[Tom Bayes]

1) Does it matter if you have 3 different suits or 2, or is the only thing that matters is total baduginess (strangely worded I know). I.e. does A [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]2 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]3 [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]4 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] beat a [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]2 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]3 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]5 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]?

My badugi experience is limited to lowstakes play on Doyle's Room, but the number of suits does matter. If no one has a 4-suit badugi, then the best 3-suit badugi wins. In your example the second player's A [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]2 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]3 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (with the nut 3-suit hand) beats the first player who only has A [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]2 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (the best 2-suit hand). In fact, even a hand like K [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] Q [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] J [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] would beat A [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] 2 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]. My understanding is that the rules of this game are not standardized, so this might not be true in some games.

2) How should one play a hand like T [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]J [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]Q [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]K [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]? Should I be looking to fold or get aggressive quickly and try to win the pot immediately ( I imagine the former in a full game and the latter in a short game ).

In the small stake limit and half-pot limit games I've played in, many players never fold until the final draw. This hand would be junk in a game like that and I'd just muck. I'd imagine this hand would have some value in a tighter pot-limit game (i.e. a game where people will fold to a big bet) but strikes me as a hand you want to play fast so that you win the pot without getting to the 2nd and 3rd draws. The longer people stay in, the more you'll hate this hand. You certainly don't want to take your chances showing this hand down.


3) Any good resources out there?

I think this forum is about it. I know of no books or decent websites covering this game. I think the badugi specialists (if there are such people) and the good mixed-games players like it this way. Almost no one knows how to play (I"m certainly in this group) and they can't buy the playbook for $20 or Google it for free. Triple draw used to be this way, but Negreanu wrote the SSII chapter on it.