Deuce to Seven Triple Draw has been on the poker scene for a few years now; if you haven’t taken a seat in the game, you will need to develop a comprehensive strategy for playing it if you want to be successful. As with any poker variant, there are plays that you can learn that are both complex and subtle, and are appropriate in a very limited number of situations. However, your bread-and-butter plays as a Deuce to Seven Triple Draw player are the basic concepts that come up over and over again, hand after hand, and session after session. Here are the top 10 tips for playing Deuce to Seven Triple Draw that you must master before you can be consistently successful at this game.
1) The deuce is the most powerful card in the deck- Most of the time you should avoid playing hands that do not already contain a deuce. Notice that in a game where aces are high and straights count against a low hand, you cannot make a seven low without a deuce in your hand. And neither can your opponents! The more deuces you see in your hand, either on the deal or a draw, the fewer there are left for the other players to catch. Conversely, if you are in a multi-way pot without a deuce, you are probably in big trouble, as most of the other players probably have one already, thereby making it even less likely that you will be able to draw one.
2) Start with solid starting hands- As with any game of poker, the better your starting hand, the more likely it is to become a winner by the end. This is especially true in a drawing game, where there are no community cards that can change the situation dramatically. Pat 7s and 8s, and one and two-card drawing hands to a 7or smooth 8 that should ideally contain a deuce, but should NOT put you in danger of hitting a straight rather than a low, are all hands to be played, and played strongly. Most everything else should be thrown away.
3) Bet when you are drawing fewer cards than your opponents- If you have a solid drawing hand, and are taking one card when your opponents are taking two, you should automatically lead out after the draw. While there will be times that the other players hit miracle draws and beat you, in the long run you will be highly profitable betting when you are a card ahead.
4) Know the importance of position- Since the only information that you have about the other players in a hand of Deuce to Seven Triple Draw is their bets and the number of cards they draw, it is highly advantageous to be playing a hand when you are last to act. If the other players check, you can often take down the pot with a bet, even if you didn’t hit your hand. Also, you can choose to draw fewer cards than your opponents, or even stand pat, and then push them off the pot with a bet after one of the draws if they are playing the hand passively.
5) Know when to stand pat- Going into the last draw, a made jack-high low is a favorite over any one-card draw. Therefore, if you are in position with such a hand, and your opponent takes a card, you should stand pat, knowing you are the favorite to win the hand. In addition, when you make a hand such as a nine-low earlier in the hand, you need to be able to gauge your opponents to see whether or not you should stand pat, or try to draw to something better. Depending on whom you are playing against, you can try to push the others off of their hands, knowing that your hand may still very well hold up if they don’t fold.
6) Make your opponents pay to draw out on you- If you have a made hand that may be vulnerable to being drawn out on, such as a rough eight or worse, you need to put in as many bets as possible to force your opponents to pay dearly to try and chase you down. Giving away free cards is a cardinal sin in poker, and it is no different in Deuce to Seven Triple Draw.
7) Know your opponents- Keep good notes and/or observations on everyone at your table. There will be players who will always raise a pot where only the blinds are left, especially from the button. There will be players who will consistently bet after the third draw when they pair their hands. There will be players who will fold when they are drawing more cards than you are, and those who will chase down to the last draw. You need to be aware of the tendencies of all of these different types of players, as they will influence how you play your own hands. Knowing which players will retreat from aggression, which players will call with any ragged holding and which will bluff more than others will allow you to make more money by playing with an eye toward exploiting their individual styles.
8) Avoid hands with straight potential- A hand such as 3-4-5-6 looks tempting to play, but it is almost impossible to make a winning hand with these four cards as starting holding. The deuces and sevens will give you a straight, and even a miracle eight will just give you a vulnerable eight low. Most of the hands that will make straights rather than lows will contain a six, so you should be wary of playing hands with sixes. For example, 6-5-3-2, while certainly playable, is still dangerous due to the loss of the fours as outs, leaving the sevens to make the third-best possible low and the eights to create a solid eight low.
9) Don’t play three-card draws- Unless you are getting a free pass in the big blind, or you are trying to steal from the button, you should avoid playing three (or more) card draws. The odds of you making a good hand are simply not good enough to justify putting money in the pot.
10) Go for a check-raise when you hit your hand after being behind- If you are drawing more cards than your opponent, and you happen to hit a seven or eight low, remember that the other player will almost always bet after the draw. Take advantage of this by checking to him, and then check-raising with your made hand.
Introduction to Deuce to Seven Triple Draw Tips
An Introduction to How to Play Deuce to Seven Triple Draw
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