The games · Coolhand Poker

Badugi

Four cards and three swap rounds. The lowest hand with four different ranks and four different suits takes the pool, and aces count low.

18+ · Nothing to win but the hand.

Players: 2 to 6
Family: Draw
App: Coolhand Poker · iOS and Android, soon

How it goes

You want low cards, and you want no two alike. You're dealt four cards face down and aim for four different suits and four different ranks, as low as possible. Aces are low, so ace-two-three-four in four suits is the best hand. You get three swaps. Before each one there's a round of offers: put tokens in the pool, match what someone else put in, or pass. After the third swap there's one more round, then the reveal. The lowest hand takes the pool.

A good hand

Only cards with their own rank and their own suit count. A card that shares a rank or suit with another doesn't. So four cards in four suits beats any three-card hand, however low the three are. Between two hands of the same size, compare the highest card first, then the next one down; the lower hand wins. Ace-two-three-four in four suits can't be beaten. First get four cards that all count, then make them low.

The usual mistake

Keeping a card that matches another in rank or suit. Only one of a matching pair can count, so the second is dead weight and holds you to three cards. Swap it, even if it's low. A three-card hand loses to every four-card hand, however ugly the four.

Played differently where you are?

Card games change from table to table, and we researched some of these games instead of playing them. If Badugi goes differently where you play it, tell us. That's one of the things the closed beta is for.

The closed beta is by invitation. How to ask to join.