432A Badugi Poker

This is not going to be so much a starting hands article as it is about hand selection, the importance position and what I like to call “the table”. I never really noticed the table till I started playing badugi. I’ve seen sort of the effect I’m talking about in other casino games but not poker. Schooling is part of “the table” effect.

Schooling is where you have cards but nobody will fold and the fish circle around you till one of them catches and BAM a suck out. It’s part of why so many “pros” hate limit versions of poker. You’re not going to put huge amounts of pressure on someone to fold with one big bet. Pressure sure but it’s nowhere near the same calling for most of your stack. Lots of suck outs in limit.

I realized today that the table is really a combination of all the other players tendencies and as a general rule limit tournaments will be tighter than a freeroll but looser than a cash game. Especially early. I know I’m much more likely to chase 2Axx through the turn when it’s still cheap than I am at later stages of the game.

The stages of a SNG also play into the table effect as I just illustrated. The “cheap” factor of early wagers means more people are willing to call with draws and you end up with a schooling effect early. When a table is schooling hand values decrease and it can be drastic. It’s the reason med suited connectors can turn a profit in multi-way pots in hold em.

Take 732Ar vs 43Ax with three draws to go. And lets say we know the pat hand only raises a 7 low or better so we’re tossing an 8. Troutulator says it’s about 81/19% If I add 3 hands to that mix, one good 3 card 642x, one drawing to an ok hand but he’s dead money and one with a 2 card 5Axx now that smooth 7 low drops almost 20% in equity.

On pokerstars a full badugi ring is 8 seats so that’s 3 more people being dealt cards to start. Even if early raises are heeded and you weed it down to one or two you’ve probably been called with good to very good cards and in limit no matter how much you fire at them many people will see all the cards they have a right to. I think schooling in hold em is a little different in that it’s the community cards that the fish are circling waiting to suck a meal out where in badugi 8 people see cards, a few are bound to have good starters. With 3 card hands winning as much as they do there are a bazillion good 2 card hands worth calling a raise with.

So it’s better to play any cards good, bad or ugly a bit more passively early on. I rarely bluff 8 handed no matter how many are actually IN the hand. People WILL call early and suck outs are to be expected often. I will play aggressively, absolutely but I pick my spots very carefully and most will be 100% situation specific. With good players you will get picked off if you try for second too often and let me tell you something it IS obvious.

I see this all the time where players are getting away with taking shots only because people didn’t improve to something like a 3 card 63Ax so they wont call but they are taking note and they WILL call you down eventually.

Here is a hand from today. 8 players one is sitting.

I’m UTG with

I call, fold, call, fold, fold, call, call, sitter folds.

I draw 1

We check around to the BTN who hesitates just enough that I know it’s a tell for her. You can’t rely on timing tells all the time because most are telling you a story you should not believe but this was one of those sub-conscience tells many people can’t avoid. I always wondered how the HELL?!? anyone could pick up tells at online poker and now that I really see them it’s amazing how much some people leak.

SB folds, I call and MP2 calls.

Draw 1

I CHECK!

You might say “you SHOULD check a 97 badugi” and you would be right most of the time but I know this person and she would not have hesitated that split second with a better hand.

MP2 checks, BTN bets, I raise MP2 folds BTN is frozen…she finally calls. I bet another round and she shows

I had her pegged for a J low but I’ll take it.

MP2 is expecting me to only raise a 7 or better most of the time and he knows it’s not profitable to be looking me up with an 8 in this situation. I’m not worried about him he’s either going to raise or fold. If he raises I’m beat but he’s ONLY raising a 6 or better here. He has no bluff for this spot and I believe he’d muck an 8.

Getting back to the main topic, I see players play bad badugis (should call those bad-dugis) pre-flop with a full table from early/mid position all the time. Trust me when I tell you It’s not worth doing. Guys willing to fire off all barrels early with PAINT.

You may get it to heads up eventually where any badugi has an advantage over almost every drawing hand but it will cost you in the long run. The median dealt badugi is Q752r. That’s the middle of the road in 4 card rainbows. 50% of badugis are better than Q752 and 50% are WORSE. It’s like a 98764 in 2-7 triple draw and there are HUNDREDS more hands that beat the badugi version.

It also means that most dealt badugis are pretty bad as far as badugis go. Good plays are all well aware of this and will tend to seriously discount your hand if it was dealt to you preflop. You can take advantage of this when you score a dealt monster and someone else catches one but what about those times the hand is not so good?

You’re in the BB and get dealt

3 limp and the SB raises (you expect all limpers will call) what do you do?

Villain known to protect her blinds now and again plus she has no problem betting good cards. My read was she’s on a draw. What do you do?

You could call and pat but that leaks way too much information. Everyone will know you got shit cards and you’re beatable. Maybe even bluffable. RR and pat? Ok but if she’s pat then you’re probably beat and QJT2 has no break value. You can’t toss the Q and expect a winning hand if you catch. In fact this hand is so bad you’d need to draw 3 and at that point you are so far behind you’re looking at the back of your own head wondering when you got SoOooo bald.

If villain is only on a draw you’ll most likely have 4 to the turn or river and the chances of one of them catching a better 4 card are very good. Player get priced in real fast in limit badugi when there are a couple players and a raise or two.

I mucked this hand and saved some chips when as prophesied the limpers call villain is drawing one and hits her 4 card scooping the pot with

You are UTG with

what do you do?

Again look at the hand. JT87 no break value to this hand, meaning if someone pats and you think you’re beat you can’t break the hand and try to draw to win. You’d have to discard the J and the T at a minimum. J642 has break value to it. You could toss the J and you’re drawing to a good hand if you think someone caught your weak badugi. Oh don’t forget there is a table full of players waiting on you to act SoOoo.

I mucked the hand and saved chips when the CO made

Not a great hand but would have beat me

If you had those cards in position or with fewer players OOP you might be able to play them it always depends on the situation. Only you can make the call to hold em or fold em.

Game is 5 handed, you in the SB, 3 good players who are playing tight at the moment and a sitter who is in the BB. Fold, fold, BTN limps.

You have

what do you do?

First thing you should look at, hand strength and break value if it’s a marginal badugi or worse. KT98 not even close. This hand is fat and ugly.

Next is position. We are O O P so we need to keep that in mind as well but we know wtf we’re doing so we can do things like this if we want.

Next is player tendencies. Sitters in the BB have a SERIOUS tendency to fold even though they could just check. I don’t have any numbers on this but trust me those dudes fold a lot. :P

Now if I raise here villain may interpret this as a take down attempt and he might fire right back. (its a spot I might try one, we have history and he will fold a 2 carder here) I don’t want to be out front with this hand having called a RR wondering if I’m good. It IS possible he limped with a pat hand to induce another 1/2 blind bet out of me since I was SB and BB is a sitter.

If he’s just on a good draw, his calling a raise or RRing me will likely make him pot committed through all three streets. I also expect a fold to my pat if he has marginal cards so I called & stood pat. He drew 1, I lead out and he folded.

Knowing his tendencies allowed me to play the cards without over playing the hand. It would have cost me to raise if he has a hand or gets creative and I buy it so I might be giving away a bet or two in this situation but in the long run I’m making money.

Knowing when you’re beat and better yet when you’re GOING to be beat is an area many players I see need serious work on. I regularly see 3 4 and 5 hands at showdown and that with two or more of them capping the betting along the way. It really boggles my mind to know that some people really can not seem to figure out when a T or a J or even a KING low badugi is no good. In my mind there is no worse play than to be the dead last hand at showdown and there are 4 or 5 people there and you’ve got 4 bets in last round. You might as well dissolve your cash in water and drink it cause all you’re doing is pissing it away.

DO NOT BE THAT GUY!

One of the keys to transitioning your game from mahi mahi to mako is knowing when it’s time to find a better wager. Forgetting the kings 5 ways at home plate knowing when to toss what WAS a good hand a second ago is a subtle skill you want to learn.

I’ll talk more about hand strength, knowing when you’re beat and lots more. Stay tuned!

432A