The most popular game in East TN is no limit Cougar. Yep, that's what we call it here because we are rednecks, and Badugi just sounds too foreign to us. I'm sure other areas may have a different name for the same game. Some people would say No Limit takes the skill out of the game, and those people would be wrong. Why?
Poker is a game of information. Most popular games have board cards and hidden hole cards which creates a blend of exposed and unknown cards. No Limit Cougar is the most pure form of gambling because all the hole cards are hidden and there are no community cards. This forces players to make decisions based on their hole cards, body language, and the way players bet.
The difference between Cougar and omaha is that a player can start off with the worst possible hand KKKK and draw 4cards and make the A234 wheel which is the best possible hand. When a player has 7263 he/she has 0% of making a royal flush in omaha.
If you have tested No Limit Cougar and have played enough of it then you would probably agree that there is skill in it and an enormous amount of gamble. Let me know if you have played this format and if you think it is a game that could catch on. If you haven't played No Limit Badugi, your opinion on whether or not it is a good game wouldn't be worth much. Leave your predisposition behind, and test it! It is a fun game to play and has characteristics gamblers enjoy. If you made it this far, thank you for reading my post.

In limit you dont have the odds in a single raised pot to call turn if opponent is pat. If you are supposed to play this game correct no limit is a horrible format for it IMO. I wish I could play this game live no limit though. Just play it like a nit and win(lol at drawing 4 btw).

I would also like to know why the name "Cougar" was chosen.

I don't know why "Cougar" was specifically chosen, but I can ask some of the old timers when I am at the tables.
Playing it like a nit is one option.
I tend to wait for A2, A3, and 23 in the hole or any three cards 6 or less.

Is it played single draw or triple draw? Obviously there are some nl single draw games that have been popular at times.

If the old timers hate to fold predraw, this will probably make a lot of money. Although in EP, the 2-cards can be tricky. If the game has a lot of ppl opening near the button, I would be more likely to fold these (and maybe even 65x) since your chances of big implied odds go down unless you guys are ridiculously deep.

I'd assume triple since I have never heard badugi played any other way.

we call in paduka in SC, have played it 300/600 limit here on rare occasions but never no limit seems fascinating. please post some hands

We play triple draw, and the pots can get huge.

This is one of the few games that you can have your opponent drawing so slim and absolutely know it. 6's and 7's are what takes down most pots. If I have a 7 Dugi and my opponent is drawing at me, 7 - 3 = 4 outs at best and 3 outs if I have a 7 nothing or I am holding one of the suits he needs. Even an 8 has people drawing slim.
NL is a different game because people manipulate the bets and all in is an option that very common to hear.
People get hooked after they take down a couple huge pots.

I would suggest keep NL Paduka blinds consistent with NL Holdem/ Omaha blinds. The game creates bigger pots and more rake for the house than holdem by far.

This true if they are never bluffing. I think Cougar would be interesting.

It might be interesting with very good/optimal players, but the bluffing/betting light hands frequency has to increase significantly for people to call future draws properly.

Generally, if I am playing badugi in this format (never have; likely never will), I'm looking for stations I could exploit the hell out of.

There was a 5/10/25 3game mix at the Beau tonight with plo8 plot and Nl badugi

Seems like you could play this game in a Move of Honor manner and profit.

What's plot?

What's Move of Honor?

BTW, OP, I never heard of badugi or triple draw being played fixed limit until the internet came along. They are bot perfect games to play pot limit with big stacks.

Badugi, then called padooki, used to sneak in the Tunica mixed games in the 90s. They would play with 2-5 blinds and 5-10 blinds, and there would be 6 figures on the table--all of it in play.

When internet poker was new, the Move of Honor was open-shoving with AA and reliably getting called by worse often enough to make it better than any other play.

Open shove any badugi you don't fold, open-shove ABC, probably get called by worse.

Amazingly enough, this move still works occasionally at the Rio...

I played in the mix game at the Beau, and we are playing PL Badugi, not NL Cougar lol