Five Card Draw Poker - 2-7 (Deuce to Seven)
Five Card Draw Poker - 2-7 (Deuce to Seven)
2-7 (Deuce to Seven) Lowball is a poker game in which the low poker hand wins the pot at showdown. In other words, it is a form of ‘Lowball’. It is a ‘draw’ game, meaning that you are dealt five cards, and may discard from zero to five of them on the draw, and receive that number of replacement cards.
The three major variations of Draw Poker are distinguished from each other by the number of draws and the betting limits:
• No Limit Single Draw: A player can bet any amount, up to all their chips. One round of drawing takes place.
• Pot Limit Double Draw: A player can bet any amount, up to the size of the pot. Two rounds of drawing take place.
• Limit Triple Draw: There is a pre-determined betting limit on each round of betting. Three rounds of betting take place.
How to Play 2-7 (Deuce to Seven)
First, it’s important to understand that the hand rankings are different in 2-7 than in other low games. In 2-7, straights and flushes count against your low hand, and aces are always high. So, the best possible hand is: 7, 5, 4, 3, 2. The following 2-7 hands (not a complete list) are ranked from least powerful (#1, which will rarely win the pot) to most powerful (#16, the nuts):
1. J 7 4 3 2 (all the same suit - a flush)
2. 8 7 6 5 4 (a straight)
3. 7 6 5 4 3 (a lower straight)
4. 5 5 5 6 3
5. 2 2 7 6 5
6. A 9 6 4 2
7. A 8 7 4 2
8. A 5 4 3 2 (not a straight - ace-high)
9. K J 8 7 4
10. T 7 5 4 3
11. T 6 5 4 3
12. T 6 5 4 2
13. 9 7 6 4 3
14. 8 6 4 3 2
15. 7 6 4 3 2
16. 7 5 4 3 2
Note that a low hand is always ranked from its highest card downwards. So for example, hand #9 is known as a ‘King-Jack low’ because its highest card is a King. Hand #14 is a ‘Eight-low’. In poker slang, you distinguish between close low hands by going further down the ranks, so hand #12 would be called a ‘Ten-Six low’, which beats hand #11 a “Ten-Seven low”.
The Blinds
In Draw games, a marker called ‘the button’ or ‘the dealer button’ indicates which player is the nominal dealer for the current game. Before the game begins, the player immediately clockwise from the button posts the "small blind", the first forced bet. The player immediately clockwise from the small blind posts the "big blind", which is typically twice the size of the small blind, but the blinds can vary depending on the stakes and betting structure being played.
In Limit games, the big blind is the same as the small bet, and the small blind is typically half the size of the big blind but may be larger depending on the stakes. For example, in a $2/$4 Limit game the small blind is $1 and the big blind is $2.
In Pot Limit and No Limit games, the games are referred to by the size of their blinds. For example, a $1/$2 game has a small blind of $1 and a big blind of $2.
Depending on the exact structure of the game, each player, or an individual player, may also be required to post an ‘ante’ (another type of forced bet, posted before cards are dealt) into the pot.
Player Betting Options
In Draw, as with other forms of poker, the available actions are ‘fold’, ‘check’, ‘bet’, ‘call’ or ‘raise’. Exactly which options are available depends on the action taken by the previous players. Each poker player always has the option to fold, to discard their cards and give up any interest in the pot. If nobody has yet made a bet, then a player may either check (decline to bet but keep their cards) or bet. If a player has bet, then subsequent players can fold, call or raise. To call is to match the amount the previous player has bet. To raise is to not only match the previous bet, but to also increase it.
Pre-Draw
After seeing his or her five hole cards, each player now has the option to play his or her hand by calling or raising the big blind. The action begins to the left of the big blind, which is considered a ‘live’ bet on this round. That player has the option to fold, call or raise. For example, if the big blind was $2, it would cost $2 to call, or at least $4 to raise. Action then proceeds clockwise around the table. Action then proceeds clockwise around the table. Betting continues until all active players (who have not folded) have placed equal bets in the pot.
Drawing
Once the first round of betting is complete, there is a draw. That is, each player selects which (if any) cards he or she wishes to discard. Discarding takes place in order, clockwise from the dealer button with each player placing their discards directly in front of them. The dealer will then replace the cards clockwise from the dealer button while bringing in the discards.
After the first draw, there is another round of betting, beginning with the first active player to the left of the button. So the sequence of action is:
1. Five cards dealt to each player.
2. Betting round #1, beginning with first active player to left of big blind.
3. Draw.
4. Betting round #2, beginning with first active player to left of button.
5. Showdown (if necessary)
For Double Draw or Triple Draw, the above procedure is repeated either once or twice, to make two or three draws, depending on the game type. For Limit games, the betting amount doubles for the second and third draw.
In draw games, it is possible for more cards to be needed than are remaining in the deck. In this case, the cards are reshuffled, including the burn cards and any mucked cards from previous draw rounds (not cards from the existing draw round), and play continues using the new deck. It is allowed to use the final card of the deck to complete a draw round.
Showdown - Determining the Winner
If there is more than one remaining player when the final betting round is complete, the last person to bet or raise shows their cards, unless there was no bet on the final round in which case the player immediately clockwise from the button shows their cards first. The player with the best five-card 2-7 lowball hand wins the pot. In the event of identical hands, the pot will be equally divided between the players with the best hands. In the event of an odd chip during the split, it is awarded to the first active player immediately clockwise from the button.
After the pot is awarded, a new hand of Draw Poker is ready to be played. The button now moves clockwise to the next player, blinds and antes are once again posted, and new hands are dealt to each player.
Limit, No Limit, and Pot Limit Draw Poker – 2-7 (Deuce to Seven)
Draw rules remain the same for Limit, No Limit and Pot Limit poker games, with a few exceptions:
• Fixed Limit Draw Poker
Betting in Limit Draw is in pre-determined, structured amounts. Pre-draw and on the first draw, all bets and raises are of the same amount as the big blind. On the second and/or third draw, the size of all bets and raises doubles. In Limit Draw, up to four bets are allowed per player during each betting round. This includes a (1) bet, (2) raise, (3) re-raise, and (4) cap (final raise).
• No Limit Draw Poker
The minimum bet in No Limit Draw is the same as the size of the big blind, but players can always bet as much as they want, up to all of their chips.
Minimum raise: In No Limit Draw, the raise amount must be at least as much as the previous bet or raise in the same round. As an example, if the first player to act bets $5 then the second player must raise a minimum of $5 (total bet of $10).
Maximum raise: The size of your stack (your chips on the table).
In No Limit Draw, there is no ‘cap’ on the number of raises allowed.
• Pot Limit Draw Poker
The minimum bet in Pot Limit Draw is the same as the size of the big blind, but players can always bet up to the size of the pot.
Minimum raise: The raise amount must be at least as much as the previous bet or raise in the same round.
Maximum raise: The size of the pot, which is defined as the total of the active pot plus all bets on the table plus the amount the active player must first call before raising.
Example: If the size of the pot is $100, and there is no previous action on a particular betting round, a player may bet a maximum of $100. After that bet, the action moves to the next player clockwise. That player can either fold, call $100, or raise any amount between the minimum ($100 more) and the maximum. The maximum bet in this case is $400 - the raiser would first call $100, bringing the pot size to $300, and then raise $300 more, making a total bet of $400.
In Pot Limit Draw, there is no ‘cap’ on the number of raises allowed.