Online poker room, PokerStars.com is increasing its players’ options with the introduction of Badugi, a poker variation similar to Triple Draw, but with hand values similar to lowball.  Currently, Poker Stars is running both tournaments and sit-and-gos, although the latter is seldom attracting the higher-limits players. Badugi is a draw poker game that is similar to lowball, where players try to get the four lowest cards possible, all of different suits. So, A-2-3-4, all of different suits, would be the best hand a player could get while playing Badugi. Badugi features three different drawing opportunities in where players can draw anywhere from zero to four cards with a betting round taking place after each draw.

Many brick and mortar casinos, including most of the Las Vegas casinos, offer Badugi as part of their selection of card games. In Las Vegas, players can find Badugi at Bellagio, which offers the game for as cheap as $2-$4 and as expensive as $4,000-$8,000. The Imperial Palace poker room features Badugi as part of its mixed games, the Treasure Island also offers a standalone $3-$6 Badugi game, although there are rarely enough players to form a game.

But even when the game is really popular among casino players, the game hasn’t been well received by the online poker community. Several sites, including DoylesRoom.com included Badugi among their games but rapidly withdrew the game from its selection due its deficient performance; however, PokerStars is clearly trying to increase the player’s interest towards the game by setting up small-stakes tourneys running on daily basis. For more information, please visit PokerStars.com.

PokerStars.com