Triple-Draw Lowball: Part III

Last time, I described some common mistakes made by beginners in deuce-to-seven triple-draw lowball. This column will discuss some more mistakes that these players make.

They do not call liberally enough on the end.

Let’s look at this from the bluffing side. A typical pot might contain 10 big bets after the third draw. A player who bets into this pot when holding a hand that likely cannot win in a showdown has to win less than 10 percent of the time to show a profit. If his one opponent does not call with small pairs, he definitely will show a profit by betting whenever he pairs his top card, because more than a fourth of the time, a lone opponent will pair.

Also, a bet with top pair in this situation against two opponents often succeeds more than 10 percent of the time, because opponents do not call enough. If the bluffer bets first, the player in the middle may lay down a jack or worse, and if the other player does not call with a pair, the bluff has succeeded. The reason players don’t call with what they deem to be hopeless hands is that they lose the bet most of the time. They don’t understand that if they succeed as little as 10 percent of the time, the call is profitable.

A refinement on this mistake is to bet on the end and then fold to a raise. If I knew that you would bet a 7-6-5-4-2 or any 8 into my one-card draw and then fold to a raise, I would raise no matter what card I caught, and show a huge profit for the play. Depending on what you know about your opponent, you should call at least part of the time, even if you just bet a small pair! If your opponent is capable of raising on the end with a large pair and you are getting pot odds of 5-to-1 or better, consider calling. If your opponent has never raised with worse than what you just bet — and how can you know that? — you can probably safely fold. That is, there are some players against whom I would lay down 7-6-5-4-2 if they raised on the last round of betting, but not many.

Another mistake is that players don’t bet often enough on the end. They just show down hands that profit overall by betting. Since players so often pass nines and even eights on the final round, with the intention of only calling a bet, players in late positions become afraid to bet and show down nines and even eights. This is clearly a mistake, since those same players who are afraid to bet their medium hands up front also pass tens and worse and then call. Particularly against only one opponent, you should bet a hand that figures to win a greater percentage of the time than represented by the pot odds. (This is in addition to betting hands that can’t win in a showdown.) For example, if the pot contains five big bets and a one-card draw has passed, you should bet any hand that figures to win at least one-sixth of the time, plus a high pair. If you include in this calculation the possibility that the player would pass anything worse than an 8 but would call with as bad as a small pair, you should bet approximately a king or better. Against two opponents, you might make that a jack.

One thing to be aware of is that much like Omaha, particularly Omaha eight-or-better, triple-draw lowball is a game of the nuts, and the nuts show up frequently. Do not be surprised when your sevens get beat. You can lower the chance of this happening by modifying your strategy, which I’ll address in a future column.

Because sevens get beat so frequently, another mistake that players make is being too timid on the last round with a 7. I often see a bet made and just a call from 7-6-5-3-2, or even 7-6-4-3-2. Yes, the bettor can have a wheel (7-5-4-3-2), and, yes, he did have three draws to get there. Nonetheless, you have either, respectively, the third- or second-best hand possible in this game. That’s worth at least one raise.

Passing too many hands when first to act is yet another mistake that falls into the category of over-timidity. I frequently see a player pass an 8 to a one-card draw or pat hand when first to act. If there is a bet, of course he calls, but frequently the second player shows down — or bets — a hand with which she would have called. Yes, sometimes the second player raises when you bet, but that doesn’t make having passed the hand the correct play. You should bet nearly as many hands when first to act as you would when checked to. This translates to, for example, betting approximately a queen with five big bets in the pot. So that your opponent doesn’t think you have a rough hand whenever you pass, you can sometimes — maybe one time in four — pass an 8 or 9. Don’t ever pass a 7. If you do, you’ll lose at least one bet when you face a good hand. If you bet and get raised, you can reraise. But many hands that would raise your initial bet will only call a check-raise.

Michael Wiesenberg has been a columnist for Card Player since the first issue in 1988. He has written or edited many books about poker, and has also written extensively about computers. His crossword puzzles are syndicated in newspapers and appear online and in national publications. Send posers, plaints, and propositions to [email protected].