BADUGI RULES & HOW TO PLAY

 

Badugi Hand Rankings

Play begins by all players being dealt four cards. Badugi’s hand ranking system is rather unique. The objective is to obtain the lowest unpaired rainbow hand (a hand with all four suits). The hand rankings may be divided into two sections: 

1.      Four card hands, known as a Badugi, and

2.      Valid three card hands and below.  

A Badugi comprises of all four cards being of different rank and suit. The player with the lowest Badugi will win the pot (meaning the A234r is the nuts). 

You may also win the pot with valid hands. These arise when a player’s hand meets one or more of these constraints: 

1.      A player has two cards of the same rank.

For example, a player has A233r, their hand will be A23r. The paired card is omitted from showdown. 

2.      A player has two cards of the same suit.

Likewise for cards of same suit, if a player has 3♦ 4♥ 5♠ 8♠, their hand will be 3♦ 4♥ 5♠. The highest suited card will be omitted from showdown. 

A Badugi (I.e. a four-card hand) will always beat a three-card hand. Likewise, a three-card hand will always beat a two-card hand and so on. 

Hands of equal cards (I.e.: a Badugi vs a Badugi) will be ranked by the highest card in their respective hand. For example, if we have A25Jr vs  3456r, the first hand will read as a Jack-low Badugi, and the second a 6-low Badugi – since a 6 ranks lower than a Jack, the 6-low wins the pot. 

In the event that two players have the same low, for example: A239r vs 3479r, the next lowest card in the hand is compared. So, in our example, both players have a 9-low and so we must compare the next lowest card. Since the first player has a 93-low and the second a 97-low, the player with the A239r will win the pot. 

This pattern continues until a winner is determined. In the event that both players hold the exact same rankings, for example: 2345r vs 2345r, the pot will be split evenly between those players.  

First casino opens its doors in Soc hi gaming zone

The Black Sea resort of Soc hi has welcomed its first casino. Is this the start of a thaw within the Russian government towards new opportunities in the casino gambling landscape?

[dropcap]T[/drop cap]he first casino in So chi's designated gambling zone, on the Russian Black Sea coast, held its official opening on 5 January, according to Russian Government-owned media sources, following the pre-opening of the parlour on 24 December.

“Sochi Casino and Resort is a project with a unique concept for Russia in the spirit of the best casinos of Las Vegas,” said the operators, Domain LLC, in a statement.바둑이게임

“[It] is the first entertainment complex of a global scale located on the territory of the year-round mountain resort Gorky Good.”

Set in a reconstructed Olympic media center, the redevelopment was carried out by US-based Steel man Carters, who have previously  managed projects in both Las Vegas and Macau.

The new resort includes a casino with 70 gaming tables and 569 slots, two restaurants, a cabaret theatre, nine bars, in addition to boutiques.

With the parlour able to accomodate 2000 guests at a time, it is expected that over 40,000 people will visit the entertainment complex every month, while the first poker tournament in Sochi is scheduled for 20 January, reports the Russian news agency Interfax.

TOURISM TRAFFIC INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY DURING THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS AND THE DEMAND FOR HOLIDAYS IN RUSSIA AND PARTICULARLY IN SOCHI IS VERY HIGH

The head of Russia’s Federal Tourism Agency, Evgeniy Kudelya, suggests that Sochi’s gambling area will help address the issue of fluctuation in seasonal demand facing the region’s tourism industry.

“Tourism traffic increased significantly during the last several years and the demand for holidays in Russia and particularly in Sochi is very high,” Kudelya told Russian news agency TASS last month.

“[Casinos] will make a major contribution to the solution of the off-season problem. Despite the fact that Sochi is the most popular and one of the best resort [areas in Russia], we have the off-season curve and it should be smoothed out.”

Opening of the casino and related infrastructure will provide new jobs for Krasnaya Polyana mountain settlement and extra revenues for Sochi and regional budgets, Kudelya added.

Commentators suggest that the new gaming zone could benefit from tourism from a number of nearby states where gambling is prohibited, including Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Israel, provided sufficient investment is made in developing the venue’s public profile.

Founded in 2015, by Mihail Danilov, Domain LLC expects to pay off its substantial 4bn rubles (€63m) investment within three years and also predicts that turnover from the casino will reach 4.6bn rubles in 2017, to be followed by significant growth over the next two years.

It was late in August last year that Russia’s prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev, signed off on the establishment of the gaming zone in Sochi.

Around the same time, the government also announced it would be shutting down the Azov City gaming zone by 2019, leaving Sochi as the only gambling zone in the Krasnodar region, a move which drew the ire of investors.