Bernard Lee On Deuce-To-Seven Draw Part IWorld Series of Poker Deuce-To-Seven Draw Finalist Reveals The Subtlties Of An Often Overlooked Variant |
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Good poker players hone in on what their edge is and utilise whatever that may be to bring home the bacon. It’s no longer as easy as it once was with the standard of play in Texas hold’em these days, and the fish who were once generous donators in pot-limit Omaha have, in most parts, learned by their mistakes or are beginning to do so.
Why not study another game and stay ahead of the pack? Bernard Lee suggests deuce-to-seven single draw and in this special edition of Hand 2 Hand Combat, the 2011 World Series of Poker $1,500 no-limit deuce-to-seven fourth-place finisher discusses the basics of the game, beginner strategy, the incredible importance of position, and much, much more.
Rebecca McAdam: So why deuce to seven Bernard?
Bernard Lee: I wrote a column on ESPN a couple of years ago and a part of that column was — “Is a World Series bracelet something you really want?” And I think for a lot of people that’s their goal, they come out [to the WSOP] and their goal is to win a bracelet and they’re playing in no-limit events. Well we’re breaking no-limit events every single time they have a $1,500 or a $1,000 [event]; 3,000 people, 3,700 people; you do the math, the odds are pretty slim that you’re going to win one, besides the fact that everyone knows how to play no-limit and you’ve got to make it through three solid days. So my comment was you better start learning some mixed games and PLO is another one of those games where there are just too many masters out there.
So, there are a few games left and I think deuce-to-seven is one and stud is another because stud attendance has actually gone down. So I’ve really worked hard on my stud/stud eight-or-better because that’s what I grew up playing and then I actually looked at deuce-to-seven; I personally don’t like the triple-draw version as much, I don’t mind it but I really like the deuce-to-seven no-limit and the reason being is you can incorporate so many no-limit hold’em concepts to it and because I’ve worked on that game so long it’s really been a game that I think suits my personality very well. I just missed the money in last year’s event and I was really happy to make the final table this year.
RM: You’re saying there are similar concepts between the game and no-limit hold’em, is that why there has been a resurgence in the game’s popularity in the past couple of years?
BL: Yeah you get a lot of no-limit hold’em young players who kind of stumble upon it, they figure it out, they say, “Oh well there’s another no-limit event” and try it. They play it and at the end of it they say, “This is my favourite new game.” If you play it and you don’t mind the draw aspect of it, the no-limit version of it, the aggression, position, all of this, it’s so much fun and it’s a new game, and after a certain point you want something different to hold’em, so I believe there is going to be a resurgence in this game and don’t be surprised in a few years if it has more people playing in it than stud.
RM: So now is the time to get in there…
BL: Yeah and really learn the game because in hold’em you sit down and everyone knows the concept, the tournament director isn’t on the mic explaining the directions of the game. In deuce-to-seven, they’re explaining the directions of the game, there are people who really don’t know how to play the game and in a lot of respects there is some dead money out there and there are very few events at the World Series that are that way. There are a lot of people who really don’t understand a lot of the strategies to the game.
RM: Let’s get down to business, what are the basic rules of the game?
BL: The basic rules of the game are very similar to no-limit hold’em in the sense of first there are only seven players, you can’t have nine or ten because you’re drawing, you have five cards each. There is a small blind, a big blind, and there is a button. The one major difference is you can’t limp in to the pot predraw or preflop, you have to raise. The only situation is if it is 25-25 and the small blind can check the option.
Then you get five cards, after the first predraw betting is done, you go by position, so the earlier position players have to say “I want one” or “Pat”; pat means don’t take a card. You can draw up to five if you really want — I actually saw a player draw four three times in one day which is ridiculous but we’ll let that one go. Typically, you’re not drawing more than one or two, there are situations where you might draw three — it’s like defending your big blind kind of thing, especially if you think the button is just trying to steal. Then after the draw you have a post-draw bet, and it’s no-limit so you basically have to bet the minimum of the big blind or you can shove all in, so that’s pretty much the basics of deuce-to-seven no-limit.
RM: Tell me about the importance of position.
BL: Position is everything! The reason why it’s so important is in no-limit hold’em you get to see what they do act-wise in betting, in deuce-to-seven you get to see what they do drawing and that’s so huge because if they draw one, it might change what you do in your hand, if they draw none, it might change what you do with your hand. One of the golden rules in that is the odds state that if someone throws one card away, you should hold with a jack pat or better, if they throw away two, you should hold a queen pat or better.
If you’re going to draw, it would be better to be drawing to a “something smooth” than a “something rough” and what I mean by that is I would almost rather have say J-5-4-3-2 than 10-9-8-7-2 and the reason being is if the first person does take one card, you can keep with a jack-smooth but if they stay pat, well I’m throwing away the jack and I’m drawing to a 5 where I could get a 7 or an 8.
If you have a 10-9-8- something, even if you throw away the 10, your best drawing is to a 9, and so that’s why having smooth draws is so important, and again, add that to position, now I can determine whether I’m going to draw for that or I’m going to wait, depending on what the first person does. That’s why position is so key in no-limit, there are a lot of hands I’m just going to muck in early position that I might easily raise with in later position.
Read part II tomorrow…
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