Part 1 of the article is here: Triple Draw Basics - Part 1 - How the Game is Played

This is part 2, how to play before the draw. I had to cut it into 2 pieces as the forum only allows up to 10k characters. This and part b are jsut one big article. Enjoy.

Types of Hands

The types of hands you will play depend on your hand, the cards you are going to discard, your opponents, and of very high importance your position. The hand types I am going to cover here are premium 2 card 7 and 8 draws, and the super premium 1 card draws. Pat hands play themselves but I still included a few lines on them.

The All Powerfull 2

Here is the point of the following paragraph: don't play without a deuce! Engrave that on your brain and don't forget it. The 2 is the most powerful card in the game. Without a 2 you cannot make a 7. Without a 2 any other marginally playable hand now most likely has a straight draw. The importance of the deuce cannot be stressed enough. As far as this article is concerned you should never ever see the first draw without one unless you are in the big blind and it is checked to you. The next time you are thinking about playing that multi-way pot without a 2 just ask youself how many of your opponents are in the pot with a 2 then remind yourself how many are left in the deck. You are rarely going to draw one as everyone else in the pot probobly has them all! Even if there is one left then there can only be one left. The truth is even bad players understand the concept and most likley have a 2 in thier hand. Just don't leave home without one, heed this advice, and save yourself a lot of headaches down the road.

The Danger of the Six

This isn't as crucial as the 2 but does deserve a mention. The 6 is a dangerous card in the false sense of strength it represents when in reality this seemingly harmless card can get you into trouble. Why the six? Well lets take a great 2 card draw only replace a wheel card witha 6. Here we have 237 vs 236. Now lts say you draw one and it is a 5 for both hands. Well look at your outs now. While the 237 is now a 2357 the 236 is now 2356. Do you se the problem? While a 2357 has 8 outs twice to make a 7 (the 4 and the 6) the 2345 only has four as any 4 will only make a straight. Don't underestimate the danger of the 6. The straight potential realized when holding a 6 is a big factor to consider when playing a hand. You will encounter problems with 6's down the road. There are definetly times to play them but make sure they are super premium and you are in position.

Pat Hands -Play them aggressivley. I like to consider any 8 a pat hand. So even a 25678 needs to be rammed and jammed before the first draw. One thing to remember is that while in most poker games you woud trap with the nuts in Triple Draw you need to bet them! Why? Well in Triple Draw, once you draw everyone now knows you are pat and will play accordingly! If you check you missed a bet and most likely will get little out of the pot. Bet and raise before the draw, not after!

1 Card 7 Draws - One card draws are great to have! The best 1 card draws need to be played agggressivley and pretty much play themselves. The 1 card draws I am discussing are the best ones to have. They are all hands containing both a 2 and a 7 and 2 cards in between so in order: 2347, 2357, 2367, 2457, 2467, and 2567. Now I did put them in order from strongest to weakest but it doesn't really matter, they all play the same. You are going to ram and jam these before the first draw, cap it 6 ways, you have a great hand if you are holding any of these.

1 Card 8 Draws - Now is when we get into hands that are a little more situational. The good 1 card 8 draws are very powerful hands. Not as powerful as the 1 card 7 draws but played right you can show major profits by playing 1 card 8 draws before the flop. Some good 1 card 8 draws are any hand containg a 2 and an 8 with a 3,4,5, or 6, in between. Notice I did not include the 7 here. the reasoning is that with a rough 87 draw you are really looking to come in second place at showdown and that is not our goal. You can play a rough 87 like an 872 but I prefer to play the 87 in position, soming for a raise and having a chance at just taking the blinds. I do not like the 87 from up front. You will see me discuss the 87 a lot. I tend to draw the line between good hand and dangerous hand at 87.

With a good 8 (anything 86 or better) I tend to raise from up front, and re-raise if someone raised in front of me (to lock out the SB or BB from calling). I don't like calling too much in TD so if there is a raise and a re-raise in front of me I will cap it with a one card 8 to try and get it at least three way for the first draw. My goal with almost any hand (barring a pat 7 before the first draw) is to elminate as many opponents as possible before the first draw if I decide to enter the pot.

One big thing to remember is that you play a 1 card 8 the same as you would play a 1 card 7. Very very aggressivley. One reason is to build the pot, another is to lower how many opponents are in the hand (increasing our chances of taking the pot), and another reason is deception. In all forms of poker many people get the idea that deception has to do with playing your hand differently every time. I beg to differ. I believe playing many hands the same way is the better path to deception and I think this is a perfect place to illustrate this. So if I have a 1 card 7 draw I am raising and re-raising before the first draw, now I do the same with a 1 card 8 draw. Lets say my opponent knows I play both the same way, look at the spot he is in. He is going to be pretty hard pressed to come back at me with a weak 8 when I could very well be playing a strong 7 the same way! On the contrary if he thinks I have a weak 8 and I really have a strong 1 card 7 then our deception has truly worked and we are going to (hopefully) win a larger pot now! So when playing a one card 8 before the first draw play it aggressivly. My goal in a TD hand is almost alway to get heads up at which point I can control the betting better and have a better idea of what my opponent is thinking and doing. It is harder to gauge your opponent multi-way so take charge of the hand, raise it up, and create profitable situations for yourself.


2 Card 7 Draws -The majority of the hands you will be playing are 2 card draws so I will try and go into more depth with them later but for now here are the best of the best 2 card draws. The 2 card 7 draws. All good 2 card draws contain one thing; a 2. Never play a hand without a deuce, starting without one is a major leak, just don't do it. Lets just say playing with a 2 in your hand at all times is a golden rule as stated earlier. A premium 2 card draw is going to contain 3 wheel cards like 237 or 234 (the 2 best 2 card draws) or 235 or 247. All of these are premium 2 card draws and should be raised and re-raised before the first draw. I almost never limp in TD! If your hand isn't good enough to raise with fold it! Your best 2 card draws are 234, 235, 237, 245, 247, 257, and 267. Notice I did not include 236, 246 or 256. Sure you can raise with these hands in late position with no callers but in an earlier position, get rid of the holding with a 6 in them (I do play 267 though as the straight potential is gone).






Article Continues Here: Triple Draw Basics - Part2b - Before the Draw