Also sometimes known as Padooki, Badougi is a four card ace-to-five low lowball variant where traditional poker hand rankings are changed. A Badougi is a four card hand where all the cards are of different ranks and suits. Any cards which match another card in rank or suit does not play and the first criteria for evaluating hands is the number of cards which are playing. The following is the ranking of several example of hands from best to worst:
Ace of spades, 2 of clubs, 3 of hearts, 4 of diamonds: 4 card 4 high best possible Badougi
4 of spades, 6 of hearts, 8 of diamonds, J of clubs: 4 card J high Badougi
Ten of clubs, J of hearts, Q of Diamonds, K of hearts: 4 card worst possible Badougi
Ace of hearts, Ace of diamonds, 4 of clubs, 5 of spades: 3 card hand, 5 high
Ace of clubs, Ace of spades, 4 of spades, 6 of spades: 2 card hand, 4 high
One of the most popular games in Australian casinos is a Texas hold ‘em variant called “Manila” (also called “Seven-up” in some places). It is played with a Stripped deck in which all cards below the rank of 7 are removed (leaving 32 cards). Each player is dealt two private cards, and a single community card is dealt face up, followed by the first betting round. Then a second community card is followed by a second round, a third community card and a third round, and fourth community card and a fourth round, and finally a fifth community card, fifth betting round, and showdown. On showdown, unlike Texas hold ‘em (and more like Omaha), each player makes the best hand he can from both of his hole cards with exactly three of the five community cards.
Because of the stripped deck, a flush beats a full house. Also, an ace may not be played low for a straight (that is, the hand A-7-8-9-10 is not a straight in Manila). Manila and its variants are rarely played high-low split (in fact, very few stripped deck games are ever played low).
Common variations involve dealing three cards to each player, one of which can either be discarded at some point (like Pineapple, above), or else held to the end, but maintaining the requirement that each player play exactly two of his own cards with exactly three of the board. The three-card variant is sometimes played with 6s being restored to the deck, making it 36 cards.
Probably starting about the time of World War II, many modern poker games used community cards (also called “shared cards” or “widow cards”), which are cards dealt face up to the center of the table and shared by all players. In these games, each player is dealt privately an incomplete hand (“hole cards”), which is then combined with the community cards to make a complete hand. The set of community cards is called the “board” or the “widow”, and may be dealt in a simple line or arranged in a special pattern; rules of each game determine how they may be combined with each player’s private hand.
The canonical community card game today is probably Texas hold ‘em (and variants thereof), originating sometime in the 1920s. That game is described in great detail in its own article, while most of the descriptions below are brief and refer to that more detailed article (a few other games merit their own article as well, such as Omaha hold’em).
In home games, it is typical to use antes, while casinos typically use only blinds for these games. Fixed limit games are most common in casinos, while spread limit games are more common in home games. No limit and pot limit games are less common, but some games play particularly well with those structures. As with stud poker, later betting rounds often have a higher limit than earlier betting rounds. Each betting round begins with the player to the dealer’s left (when blinds are used, the first round begins with the player after the big blind), so community card games are generally positional games.
Most community card games do not play well with lowball hand values, though some do play very well at high-low split, especially with ace-to-five low values, making it possible to win both halves of a pot. When played high-low split, there is generally a minimum qualifying hand for low (often 8-high), and it is played cards speak.
Poker is a card game, the most popular of a class of games called vying games, in which players with fully or partially concealed cards make wagers into a central pot, which is awarded to the remaining player or players with the best combination of cards. Poker can also refer to video poker which is a single-player game seen in casinos much like a slot machine.
In order to play, one must learn the basic rules and procedures of the game, the values of the various combinations of cards , and the rules about betting limits. Some knowledge of the equipment used to play is useful. There are also many variants of poker, loosely categorized as draw poker, stud poker, community card poker (a.k.a. “widow game”), and miscellaneous poker games. The most commonly played games of the first three categories are five-card draw, seven-card stud, and Texas hold ‘em, respectively; each being a common starting point for learning games of the type. Dealer’s choice is a way to play poker where the dealer chooses what type of poker to play.
A game of Texas hold ‘em in progress. “Hold ‘em” is currently the most popular form of poker.
References
Brunson, Doyle (1979). Doyle Brunson’s Super System, Cardoza. ISBN 1580420818.
Sklansky, David (1989). The Theory of Poker (3rd Ed), Two Plus Two Publications. ISBN 1880685000.
Vorhaus, John (2002). Killer Poker, Lyle Stuart. ISBN 0818406305.
Ernest, James; Selinker, Mike; Foglio, Phil (2005). Dealer’s Choice: The Complete Handbook of Saturday Night Poker, Overlook Press. ISBN 1585676543.
Caro, Mike (1978). Caro’s Book of Poker Tells, Cardoza. ISBN 1580420826.
A game of Texas hold ‘em in progress. “Hold ‘em” is currently the most popular form of poker.