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teaulc

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    2-7 Triple Draw

    in Poker

    Posted

    2-7 Triple Draw (henceforth called 'Triple Draw' and also known as 'Lowball') is a pretty form of poker where the goal is to make the worst possible five card hand. The game can only be played with a maximum of six players in a hand since there aren't enough cards in the deck to ensure more could be accommodated. Players are dealt five cards and a round of betting occurs. After the first round of betting, players remaining in the hand select the cards they wish to discard and draw new cards. Another round of betting occurs. Players remaining in the hand repeat the discard/draw process for a second time. Another round of betting and then a third draw round (hence the name 'triple draw'). After the third draw, there is a final round of betting. If any players remain in the hand, a showdown occurs. The stakes double after the second betting round much in the same way the stakes double after the turn in a limit hold'em game. So in a $1/$2 game, the bets in the first two rounds are $1 and in the last two rounds are $2. There is a no-limit form of this game in which players are awarded only one draw. That is a very different game from Triple Draw which uses limit betting. This article focuses exclusively on Triple Draw. The best hand in Triple Draw is 23457. The "low" hand you're trying to make in Triple Draw differs from the low hands you make in Razz, Stud Hi/Lo and Omaha Hi/Lo in two ways: •Aces are always high. •Straights and flushes count against your hand. Both of these points should be read and re-read several times if you are new to Triple Draw. The "nut low" in Stud and Omaha hands is A2345 which is known as the "wheel". In Triple Draw, this is not even close to the nut low, but it's technically not awful hand either. Since the Ace is only a high card, you have an Ace low, not a straight. In other words, 2345A is a better hand than 23446 because "Ace low" is lower than a pair of fours. At any rate, neither of these hands are likely to be any good at a showdown.

    It is also important to note that hands are ranked from the highest low card down. For example, 23569 (an "nine low") is not as good as 34568 (an "eight low"). In the event of a tie between two players, you just move onto the next card. So if both players have an "eight low" (a somewhat common occurrence in Triple Draw), you just look to see whose next highest card is lower. For example, 23678 loses to 34568 because the first player has an "eight-seven low" while the next player has an "eight-six low". Got it? Okay, good. Let's move on. Winning Triple Draw Hands Novice Triple Draw players lose money at the game mostly because they fail to understand what makes a good hand, what makes a decent hand, and what makes a bad hand. Any seven low will almost always be a winner. Just remember that 34567 isn't a seven low, it's a straight. An eight low will usually be good enough to win the pot. Nine lows are tricky, sometimes they're enough to win the pot, sometimes they'll lose to a seven low, an eight low, or even a better nine low. A ten low can sometimes be good enough to win. Higher than this (jack low or worse) and you're starting to press your luck. Starting Hands and Position As with any poker game, the importance of the quality of your starting hand depends on position. In early position, you should have a "pat hand" (meaning you don't need to draw any cards because you were dealt a strong hand like a seven low or an eight low) or a hand that is just one card away from being strong. The only discard-two hands that I would raise with from early position are 234, 235, 236, 237, and 238. In late position, the importance of your starting hand goes down considerably. In games that are folded to me on the button, I generally always raise regardless of my cards. Oftentimes, both of the blinds will fold and you'll win the pot right then and there. If one of the blinds call, you've got a couple of things you can do, but we'll get to that in a moment. Position is critical in this game. If you have position on your opponent(s), you get to see how many cards they discard before having to make this decision yourself. This is incredibly valuable. For instance, suppose you haveb.gif92d.gif 72h.gif 52s.gif 32c.gif 22h.gifb.gif, a nine low. If your opponent discards two or more cards, you could consider just standing pat as it's somewhat unlikely they'll draw to a better hand. If they discard just one card, you probably need to ditch the Nine and hope to make a better low. Opponents Since you don't get to see any of your opponents' cards in this poker variant, it's important to learn as much as you can about their play by paying close attention to their showdown hands. Most players play very straight-forward in Triple Draw. This is especially the case in smaller stakes games where players are concerned only with their cards and not with their opponents. Try to figure out if your opponents are aggressive or passive and whether or not they always play straight-forward or are capable of running bluffs. Also take note of what hands they're taking to the showdown. Are they betting or calling bets with a jack low? Are they "just" check-calling with an eight low? If so, they probably don't have a very good understanding of hand values which is something you can exploit. Bad Players Bad players are clueless and will probably keep calling bets and drawing even when it's obvious to everyone that they've got a slim chance of winning the pot. The name of the game is simple against these players: make a good hand and then punish them with value bets while they try to chase a better hand. Don't even bother trying to bluff them as they'll never fold. Straight-Forward Players These players are plentiful and easy to profit from. All these players are concerned with is making a good low that they can take to a showdown. This is highly exploitable. For example, say an aggressive but straight-forward player raises in the cut-off when you are in the button. Sometimes (not always) it can be smart to re-raise these players. The plan is to stand pat and keep betting trying to represent a made hand. This is called "snowing". If they discard two cards on the first draw, this plan has a pretty good chance of working by forcing them to fold at some point in the hand. If they discard just one card, they are pretty likely to make a strong hand at some point. You can counter this by discarding one yourself and seeing what they do on the second draw. If they stand pat, you're toast. The jig is up. Discard however many you need to in hopes of fluking your way into a strong hand and be prepared to fold when they lead out during the next betting round. However, if they discard one card again, you can stand pat representing that you got the card you wanted on the last draw. When they check, bet. They'll either fold or call. If they call, it's the same routine again on the third draw. You just have to hope they don't draw a card good enough to make them want to look you up on the showdown, but chances are they won't. Note that "snowing" works a lot better with hands like 55668 where you hold a lot of their outs. Advanced Players You won't run into too many of these types unless you're playing for higher stakes. These players realize what not many do: that Triple Draw is less about the cards than everyone thinks. You have to be careful against these players because they are capable of running bluffs and representing strong hands. Advanced players also commonly check-raise for value on the last betting round when they draw to a strong hand. This is why I stronglyrecommend checking behind on most rivers unless you've got a monster (a seven low or an eight low). When you hold something like a ten low, your opponent either made a better hand on the third draw or he didn't. If he did, he might very well check hoping to check-raise. If he didn't, he's not going to call your bet anyway. In other words, there's really no value in betting on the last betting round with a beatable hand like a ten low because rarely is someone going to call you with a hand that cannot beat yours. Bluffing and Value-Betting You can win a lot of pots by bluffing in Triple Draw, especially in pots being contested between just you and one other player. For example, let's say you're out of position on the final betting round. You draw one card and your opponent draws one card. You pair an Eight so your hand is worthless. Bet! Chances are your opponent didn't catch a very good card either so they might just fold. Anytime you're out of position when the draw is one-card, one-card on the third draw, I would bet with strong hands and total garbage and check-call with mediocre hands like King-low. Unless your opponent is super passive and never going to bet unless they filled up a monster on the end. In this case, you should bluff with a wider range and check-call with a smaller range. A common situation in Triple Draw is when a player stands pat on the second draw and checks to you after you also stood pat. I think you should almost always bet in this situation. One of two things will be the case: you'll have a really strong hand that you should bet anyway or you'll have something that you're not sure whether or not is good (a bad eight low, a nine low or maybe a ten low). By betting with these hands, you're representing a strong hand. There are two benefits to this: a.) you might actually be able to get your opponent to fold or call and then discard one and b.) you set up an easy check-behind on the river. Some players will stand pat after the second draw with something like a ten low. When they see their opponent stand pat and bet, they might think, "damn, this guy must have a better hand than me, I better [fold or call and ditch the ten]". Either one of those things is great for you especially if you're holding something like a worse ten low!

    8 Game Thread

    in Poker

    Posted

    In the past year or so, a new form of mixed game poker has become increasingly popular. Called "8-Game", this form of poker rotates between eight different poker variants: no-limit hold'em, pot-limit Omaha, 2-7 triple draw, and then the five HORSE variants (Limit Hold'em, Limit Omaha Hi/Lo, Razz, Stud, and Stud Hi/Lo Eight or Better). This game has surpassed the formerly-popular mixed game HORSE because, frankly, it's less boring. With HORSE, every game is played with limit-betting rules. After a while, this just becomes mundane. Players like more action. With 8-Game, you grind through six rounds of limit-betting and then get two variants where fortunes can change hands on a single pot (no-limit hold'em and PLO). As evidence that 8-Game has surpassed HORSE in terms of popularity, the WSOP dropped their $50k buy-in HORSE event and replaced it with a $50k buy-in "Player's Championship" 8-Game event in 2010. As players get more and more proficient at no-limit hold'em, I expect 8-Game to only increase in popularity. Online players are growing tired of no-limit hold'em since there aren't as many bad players anymore. 8-Game should serve to rejuvenate online poker to some degree by giving players a new challenge and keeping things fresh by mixing up the poker variant every few hands. 8-Game Facts Most 8-Game tables feature only six players. This is because only six players can participate in a single hand of 2-7 Triple Draw. Some live poker 8-Game tournaments, such as the WSOP Player's Championship, has eight players to a table. When Triple Draw is being played, the first two players to the left of the big blind simply sit out the hand. The presence of 2-7 Triple Draw forcing games to be played six-handed means the other seven variants are pretty action-packed. Generally, Stud variants are played with 8 players. In online 8-Game tables, there's only six to a table during all variants meaning the action is pretty intense during all forms of poker since you're essentially playing short-handed for every game except Triple Draw.

    8-Game Strategy Before diving into an 8-Game table, ask yourself how much experience you have in each variant. If you have outright never even played some of them, I would strongly encourage you to play at least several hundred hands of that form of poker before trying an 8-Game table. The decisions you make in a six (or fewer) player Stud game can sometimes be pretty difficult. If you have no experience some of the variants, you're probably going to bleed chips hand over fist. Learn the basics first by playing long-handed versions of the games you're less experienced at before trying to play these games with just a few players. We have basic strategy articles for all of the variants played in 8-Game, so try to polish up on each variant first before testing your skills in a mixed game setting. Mixed games require a certain level of proficiency in and of themselves. Not only do you need to be competent in eight different forms of poker, but you also need to be able to shift in and out of strategies for different variants. On one hand, you need to be in "Omaha Hi/Lo mode" and be able to drop that and go into "7 Card Stud" mode in a matter of seconds. These quick transitions can tend to be overwhelming to new poker players, so again, I would strongly recommend gaining proficiency at each individual game before trying to play a mixed game format. When you do decide to play mixed game format, start out by playing smaller stakes than you think you're comfortable with. In other words, if you feel okay playing $1/$2 Limit Hold'em, you probably shouldn't start out by playing $1/$2 8-Game. Try the $0.25/$0.50 tables first until you get a feel for what it's like to switch between variants. Buy-In Strategy So you're going to sit at an 8-Game table. How much should you buy-in for? The maximum buy-in is usually the equivalent of 100 big blinds for whatever the big-blind in NLHE and PLO is. If an 8-Game table is advertised as $1/$2, the maximum buy-in will probably be $50 because the blinds in NLHE and PLO are $0.25/$0.50. Whether or not you buy-in for the maximum depends on how you feel about your NLHE and PLO skills. If you think you are a fairly weak player at NLHE and/or PLO, consider buying in for a smaller amount. By doing so, you'll keep your decisions in your "weak" game easier because you'll be playing them on a short stack. NLHE and PLO are considerably easier games when you have 20-40 big blinds rather than 100+ big blinds. Competition and Practice Let's suppose you feel pretty strong in six of the games played in 8-Game, mediocre in one of them, and pretty bad in one of them. At smaller stakes, this level of ability could still very well be enough to be a winner in 8-Game. At no-limit hold'em tables, pretty much everyone is fairly decent nowadays even at smaller stakes. In 8-Game, some players are just completely clueless in several of the variants. This is probably because they didn't follow my advice of gaining proficiency in each game before trying to play 8-Game. If you can learn strong fundamentals in each of the eight poker variants played in 8-Game, you stand to make a lot of money on account of the fact that some of your opponents will just be downright clueless at times. So if you feel good about your decisions in seven games and not so good about one game, don't sweat it too much. This probably puts you ahead of the curve in the smaller stakes action. PLO 2-7 Triple Draw NLHE Stud Games Limit Hold'em Omaha Hi/Lo The reason i think polishing up on your PLO skills is most important is because more money changes hands in this game than any other game (except maybe NLHE). With NLHE, most people probably already know what they're doing. However, many players who are strong in NLHE still have a fair amount of weaknesses in PLO. For this reason, you can expect PLO to be your most profitable game in the 8-Game mix if you are a really good player. By the same logic, 2-7 Triple Draw could be your second most profitable, etc. The reason Omaha Hi/Lo is listed last is because it's a split pot game that is fairly straight-forward. In other words, even a bad Omaha Hi/Lo player probably won't lose too much in this game since the pots are split and decisions are fairly simple.

    5 Card Draw Strategy

    in Poker

    Posted

    Five card draw poker like most poker games is one of strategy. There are two main aspects to this online poker strategy: selecting which cards to change and bluffing. In online poker, five card draw poker is a fast paced game where anything can happen. Of all the other online poker games, five card draw poker requires the most concentration and discipline. The key to five card draw poker strategy is trying to calculate what your opponent has and how strong your hand is given that. You may have absolutely nothing but that may prove to be a winning hand especially if he misses what he was trying to make. Because of an information gap, five card draw poker is not a game for the faint-hearted. If you are raised you need to be prepared to make that call. This information gap may confuse online poker players who are more used to playing Texas Holdem or Omaha. Otherwise the best five card draw strategy is to go by your instincts of what your opponent does and by what he has done in the past. If he is prone to bluffing take that into consideration. In which situations does he typically fold? What does he feel about you? Changing your cards :: The biggest decision you are going to make in five card draw poker is which cards to change. After all, this will change your cards from a hand of nothing into something great. Different to any other type of internet poker, five card draw poker challenges you unlike no other game and your online poker strategy here is vital to giving you a decent hand. Once you are dealt your five cards you will have the option to change as many of them as you want. This is when it starts to get tricky. You have to make a decision about changing your five card draw poker cards Is it worthwhile going for the flush or are you better off trying to get two pair of three of a kind? These are the types of questions you are going to have to ask yourself. Some of the decisions when it comes to changing your five card draw poker cards are a bit more obvious. Such as being dealt two pair and swapping one card to try to complete the full house. Or having a pair and trying to improve it by changing three cards. Some of them are a little bit less such as if you are dealt three of a kind which card are you then going to swap? You have to rely on your online poker strategy to guide you through this and help you make the right decision. As you will find out, Five Card Draw Poker is an all or nothing game. It tests you like no other online poker can or does. If you are looking for a gut-shot straight draw and you miss it, you have absolutely nothing which doesn’t really leave you with much. But then again your opponent doesn’t know that and you could bluff. Bluffing :: If you want success in five card draw poker you need to have Five Card Draw Poker bluffing down pat. This is due to the fact that a winning Five Card Draw poker hand here could be as low as a pair of 2’s. You never know what the winning hand is going to be and that is where online poker strategy comes into play. Like all online poker games, an integral part of five card draw poker is bluffing and you need to master this if you are to have any chance of success. But if you are going to attempt Five Card Draw Poker bluffing you have to do it right otherwise you risk big losses. How to bluff in Five Card Draw Poker In five card draw poker you have three pieces of information from which to ascertain what the other player might have. The initial bet, the amount of cards they swap and the final bet. Any or each of those may be a bluff. One of the favored tricks when it comes to Five Card Draw Poker bluffing is not to take any cards. This gives the other players the impression that you have a great hand. On the other hand if you are bluffing you need to be careful because players are very wary of this tactic and may have no qualms in calling you. What does online poker strategy say to do in this instance? It says to make the right play. Of course you may wish to bluff the other way to convince the other your hand isn’t as good as it really is. You may have four of a kind and by taking one card doesn’t give your online poker opponent much of a clue of what you have. You could have been trying to complete your straight or full house. Don't be too obvious when you bluff and mix things around so your opponent isn't sure of when you are bluffing and when you aren't.

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