2-7 Triple draw - the 3-2-1 rule

Poker Variants / Marcus Bateman / 22 February 2011 / Leave a Comment

Most of the money in triple draw - again, just like in most forms of poker - simply comes from people playing weak hands too far and too passively.

Deuce To Seven Triple Draw is one of the most popular rotations in mixed games, and it is a true action game that can at first seem to have a dizzying number of combinations and possibilities. Other than the generally obvious rules of only attempting to draw to sevens and good eights, another core principle is making sure you keep relatively set rules about how many cards you draw - particularly against pat hands.

Generally in triple draw, you should never be drawing more than three cards on the first draw, more than two on the second, and more than one on the third and final draw. There are obvious exceptions to this - such as in passive pots where no one improves - but typically you want to be keeping your drawing requirements quite tight in action pots.

You cannot fight the mathematics too much in any form of poker, but particularly in limit games, and in triple draw it is essential that you don't stray too far when drawing - especially before the final draw when the the betting size doubles. It is all too tempting to watch players keep discarding three (or even more) cards over multiple streets and suddenly hit a big hand on the end and think that you should loosen up your discard requirements, but just like all poker, these hits are an illusion that over time will cost you a fortune if you integrate them into your game.

Most of the money in triple draw - again, just like in most forms of poker - simply comes from people playing weak hands too far and too passively. They get rewarded just enough to keep them playing by the odd nice hit late on in a big pot, but over time the player consistently drawing fewer cards to better hands will win. The naturally high variance in such a game also adds substantially to this effect, and it is for this reason that triple draw provides one of the most profitable game at lower and mid-stake games, where the high variance and action nature can give even very poor players the large wins that keep them coming back over time.

As the poker games continually diversify away from just No Limit Hold'em, many of the most profitable games are starting to lie in what were generally considered the more obscure variants of poker. Even just a basic knowledge of these games will frequently give you a sizeable edge over those players completely new to them, and working on your all round poker knowledge is becoming increasingly essential to sustaining high win-rates, and Deuce to Seven is one of the best games to start on due to hits high variance and popularity.