2-7 Triple Draw - Poker Variation with Interesting Details

We all know that a winner in any game is the one with the highest score but the case is different when it comes to 2-7 triple draw. This game is also known as lowball poker, the rules are almost the same like in any other draw poker game variation, with one difference - the player with the lowest hand wins the pot. In other words, the loser is the winner.

Hand Values

The terms of the game are also slightly different because here, pairs, flushes and straights count against your hand and the Ace is always considered a high card and reduces you winning chances. This also means that the hand A, 2, 3, 4, 5 is considered as straight while 10, J, K, Q, A is also straight. When playing lowball poker, the best possible hand that one can come across is 7, 5, 4, 3 and 2. This combination is known as the “nuts” or the “wheel”. The hands are usually counted from the highest card to the lowest card. The highest card in your hand has the biggest number of points and can highly affect the strength of your hand. For example, 10 is higher than 9 in this game. Thus, a combination of 9, 7, 6, 4, and 3 is better than the combination 10, 7, 6, 4 and 2. In case all the highest cards in your hands are of the same value, the value of the subsequent card is used to determine the strength of your hand.

Game Rules

The game is played using 5 cards and it can also be referred to as a blind game which holds the rule that the player on the left hand side of the dealer puts in the small blind while the player on the right side of the first player from the other side of the dealer puts in a big blind. There are other rules for this game; like standing pat or wrapping pat where the player does not throw in any of his cards in exchange for others from the dealer. In case a player decides to throw in all of his cards, then the dealer can only give him four cards and the fifth card will be dealt only after all the other players have received their cards. The dealer deals one card at a time from one player to the other until they count to 5. In case the player throwing in all the five cards, then the dealer has to deal him all four cards at the same time and burn one card which will be placed facing down on the table before dealing the player with the last fifth card. Once all the cards have been received then the second betting begins with the first player on the left hand side of the dealer. The game goes on until the winner is determined. The pot is split equally among any two players who happen to have similar minimum values.