Progressive Badugi with a Buy Rules

Progressive Badugi with a Buy is a format of Progressive Badugi described by L. Michael Riccardi, as published on pagat.com.

The game is played with a standard 52-card deck with no jokers, by two to eight players.

Hands are valued as in Badugi: aces are low, only cards of different suits and different ranks count, a hand with more counting cards beats a hand with fewer, and between equal-sized hands the lower highest card wins.

The object of the game is to win the pot, either by holding the best qualifying hand at showdown or by making a bet that no other player calls.

Before the game begins, the dealer shall announce:

2.1(a) The qualifier: the minimum hand needed to win at showdown. The standard qualifier, and the one these rules assume, is a four-card badugi with no card higher than a nine.

2.1(b) The price of buying a card, which is paid into the pot.

2.1(c) The procedure for buying (Article 4), since the source does not fix one.

2.1(d) The antes or blinds, and the betting structure.

The source describes the deal on the assumption that the qualifier is nine high or lower. With a looser qualifier, the table shall agree whether the burning rule in 3.2 still applies, and at what rank.

The dealer deals one card face up to each player.

Any card of rank ten or higher dealt in this round is burned. The usual reading is that the player receives another face-up card in its place, so that every player starts with an up card no higher than a nine.

The dealer then deals one card face down to each player, and a betting round follows. This is done three times in all, so that each player holds one face-up card and three face-down cards.

The source does not specify who opens each betting round. The table shall use its normal Badugi order, or another order announced by the dealer before the game.

After the third betting round, each active player has two opportunities to improve their hand by buying a card to replace one of the cards they hold.

A player who buys pays the announced price into the pot and exchanges one of their cards for the card bought. The price is paid to the pot, not to another player.

The source does not set out the exact buying procedure. Points the dealer shall settle in advance include:

4.3(a) whether a player sees the card on offer before deciding to buy it. The source suggests this is likely, since paying for an unseen card would rarely be worthwhile;

4.3(b) whether the card bought is placed face up or face down, and whether the face-up card may be replaced;

4.3(c) the order in which players buy.

A player is never required to buy.

After the buys there is a final betting round and then a showdown.

The best hand that meets the qualifier wins the pot. Qualifying hands that tie split the pot equally.

If no hand at the showdown qualifies, the cards are thrown in, the pot stays in the middle and a new hand is dealt to every player at the table. The pot goes to the winner of a later hand.

If all but one player folds at any stage, the remaining player wins the pot without needing a qualifying hand.