Deuce to Seven Triple Draw

An introduction to 2-7 Triple Draw by Hugo Martin...

By Hugo Martin 14 September 2007

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If you’re looking for action then 2-7 triple draw is your game. Basically it’s draw lowball with three changes. Mostly it tends to be a limit game with the betting limits doubling from the second draw onwards, although on PokerStars they do spread pot limit and no limit (these are low limit games though –no bigger than .25c/.50c blinds with a max buy-in of $50). Like Holdem and Omaha there is a small blind and a big blind. It is also always played six handed – I have played in seven handed games, but then you end up re-shuffling the discards a lot which is kind of a drag.

The best hand is 2-3-4-5-7 (this is also known as a wheel, even though it’s a different hand than what is more commonly known as a wheel in games like Omaha 8 and Stud 8 – confusing, eh?) with straights and flushes counting against you. Note that aces are high. If you end up with A-2-3-4-5 this would not be a straight, but ace high and would beat any other ace high hand, though of course it would lose to a king low (i.e. K-7-4-3-2).

The key card in this game is the deuce. It’s impossible to make a 7 without a deuce – all you clever clogs are now saying, “What about 3-4-5-6-7? That hasn’t got a deuce in it”. Well, yes, it doesn’t have a deuce in it, but it’s also a straight which, as we all know by now, is no good - if some poor slob ends up with trips in his hand he would beat that 7 high straight. In fact, there are only four 7s you can make (2-3-4-5-7, 2-3-4-6-7, 2-3-5-6-7, 2-4-5-6-7) so if you ever make one of these hands, raise it up baby! Also, this should help you see how the deuce is such a crucial card.

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Starting Hands

Before the first draw the sorts of hands you want to be playing are good one card or two card draws to 7s and 8s. Pretty much all the one card draws merit raising and re-raising although you want to be careful with straight draws such as 3-4-5-6, 4-5-6-7, 4-5-6-8, 2-3-4-6 and so on. Notice that these hands all contain a 6 which can be a pesky card.

All of your good two card draws should be played aggressively too. By good two card draws I mean hands like 2-3-4, 2-3-5, 2-3-7, 2-4-5, 2-4-7, 2-5-7. Notice that not only do they all contain the ever important deuce, but they also all let you hit a card to make a one card draw that is not a straight draw. One thing you should also be trying to do is to draw upwards – that is, draw to small cards rather than the bigger cards i.e. 2-3-4 is a better hand to have than 2-3-7 in the sense that if you hit an 8 after the first draw with the 2-3-4 you are drawing smooth whereas with the 2-3-7 you would now be drawing to an 8-7 which can lose to many other 8s. Obviously this does not mean that 2-3-7 is no good, it’s just something that is worth being aware of.

The good three card 8s all contain a deuce (2-3-8, 2-4-8, 2-5-8) and can be played aggressively too. Daniel Negreanu, whose chapter on 2-7 in Super System 2 is well worth reading if you’re looking for something more in-depth than this article, warns against the 6 in these three card 8 scenarios (notice I didn’t include 2-6-8 in the list above and neither does he).


Position is Key

Now we all know position is a big deal in all the variants of poker and 2-7 is no exception. Being able to see how many cards your opponents are drawing is absolutely huge, so it’s important that you don’t get out of line when playing in early position. By that I mean that if you find yourself limping under the gun and then calling a raise and then changing three cards, you are playing badly.

Here’s a more realistic scenario – an UTG player limps and you raise on the button with 2-3-4-8. Both blinds fold and the UTG player calls and draws one card. You also draw one card. He checks and you look at your hand to see you have paired your 8. You bet and he folds. Let’s look at it from your opponent’s point of view and imagine that he also paired up. It’s possible he even had a better draw than you, but the trouble is that because he is out of position he has no idea whether you are still betting a strong one card draw or if you have now made your hand. For the second draw he has to change (let’s just rule out for the moment that he could stand pat and represent a made hand) and essentially he has to make some sort of hand. Once you see him still drawing one card you could stand pat and even if he makes a 10 or a 9 he will feel like that’s not strong enough.

Let’s carry on with this same coup and say your opponent has come out betting with a hand like 9-8-7-6-3 after the second draw. You have carried on drawing one card to your 2-3-4-8 and after the second draw you hit a 10. You can raise here and possibly get your opponent to break his 9 (with one draw left and against one player any pat Jack or better is a favourite over any one card draw). From his point of view he has to be thinking about what hands he can beat; you could easily be raising with a smooth 9 or better in this spot, so it’s tough for him to make the right play of calling and standing pat with his rough 9. He has to think about the fact that if he stands pat and then you stand pat he most likely has the worst hand. If he re-raises, you can be assured that he has a real hand and you can call and draw to your smooth 8. Thus the power of position.

Here’s another example of the flexibility that having position gives you. UTG limps and you raise with 2-3-4-X-X. The big blind decides to call as well as the UTG player. They both change one card and you take two. It’s going to be a blue moon on a Sunday before one of these two players bets into you. As you were the aggressor before the draw they will naturally check to you with the expectation that it is quite likely you will bet. You are now free to bet with any made hands or good one card draws that you pick up. If you have completely whiffed (maybe you drew two kings or something like that) it’s easy to check and get the free change.

On the whole you want to be betting anytime you are a card ahead of your opponents i.e. they are drawing two and you are drawing one. Basically you want to have a good one card draw after the first draw. Unless the pot is huge you shouldn’t really be cold-calling two bets and changing two, especially if you are out of position and your opponents are standing pat. If you find yourself calling raises and changing two or more on the third change there’s a good chance you are playing poorly.

As I have already said if you make a 7 just go for it and jam the pot with raises. If you have no.2 (2-3-4-6-7) and lose to no.1 (2-3-4-5-7), what can I say except that’s poker. If you make an 8 you are going to stand pat and bet your hand. As you get more experienced at the game and work out your opponents’ tendencies you will know when you should be breaking your 8s. I am talking about rough 8s here such as 8-7 or 8-7-6. What about whether to draw to an 8 or try and go for the wheel? The more opponents you have then the more you should try to aim for a 7. In other words, your hand is 2-3-7-8-K and you’re up against three opponents, two of whom are drawing one. This might be a good spot to draw two.

What about when you make 9s, 10s or even Js? A pat Jack is a 55% favourite over any draw on the last change, so ideally you want to make your 9s, 10s and Js in position and be heads-up. If you are out of position then you should still draw a card – after all, you have no idea whether he’s going to rap pat or change. A pat 9 is a 42% favourite over two players with one card draws going into the last draw. This doesn’t mean you should bet on the end though if they both check to you. After all, if you get check-raised how good do you think your 9 is now? Of course if you have opponents who readily pay you off with rough 9s and 10s or worse then go ahead and bet. As usual it comes down to knowing what sort of hands your foes are willing to call bets with on the end.

Snowing

Snowing refers to when you see many key cards pass through your hand which enable you to bluff more easily. For instance, before the first draw your hand is 2-2-3-7-7. You raise and draw two and find that you have picked up the other two deuces. This is an excellent situation as it is now impossible for your opponent to make a 7. Assuming your opponent would still be drawing, if you drew one card on the second change and then stood pat it would be quite believable that you held a decent hand.

As far as I know, Daniel Negreanu’s chapter on Triple Draw in Super System Two is about the only place you will find info on this fascinating and skilful variant of poker, so what are you waiting for? Check it out and come on in, the water’s warm…

26/02/08