'Buried at Sea' Ace-to-Five Triple-Draw Lowball

A few columns back I described a fantastic hand that Carlos Mortensen played on a recent poker cruise, in which he reraised after being dealt only one card (he was on the button); what an amazing hand it was. We called the game "Buried at Sea," just like we used to call the old cruise ship games in the early 1990s. Here's another monster pot that came up when Randy Jensen, Ralph Rudd, Carlos, David Benyamine, David Singer, and I were playing $200-$400 ace-to-five triple-draw lowball.

Randy made it $400 to go from first position with A-2-3-7, David B. called with A-3-4, Carlos reraised to $600 to go with 2-3-4, David S. called on the button with 2-4-5, Ralph capped it ($800 to go) with 3-4-5, I called with 2-5-6 from the big blind, and everyone else called the $800 cap. Wow, what a start, $4,800 in the pot already! Then, Ralph caught 6-7, for 3-4-5-6-7 (a made 7 low), I caught two bad cards, Randy caught one bad card, David B. caught a 6 for A-3-4-6, Carlos caught an ace for A-2-3-4, and David S. caught two bad cards. Ralph bet out, and he and Carlos made sure that it was capped again – and the rest of us thought the pot was too big to bail out now.

With six active players and $9,600 in the pot, this was a scary hand at this point! Ralph stood pat, I caught an ace for A-2-5-6, Randy caught a bad card, David B. caught a bad card, Carlos caught a 5 to make A-2-3-4-5 (a wheel – the best possible hand), and David S. caught two more bad cards. Ralph bet out, followed by calls from me, Randy, and David B., and Carlos popped it. Finally, someone folded when David S. mucked his cards for the $800 bet, and then Ralph reraised it to $1,200 to go and Carlos capped it after we all had called. With another $8,000 added to the $9,600 already in the pot, we had a $17,600 monster brewing.

After Ralph stood pat, Randy, David B., and I drew one card each, and Carlos stood pat. At this point – before the three of us looked at our cards – I asked Randy and David if they wanted to make a "save" for $2,000 apiece, and they agreed. In this case, making a save simply meant that if one of us won the pot, we would refund $2,000 each to the other two, and cushion their loss a bit.

On the last round of betting, we all checked to Carlos, who bet $400 with his wheel, and Ralph called him with his 3-4-5-6-7. An $18,400 pot is rarely seen in this game at this limit, and making a wheel must have felt pretty sweet to Carlos.

How did everyone play this hand? I think everyone acted naturally and reasonably on the first round of betting, especially considering that everyone had been gambling and putting extra bets in the game for the entire week. However, with that many players in the hand, I probably would have thrown the 7 away if I had been in Randy's shoes, and drawn to the A-2-3. On the second round of betting, I don't have a problem with the way the action went.

On the third round of betting, it seems that Ralph overplayed his hand a bit. Why put all of that money in there with a rough 7 after three players drew one card behind you? On the other hand, Ralph was representing a better hand than a 7, and Carlos has been known to give a lot of action with some weak holdings. Perhaps Ralph could have made Carlos break a better 7 low. Or, perhaps Ralph thought he had the best made hand and Carlos was jamming it up with a smooth 8, like A-2-3-5-8. In any case, how sweet it was for Carlos when he was able to cap it against four other players who were drawing dead!

What a pot it was, and what a game it was. I experienced big swings in both directions, but I certainly did enjoy the action. I look back fondly on the entire week. Boys, I'll see y'all soon!

Editor's note: Chat or play poker with Phil at ultimatebet.com. To learn more about him, go to philhellmuth.com.