consider whether you should proceed playing or finish early.
In case you have got a badugi or a four card combination with no pairs and various colours, then stick with that. If all the cards in the hand are lower than 8, then you should begin raising! If some of the cards are higher than 8, just bet in the standard way.

In early position (1st and 2nd position after the big blind), you should be looking for combination with three cards that are ranked 6 or less. Also play any 3-card 7 low hands that include two wheel cards, i.e. A, 2,3,4. For example 3-4-6-x and A-2-6-x. In case you have a strong hand in early position, raise aggressively in order to expel out opponents and to grab more money in the pot when you have a nice chance at winning.

Badugi Rules

Badugi is a variety of draw poker, played with low combinations of the cards with a very original hand ranking system.
This game is played with up to six players. The aim of the Badugi is to construct the lowest possible combination without having any cards of identical denomination and none of the equal colour.
A combination with 4 cards of different ranks and colours is known as a badugi. The overall low Badugi hand therefore is A;2;3;4 all of various colours.
Although Badugi combination can contain four, three, two or even just single card, i.e. in the event of a showdown only one of the suited or paired cards counts.
When you are deciding which combination has a strongest value, you need to rank them by looking at the highest denomination. For instance, 3-4-6-7 beats A-2-4-8 (because 7 lower than 8).