Just a quick heads-up to those not so regular on pokerstars that are looking for a higher stakes Badugi tournament.

The World Championship of Online Poker 2009 has been announced and for the first time ever Badugi is in the schedule with a $320 buy-in event and $100,000 is guaranteed!

They have opted for a fixed limit game this year so hopefully it’ll be a sucess and we’ll see pot limit added in the very near future.  No signs of Badugi at the WSOP this year but the rumours are still flying for a 2010 event.

So just to round up, stick a post it note on your monitor, set a reminder on your phone or whatever you have to do.  Just don’t miss this game.

BADUGI - WCOOP

Tuesday, September 8th

16:30 ET - Event 14: $320 FL Badugi, $100,000 guaranteed

Pokerstars will be running satellites for this nearer the time.  BadugiPlayer.com may also be having a Badugi freeroll for a ticket.  If you are interested add a comment to this post, it won’t show up but I will keep your email to send out any news of the events when I get the news.

Badugi WSOP - New Writer

I was planning to update this site daily but Badugi just doesnt seem to have enough going on, at least not yet.  Badugi is rumoured for the 2010 WSOP & so expect more main stream coverage from the usual TV outlets and get ready for the BOOOM!!

Sadly I have a bunch of new projects on the go so won’t have time to update here or even play Badugi for a few weeks, which is good for you guys as we will have a new Badugi writer! He’s a  regular on Stars 5/10+ & his content will be fantastic… He wants to remain anonymous for now but will reveal all in the near future.

Badugi Freerolls

I’m still getting emails asking where can I play poker for free, there are plenty of freerolls on www.pokerstars.co.uk & www.carbonpoker.com if you guys want to check them out.

If you want anything in particular covered by the new writer don’t email me, drop them in the comments box below!

Marcus Aurelius - How to Play Badugi

He ruled the Roman empire for 19 years and was nicknamed “The-Wise”. He would have torn your home game up! He didn’t play Badugi but he has given us some valuable poker lessons.

Here are some of his quotes and we can apply them to the poker table.

• You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength - Marcus Aurelius

You can’t control the cards.  The only thing you have control over at the poker table is yourself.  

• Confine yourself to the present - Marcus Aurelius

Focus your energy on your current hand. Thinking about the bad beat you just took is wasting brainpower, it’s in the past and there is nothing you can do to change it.  If you could master this philosophy you would never tilt and you would be able to think clearly all the time.

• Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth - Marcus Aurelius

Beware of deception.  You are being told a story, do you believe it?

• I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinions of himself than on the opinions of others  - Marcus Aurelius

Who is your greatest foe at the poker table?  You are.  Don’t let your ego get in the way of your poker decisions, do not be afraid to back up your feeling with your chips. 

• The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane - Marcus Aurelius

The object of POKER is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane.

• Despise not death, but welcome it, for nature wills it like all else - Marcus Aurelius

This applies more to Tournament play than cash games.  Do not be afraid to bust out if you find a good situation to put your chips in the middle.

Next Article >> How to play 459Q from the button by Julias Ceasar.

Snowing in Badugi

It’s a bit late to be dreaming of a white Christmas but when you play Badugi it’s snowing all around you.

I’ll start off with explaining what a snow actually is.  A snow is the term used in draw poker when a player without a made hand stands pat & doesn’t draw any further cards.  What is this lunacy you ask?  Well the idea is to deceive your opponents into thinking you have a made hand so you can steal a pot.  If it works then celebrate!  We are immediately better off but if we get looked up that’s still good for us in the long term.

If our snow is unsuccessful and we do get to showdown our opponents will now be put off balance.  They will be forced to call us down more often because if they don’t adjust we can rob them blind.

The vast majority of players don’t snow enough and some pick some really horrible places to do it.  I’ll highlight some situations were you can pick up lots of chips and confuse your foes on the table. 

Pre-draw when you pick up 4 suited cards.

At first glance you will think 5h6h8h9h is a horrible hand to play in Badugi, but with a little imagination it can still be highly profitable.  

You won’t get 4 cards of the same suit very often so adding them to our snow range will make us much harder to read (because we will be bluffing randomly when we get them).  We also get the added benefit of it being that much harder for our opponents to complete their hand.  Not all of the time but it will still have an effect:

As an example our opponent has Ac3s7d so they are looking for a heart to make a Badugi.  Against a typical opponent he is looking to make a J or better Badugi before he is willing to showdown against a pre-draw pat hand.

Our villan has 10 outs to make a Badugi (the 2h,4h,5h,6h,8h,9h,Th,Jh,Qh,Kh) they will generally discount the Kh & Qh leaving them with 8 outs.  However since we have 4 of their cards in our hand they are now drawing to only 4 outs!

Even if your opponent will chase all 3 draws he will only have a 23% chance of making his hand.  Which means our snow would work 77% of the time.  Usually most opponents will fold if they haven’t hit by the 2^nd draw so that further increases our chance of winning to 84% Only one word is needed to describe this situation & that word is “KERCHING!*”

Against weakness.

Did your opponent just draw 2 cards on the 2^nd draw.  Now is a great time to consider snowing, your opponent is weak, HE knows it, YOU know it.  Lets take this pot down now, stand pat & bet out. Your opponent will almost definitely fold now or after the 3^rd draw.

When not to snow

If there have been re-raises on the 1^st or 2^nd draw your opponent is telling you he likes his hand.  If you were to stand pat on the 3^rd draw & try to steal you will get looked up a lot.

If your opponent ever stands pat & checks the snow attempt is over.  They have made a weak Badugi but are reluctant to fold, just check & showdown remember its good to get caught every once in a while.

As you can see snowing is a very powerful weapon so make sure you add it to your game when you play badugi. 

 * Orginates from north Korea, translates to “make lotto money”

This is the only real Badugi video I could find on the internet.  Stox & Savvy are being very quiet on the issue.

There is a rumour that HUCK SEED stars in this play badugi poker video somewhere but I couldn’t find him and I’ve watched it four times already.

Play Badugi Poker

Heads-up Pots in Badugi

Our last article focused on multi-way hands so this time I’m going to write about the differences in how we’d play hands when the pot gets to be heads-up. I’ll start with an example: We are playing limit Badugi and are on the big blind with the hand Ac3d8s3s:

Situation 1:

The first player to act raises, 3 other people call so we are left with a decision. Our hand is too weak to re-raise and too strong to fold. The pot is offering us great odds so we decide to call. Now for the hard part, how many cards should we draw?

We could drop 2 cards and hope to try and make a nut type hand but that won’t really be necessary to win the pot most of the time. If we are drawing 2 cards it’s even less likely we will make a Badugi with the first draw, which is when our hand will be most valuable. An 8 low Badugi will scope most of the time even multi-way, if you lose its just a little bad variance. So we decide to draw 1 card, hopefully make our hand and win a nice pot.

Situation 2:

The first player to act raises and everyone folds around to you. Now what? Again we are in that situation too weak to re-raise & too strong to fold so again we call.

How many cards should we draw? An 8 high Badugi would win HU most of the time as well but what you should realize is that more often than not a good 3 card Badugi will win in HU situations. A38 has no showdown value HU so this time we will change 2 cards hoping to make a good 3 card hand early. If we don’t then its no huge loss, our implied odds were good but it didn’t work out.

If we are playing PL Badugi situation 2 would be an instant fold since we are showing so much weakness it makes it very easy for the villain in the hand to put pressure on us. Situations like this make for a good snow attempt.

Snowing: This is when a player will stand pat and bluff that they have a made Badugi. There will be an article on snowing in the very near future so stay tuned.

A good friend of mine has asked me to each him how to play Badugi. He is a strong Hold’em player with a couple of years experience but like most when it comes to Badugi he is a little lost.

So far he knows the rules of Badugi and I have given him some guidelines for starting hands. He knows the hand rankings and I have shown him the Badugi software post on here. He has started to play limit Badugi to get a general feel for the game but will be moving on to PL Badugi after he has played a few thousand hands.

I was reviewing a session for him today and noticed a few spots where he wasn’t playing optimally, over the next few posts I will be showing you his mistakes and how you can avoid repeating them.

Badugi Multi-way

In multi-way pots he was often folding reasonable 2 and 3 card hands because he thought being out of position would make him easy to exploit. Well position is very important but what he didn’t realize is he was getting protection from all the added players in the hand. If 4+ players are seeing the first draw its very likely someone will complete a Badugi so it becomes more of a pot odds game.

Multi-way bluffing is much less common because players generally realize someone will complete a Badugi most of the time. Players are much more likely to play in a straight forward manner taking the huge pot odds they are usually offered to try and scope the big pot in front of them.

Good hands to play multi-way that you would not normally play are hands that need to hit to have showdown value. An example would be 854 or 765, as 3 card hands these are trash but if you can get in multi-way their value increases. If you do hit a Badugi make sure you re-raise to protect your hand, now you don’t want it to be multi-way any longer. Scope that pot!

Latter on when my friend switches to PL Badugi he will have to be much more careful about how he plays these hands, in general he would be folding them unless the table is particularly passive pre-flop. Position in PL Badugi is extremely important as now you can actually buy pots & bully the other players.

In the next article I will focus on a few heads-up situations.

I’m often asked how to win at poker or what the difference is between a winning poker player and a losing one. The first answer I always give is often met with confusion and sometimes a little distain.  My answer is of course bankroll management, with no bankroll you are out of the game…. permanently.  As Doyle Brunson writes in super system “You’re broke, you’re done!”

You could be the best poker player in the world, you could be Phil Ivey crushing all the games around you but if you don’t have the skills to manage your poker bankroll you will be broke or even worse you won’t be playing in your most profitable game. Its a fine balance you have to strike and when you mix in games like Badugi or Omaha you have to make sure you are playing within your limits and at your limits.

Poker players generally spread into three groups;

Group A: The porridge is too hot.
The casual players that play for entertainment and to gamble! These players want to win big or go home early, it’s not a bad strategy if you can afford to reload and love the thrill of a big score.

Group B: The porridge is too cold.
The nit, the player that has built up his roll to $5,000 and still plays $5 sit and goes. Sure he wont go broke but he has the bankroll to move up and play $10, $20, $100 sngs. He could be costing himself thousands by not moving up.

Group C: The porridge is jusssssst right!
The guy that gets it just right, or at least most of the time! This player knows when to step up and down, not only is this the best way to improve their game its the fastest way to make the most money!

Here are the basic rules for Poker Bankroll management, before you sit down in any game you should have at least:

If you are coming from a hold’em background these rules might see a bit excessive but you have to factor in the added rounds of betting that Badugi has.

Variance.

It’s a heart breaker and an ass shaker, you will have nights when the cards do not fall your way, being dealt rubbish cards all night long and missing your draws. Not to worry, if you play within our rules you can afford it. You wont tilt off your roll and be stuck playing freerolls until next payday!

On the other hand when you are winning and dancing around your computer at 3am you are able to move up quickly into higher limits, your bankroll will sky rocket and you’ll be sitting on a beach sipping cocktails this time next week.

Adjustments

For short-handed Badugi contrary to logic, your variance actually increases when there are fewer players in the game. A looser style of play also brings higher variance.  If you see a juicy game its ok to take a shot but be careful not to play scared or chase losses if things don’t work out as planned.

Badugi is a new game but the software developers are already out in force (Woohoo!!)  If like me you love analysing your game, checking stats and graphs then I have some great news:

PokerHands www.cartridgesoftware.com 

PokerHands is a poker tracker, that will read your hand historys into a database.  Once in the database this software will enable you to replay hands, create graphs & analyse various aspects of your game.  This software is still under development but Cartridge Software are constantly releasing working beta versions, which are free to download and use.

Features:

• Works with PokerStars, FullTilt & Everest Poker.
• Support for Badugi, 5 Card Draw & Hold’em
• High quality graphs
• Tournament reports
• Session stats
• Starting hand stats
• Heads-up display

Screenshots:

Troutulator www.geocities.com/rubbishcards 

Troutulator is a freeware poker equity simulator that supports the following games:

• Badugi, with multiple draws
• 2-7 Triple Draw, with multiple draws
• 7 Card Stud hi, with hand ranges
• 7 Card Stud hi/lo 8/better, with hand ranges

Screenshots:

AutoHotKey www.overcards.com 

Overcards.com have a stack of scripts available for all forms of poker these are all open source, easy to customise and FREE!.

Features:

• Chip Reloaders
• Smart note taking
• Gamepad support
• Table navigators
• Buddy lists
• Bet timer
• Mouse wheel bet sizing