Progressive Badugi Rules

Progressive Badugi is a variation of 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.

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

Except where these rules state otherwise, the game follows the rules of Badugi, including the blinds, the deal, the draws, the betting and the showdown procedure.

Aces are low and kings are high. Straights have no effect.

Only cards of different suits and different ranks count. Where a hand holds two cards of the same suit or rank, one of them is disregarded, leaving a three-card, two-card or one-card hand.

A badugi is a four-card hand with four different suits and four different ranks. Any hand with more counting cards beats any hand with fewer.

Between hands with the same number of counting cards, the hand with the lower highest card wins. If those are equal, the next-highest cards are compared, and so on. The best hand is A-2-3-4 in four different suits.

Before the game begins, the dealer or the table shall announce the qualifier: the minimum hand needed to win a pot at showdown.

The standard qualifier is a four-card badugi in which no card is higher than a nine.

3.2(a) Other limits may be set, for example a badugi with no card higher than a ten.

3.2(b) Other conditions may be set, for example allowing certain three-card hands (a four-card holding that contains one pair) to qualify.

A hand either meets the qualifier or it does not. Among qualifying hands, the best hand under Article 2 wins.

Blinds are posted and the first betting round is conducted as in Badugi, beginning with the player to the left of the big blind.

In each draw, starting with the first active player to the dealer's left, each player may discard from none to four cards and receive the same number of replacements face down.

After each draw there is a betting round, begun by the first active player to the dealer's left. In fixed-limit play, the bet size doubles after the second draw.

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

At showdown, the players show their hands in the usual Badugi order. The best qualifying hand wins the pot. Qualifying hands that tie split the pot equally.

If the showdown is reached and no hand qualifies, the cards are thrown in and the pot stays in the middle. A new hand is dealt to every player at the table, not only to those who reached the showdown.

The carried-over pot is added to the money wagered in the new hand. It goes to the winner of the next pot that is won, whether at showdown or by all other players folding.

The sources do not say whether blinds or antes are posted again for the redeal. The table shall agree this before the game starts.

Different qualifier. The qualifying limit may be raised or lowered, or three-card hands with a pair may be allowed to qualify, as set out in 3.2.

With a buy. In Progressive Badugi with a Buy, each player receives one face-up card and three face-down cards, and has two chances to buy a replacement card instead of drawing.