Pot Limit Badugi
Optimizing your PL Badugi strategy requires a thorough understanding of the Pot Limit betting structure. You need to be good at determining the size of the pot under all circumstances, and you need to be able to shoot out a pot-size bet within seconds if required. If you play online, the computer will do the calculus for you though, and it will set the maximum amount you can bet for you, so that should make it much easier. Make sure you do know the rules involved in the PL betting structure because otherwise not only will you not understand why you can bet as much as you can, you’ll fail to foresee the consequences of your actions too.
Best Pot Limit Badugi Action at Carbon Poker
In theory, Pot Limit betting should be somewhere between NL and FL and it is. The only problem is, it’s not in the middle of the spectrum, rather it’s much closer to the NL structure.
In order to understand the PL structure, you need to be the master of both the NL and the FL variants. FL poker is a mathematical odds-based game, while NL poker is based on the implied odds. It‘s easy to see why that’s the case. Here’s an example to make you understand just where PL stands on the scale between FL and NL.
Suppose four players go to the third street of a FL poker game. With only one of them doing the betting and the other 3 guys calling all along, the pot odds on a 3rd street bet will be 5-1. This is not bad at all, though if a raise or two are dropped along the way, the pot odds can climb as high as 10-1and that’s nothing short of excellent. This is why it’s so tough to force a player to fold in FL.
In NL, with the same blinds and considering the maximum buy-in, one can bet all his stack into the pot, which means that the pot odds on the third betting round can be as low as 1-1.
In a PL game, considering the same scenario, players would get around 2-1 pot odds on the third betting round. That comes to show that PL is much closer to NL odds-wise. What this means to you is that you need to place a much bigger stress on your implied odds than on your strictly mathematical odds.
Best Pot Limit Badugi Action at Carbon Poker
Pot control becomes one of the most important strategy elements in PL Badugi. What you need to understand is that a very small early move on your part can have a humongous fallout later in the hand. Very small bets fired out early on can change the entire balance of the hand. If you check on one betting round, you’ll dramatically limit the amount of money your opponent can shove into the pot, and thus you can control his ability to influence the pot odds. If you decide to bet, you give up control and you give your opponent the means to deliver a much bigger bet.
This same thing can work vice-versa too though. When you happen to land a monster hand, you need to maximize the pot size. You can achieve that in a very subtle manner by “opening the door”, that is by firing out a small bet which achieves two things: it tells your opponent that you’re weak, and it offers them the possibility to maximize their bet, thus effectively tightening the noose around their own necks.
Remember though: when you open that door, it’ll open both ways, so make sure you have the goods to face down whatever treads though it. As far as the poker rake is concerned, PL Badugi shouldn’t be any different from FL or NL. You will end up generating about the same amount of rake. Players will probably rack up more in a shorter amount of time than in FL, but in FL most players’ bankrolls will last longer than in NL or PL and that tips the balance the other way in the long-run. At the end of the day, the amount of rake you generate will depend on the blind levels you play at.
