News / Chris Edwards / 09 June 2008 / Leave a comment

2-7 Draw was first played as a tournament at the WSOP in 1973, with two $3,000 buy-in events, the first won by Aubrey Day and the second won by the legendary Jack Strauss. Since then such stars as Allen Cunningham (who with 3 final tables in the event is the most successful NL 2-7 in WSOP history), Howard Lederer and Barry Greenstein have won bracelets in this game. Last years champion was Erik Seidel, winning his 7th gold bracelet.

2-7 Draw can be played in two variations. The first is triple draw which is commonly played in Limit formats and is popular with the big game players (shown by its inclusion into the $10k Mixed Championship). The second is its No-Limit, single draw version also known as Kansas City Lowball (KCL). This variation is also popular between professionals. It was one of the original cash games played to determine the winner the first WSOP and when the Main Event was conceived, was one of the final two games considered along side NLHE. Imagine how different the poker world might be today if KCL had become the Main Event game.

Previously only a very small and prestigious few would enter this event, but with some of the online worlds best NLHE players recently coming of age as well as the current popularity of PLO and other poker games, maybe this year will see a young winner and a rise in popularity of this great action game.