Poker Triple Draw 2 7 Lowball

Lowball poker is a popular form of poker in live and online poker rooms today. While there are several forms of lowball poker, the first that you should acquaint yourself with is 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball.

It is a game that grew in popularity in the card rooms in California before Texas Hold’em was legalized, and now it has gained a rebirth in online card rooms. Today we will look at the basic rules of 2-7 Lowball.

2-7 Triple Draw INTRODUCTION TO 2-7 TRIPLE DRAW. In lowball poker, the lowest hand wins. There are numerous ways to rank hands in. Draw poker games have forced bets called blinds. The player to the left of the dealer is the small blind. Players are dealt five cards. In the third installment of PhilShaw's draw series, and the second two parts exploring the tripledraw game, Phil introduces to us initially the basic concepts and rules we can put into practice to ensure a solid game at the draw tables. Stay tuned for part two and watch Phil walk the walk at Stars.

What is 2-7 Lowball Poker

Triple Draw 2-7 Lowball is a Five Card Draw variant where the objective of the hand is to make the lowest five-card hand. Straights and flushes hurt your hand in this game and aces are always high. As a result, the lowest possible hand in the game is 2-3-4-5-7 unsuited. This game is customarily played in a limit format with six players at the table.

Standard Game Play

Before a hand is dealt, two players must post blinds. This is done the same way as in Texas Hold’em with a dealer button providing the dealer position and the two players to the left being the small and big blinds. The big blind is the equivalent of the small bet amount. In a $3-$6 2-7 Lowball game, the small bet amount is $3.

After blinds are posted, each player receives five cards and action proceed from the left of the big blind around the table. Betting and raising are done in the small bet amount and up to three raises may be made.

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After the first round of betting, each player may draw up to five cards. If a player does not want cards, they can rap pat. When the draw is completed the 2nd betting round occurs, again in the small bet amount. Once completed, a second draw occurs, followed by another betting round. The betting rounds after the 2nd and 3rd draws are both done in the big bet amount or $6 from our earlier example.

When the betting round after the 2nd draw is complete, the final draw occurs. One last round of betting takes place and then the players show their hand. The player with the lowest hand takes the pot. In the event of a tie, the pot is split.

Irregularities and Deal Rules

When a player draws five cards, many casinos do not allow a player to receive all five cards at once. The player will be dealt four cards, and then the other players receive their cards. The player that drew five will then receive their last card.

Also, on occasion, the dealer will go through the entire deck. Since 30 cards are dealt to start with, multiple players drawing multiple cards can make the deck run out. When this occurs, the burn cards are then taken and shuffled. You will then use those cards to complete the hand.

If the final hand between two players is a pair, the lower pair wins. Remember that aces are high only. In a rare occurrence where two players may have a straight and or a flush, you will award the pot to the lower hand. For example, a jack-high straight would lose to an eight-high straight. A flush would lose to a straight.

As you can see, Triple Draw 2-7 Lowball is a very different game than your typical draw poker games and distinctly different than Texas Hold’em. In recent years, Triple Draw Lowball has become a staple of mixed games such as 8-Game or Dealer’s Choice. If you are looking for a new game to add to your poker rotation, or are just looking to expand your poker knowledge, definitely learn 2-7 Lowball.

2-7 Triple Draw is a form of ‘lowball’ draw poker. Until recently, the game wasn’t particularly popular but thanks to it’s introduction at various online poker sites and it presence in some mixed game rotations, the player base for this variant has grown in recent years. In fact, 27 Triple Draw is now one of the most popular games among nosebleed stakes players like Phil Galfond and Gus Hansen.

As mentioned it is a lowball game, meaning the goal is to make the worst possible poker hand. In the 2-7 variant, straights and flushes count against a player making a low hand and Aces play high only, so the best possible 2-7 hand is 2-3-4-5-7. This is not the case in A-5 Triple Draw where A-2-3-4-5 would be the best hand.

Poker Triple Draw 2 7 Lowball

Some players have trouble in figuring out which lowball hand wins. An easy way to figure it out is to arrange your five cards in descending order and read them out as a five digit number. The hand which makes the lowest five digit number wins, so for example a player holding 2-5-4-6-9 would beat a player holding 2-7-5-4-9 because 96543 is lower than 97543.

Playing a 2-7 Triple Draw Hand

Like Texas Holdem, 2-7 Triple Draw is played with ‘blinds’. Before the hand starts the two players to the left of the dealer are forced to place blind bets, before they see their cards. The player to the dealer’s left places the ‘small blind’ while the player to his left places the ‘big blind’ which is typically twice the small blind. 2-7 TD is normally played with fixed betting limits. On the first two betting rounds, players must bet or raise a fixed amount, known as the ‘small bet’ (usually equal to the big blind amount); while on the latter two rounds the betting increment is the ‘big bet’, normally twice the small bet. The action is usually capped on each round to a maximum of one bet and three raises.

Once the blinds have been placed, the action begins with each player being dealt five cards, one at a time starting with the small blind and going in a clockwise direction. The player to the left of the big blind opens the action; he may either call the amount of the big blind, raise to twice the big blind, or fold (give up on the hand). The action proceeds around the table to the big blind. If there are callers in front of him, he may ‘check’ moving the hand along or raise. He may also call, raise or fold if there has been a raise by an earlier player. If the hand is folded around to the big blind, he wins the pot. If at any point in the hand a player makes a bet or raise which no player calls, they win the pot.

If 2 or more players remain in the hand, we move on to the first drawing round. The dealer moves clockwise around the table starting with the small blind and each player may replace as many of his cards as he pleases. When all remaining players have made their drawing decisions, we move to the second betting round.

This round (and all subsequent rounds) begins with the small blind who may check, passing the action to the next player, or bet. The remaining players may then call, raise or fold if a player in front of them bets.

After the second betting round, there is another drawing round where players may again replace as many of their cards as they please in an effort to replace them with lower cards. After this draw there is a further betting round as was the case after the first draw, however in this instance the betting increment is changed to the big bet.

Poker Triple Draw 2 7 Lowball Rules

The action concludes with a final drawing round, followed by a fourth and final betting round, which follows the same pattern as the previous rounds.

If there are players remaining in the hand after the final betting round, the hand goes to a ‘showdown’ where players must show their cards in order to claim the pot, which is awarded to the player with the best 2-7 lowball poker hand as detailed above. If all players check on the final round the player closest to the small blind in a clockwise direction must show first and so on. If there has been betting action on the final round, the final aggressor must show first.