Triple-Draw Lowball: Part V

In my last column, I discussed deuce-to-seven triple-draw lowball first-round strategy, and how to avoid being second-bested. Now, let’s take a look at second-round strategy.

Second Round
Players have drawn once to their hands and now make a decision whether to continue. The betting is still at the lower level, so you will see players still playing the same cards they started with. That is, if they came in with rough two-card draws and even three-card draws, they’ll stay in this round, also. You, on the other hand, should be more selective with the hands you play. And what you play will often depend on the actions of the others.

If you have any good one-card draw or a good pat 8 or better, you should be willing to cap the betting. (Sometimes that pat 8 will turn into a one-card draw.) As in the first round, slow-playing is not a good strategy. Remember that many players trying to make good hands will stay for all bets because they consider this to be a “cheap” round. Make them pay for the privilege!

And watch out for those who slow-play. Against some players, you don’t want to put in too much action on this round, because they’ll trap you into the next round. But against action players, don’t be afraid of raising and reraising. However, if the tight, slow-playing player ahead of you took one card on the first round and then checked on the second round, you probably don’t want to bet your two-card draws or what has become only a mediocre one-card draw. For example, if you played 7-6-2 and caught an 8, you might consider checking behind such a player who took one card and checked on this round, particularly if he checked into multiple players. He might already have a good made hand, and he almost assuredly is drawing better than you. Let’s say this player drew one on the first round and now checks into three other players. You check your K-8-7-6-2. The player behind you bets, and the next player raises. The tight player calls in front of you. Give it up. You’re beat. This may seem unnecessarily tight, but you don’t want to be drawing to a rough 8 against three players who likely have better draws than yours or might already have five-card hands to which you’re drawing dead. That slow-playing tight player might have a good 8 and be planning on just calling the next two rounds. Or, he might have a 7 and be waiting to spring the trap on the expensive rounds.

Of course, don’t be afraid to bet your best one-card draws and good five-card hands, even against the slow-playing tight players.

And, parenthetically, one thing to watch out for is the player who has a 7 on the third round, and does not bet it and just calls if anyone else bets. This player waits until the last round to come to life. When it happens, someone who gets caught often curses this player in the chat box. The launcher of the misspelled invective (misspelled because otherwise the censoring software bleeps out the expletives) fails to realize that such waiting to pull the trigger often costs the tricky player multiple bets, and sometimes backfires when his 7-low hand gets outdrawn. Sometimes the hand would not have been beaten if the slow-playing player had just protected it by betting and raising as often as he could. If you get caught — and I promise, you will — by such a play, just be aware that by costing himself money, the player has saved you money. As Mike Caro often says, “Money not lost spends just as well as money won.”

Against typical players, though, when you’re checked to, bet many of the same hands that you would have bet on the first round, and all of the better hands. If your opponents see you often betting two-card draws here, they will continue to call with their rough one-card draws, and their two- and three-card draws, and you will have better than they much of the time. You can sometimes check your two-card draws here, so as not to be completely predictable. As in any other game, if your opponents think they can count on you always to bet when checked to, they will start sandbagging with their good hands.

Don’t fall in love with an 8-low here. Your opponents will have two more draws to try to beat it. If your hand is 8-7-4-3-2 and you are checked to, you should of course bet. If you are bet into, you should raise. If two opponents draw two cards ahead of you, you should stand pat. If they draw one each, particularly if someone is yet to act behind you, break* the hand and draw one card, also. You’re hoping for a 5 or 6. If you come back on** the 8, you can decide what to do with it on the next round. You’ll see many players bitterly hang on to an 8 from the second round forward, usually just calling with it. This is often a mistake.

Break: In lowball, to draw. (The implication is that if circumstances were different, the player could stand pat on the hand.) “Hmm, three players drawing one card each. I guess I’d better break my hand.”

Come back on: 1. In lowball games, break one hand, and make (usually) a better hand. “I broke the 8 and came back on a 7.” … 2. Break a hand, and make the same hand again. “I broke the 8 and came right back on it.” [Adapted from The Official Dictionary of Poker

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 alliterative e-mail to [email protected].