The time, 10.45am UK time. The day, Wednesday 24 October. The place, table ‘ingwelde’. The result, not so good.

As detailed earlier on the blog I’ve set out on a round-the-games journey on PokerStars.net, playing all variants of poker, starting with the first leg, and hour in the rough waters of 2-7 Triple draw. “2-7 triple what?” I hear you say.

Well that’s the point. Poker goes far beyond just hold’em and I wanted to find out what other games are like. So armed with a few notes I got started. My head was full of ideas and of great things, and I expected the 2,000 starting stack I’d decided on to give me ample time to grip to grips with how things worked.

The reality was much different, and once again my optimism had been unable to keep pace with the reality of the scene.

Triple draw requires you to chase the lowest possible hand which on the surface sounds easy enough (doesn’t it?) but I came out at the other end battered, bruised and relieved of a good chunk of my starting bankroll. So what should I have done? What does it take it to punch your weight in a triple draw game?


Team PokerStars Pro Greg Raymer – a leading authority on triple draw

I’ll get to that. First my own opinions, based around my first thoughts following an hour of having it clearly shown to me that I was the worst player at the table. Ordinarily a good policy in these situations is to get up from the table and find another game. But with my fighting spirit, and utter professionalism, this didn’t seem right.

The intricacies of triple draw are numerous. Firstly you’re dealt five cards (yes five cards hold’em players) then a round of betting follows. A further two draws are permitted, each separated by a round of betting, which increases to the larger increment (e.g. 10 in a 5-10 game) for the last two rounds. The player with the lowest hand wins. Aces are high, straights and flushes are bad, making the best hand 7-5-4-3-2.

That’s the official version.

I managed to make such a simple process a very complicated and costly exercise. To begin with I noticed I was losing chips quite quickly, about a quarter of my starting stack of 2,000 every fifteen minutes. Well, I thought, at least I’ll survive the hour. But it’s always a good plan to plug up the leak – which in my case was as basic as playing too many hands.

As a beginner in triple draw the tendency is to think of the three draws as ‘three lives’, ample time to rescue an otherwise mediocre hand. I decided to play fewer hands. But this is easier said than done as, I find, in the right light most hands look pretty good.

4 6 7 5 T – looks okay. In early position I make a cheeky bet of 40 and get three callers. I swap the ten for a six to make a rotten pair. Not good. I make another bet of 40 (too low?) and still have three callers. This time I swap the six and get a four back, a lower pair now but still a pair. My plan to bet and chase people from the pot isn’t working so I sit back, checking and swapping the four for... a three! Great! No, wait... this makes a straight, 3-7. A good hold’em hand - a bad triple draw hand. For not considering what cards I needed and my chances of getting them I was down to 1,895.

This lunacy obviously had to stop so I knuckled down to play even less hands. I was effectively a spectator in the game now but at least the leak had stopped. Or it had until I was dealt a nine-high hand which I thought looked good only to be chased to the end of the hand with a player by the name of ‘Illinois 7’ with eight-low. You really do need the best of it to have any reasonable chance of winning.

Standing amidst the wreckage I was now down to 1,425. It’s easy to lose chips in this game, difficult to win them. Taking further drastic measures I decide to fold everything for 15 minutes.

Watching others play one important factor appeared to be getting a strong hand and playing it aggressively, something I knew but failed to put into practice. Without a seven low hand you had little chance of winning the pot. Too often I would settle for eight low, nine low and even ten low with predictable results.

Out of self-imposed exile I stand pat on a hand thinking I have the best of it, and feel and look stupid when it’s easily crushed by a player named ‘Koeloe’ who has the pleasure of seeing me call his all-in seven-low bet on the end. I feel stupid.

Suddenly I’m dealt an eight-low hand, 8-5-6-4-2. I bet the pot and stand pat; adopting the coward’s policy that anything I do now will only darken the situation.
I’m still standing pat when I bet again with two other players still drawing and calling. ‘Nette 26’ calls on the end and has an eight-low with 8-5-6-4-3, but my deuce is better. Finally I win a pot and to my shame type “woohoo!” in the chat box, which doesn’t go down well and in some circles is considered a sign of your amateurish status. It’s met by silence, like I’d offended the host of a party. They were well into the hand by the time I’d finished looking for praise in the chat box.

That was the high point. I quickly returned to my former ways, losing what I’d gained. By the end of the hour I was just happy to have chips I could take to a game next week. But I still wanted to play one last hand. However difficult triple draw is to get the hang of it remains one of the most fun to play. Four minutes left. “Be quick” I think to myself, ignoring another wise lesson of not chasing losses.

I get a jack-high hand. This will do. I bet big, getting an unwelcome call from ‘luckygalny’. I swap the jack but get an ace. From bad to worse. ‘luckygalny’ then bets and I call, knowing I should fold but still looking for one my swansong hand. Maybe I’ll catch a miracle? I discard the ace. I get an ace back. Now I know I’m being punished by the gods for trying too much. I’m stuck in no man’s land, no use pretending to be ahead. I give up the charade. He bets a few hundred and I fold. My hour is up.

I finish with 1,330. The flourish I’d been hoping for failed to turn up and I took a loss of 670 from the 2,000 I started with -- hardly sustainable. I came away with my own pointers. Play fewer hands, and when you do play aggressively and don’t expect draws to help you out. Also, remember that there are only four sevens in the pack, and other players will be looking for those too. You really do need the best of it to win.

Anyone trying triple draw for the first time will have their own experience so get in touch if you discovered your own wisdom along the way. As for my 1,330, I’ll just have to bump it up playing the next game in this tour around the tables. That will be Omaha.