Spicing Up the Home Game With Some “Old School” Dramaha

Dramaha is a funny name for a poker game. A few years ago, an inexperienced dealer sat down and indicated that our assistance was going to be required as he wasn’t aware of the rules of the game he was about to pitch the cards for. He was sure though, that whatever this crazy game was about, his girlfriend would be great at it as she was “always about the drama.”
Being a split pot game that is a cross between Five Card Draw and Omaha, the game was originally referred to as Drawmaha, but over time the “w” has been dropped.
When first introduced, the winner of the Draw side was simply the holder of the best pure high hand. Since then, many other variants have been invented where the winner in Draw could be something else such as the best deuce-to-seven low, the best badugi, the highest or lowest sum of the pips, or even the highest blackjack hand.
While all of this might sound complicated, the structure is the same regardless of what particular flavor of Dramaha is being played. They are all dealt as Five Card Omaha with a single twist; after the flop betting round all players have one opportunity to draw as many cards as they like in an attempt to improve both their Draw and Omaha holdings.
At showdown, the pot is chopped between the best Omaha hand (using two from your hand and three from the board) and the best Five Card Draw holding (using all five cards within your hand).
Dramaha High is a blend of Omaha and the same old school Five Card High Draw that “Wild Bill” Hickok used to play at Saloon No. 10 in Deadwood. As many of you are probably aware, his main claim to fame is that he was shot in the back of the head holding aces and eights (aka “dead man’s hand”) by a “bad reg” named Jack McCall. Jack had lost a big pot to Wild Bill, and was offended by his offer to comp him breakfast as some sort of consolation.
If only they had been playing Dramaha instead. The dual nature of the game is a lot more fun, players are typically in a better mood, and perhaps Jack would have salvaged half the pot by winning the Omaha side, possibly preventing this tragedy from ever taking place.
Anyhow, the secret to success in any form of Dramaha is to place your primary focus on winning the Draw side, and just hope to get lucky in Omaha. This is especially the case in High Draw as whoever was in the lead heading into the draw is often a big favorite to remain best after it, and a lock holding can bet four streets for value.
For example, someone holding a pair of kings is almost a 4:1 favorite over a pair of queens in Draw, and since the former hand also has an inherent advantage in Omaha it’s quite a bad situation for the lower pair. Therefore, if there’s a decent chance you hold a higher pair, you should always attempt to isolate a single opponent especially if they are loose aggressive. There is risk involved, but it’s easier when you also hold an ace as it reduces the likelihood your opponent has a pair aces.
A pair of aces is a strong starting hand and since your opponent cannot have an overpair, a three-bet should be automatic. Even if you are up against two pair, it’s relatively difficult for that hand to beat you in Omaha, and there’s around a 25% chance of taking the lead in Draw.
In Deuce-to-Seven Dramaha the lowest ranking poker hand takes half of the pot. Aces are considered high, and straights and flushes count against you, thus a 7-5-4-3-2 low with at least two different suits is the nuts. Since hand values run similar to that of No-Limit Deuce-to-
Seven Single Draw one can consider patting a dealt jack, although that hand can easily be outdrawn.
The best possible draw (e.g. 2-3-4-7) is only a 56% favorite over 3-5-6-9, but 9♥ 6♥ 5♠ 3♠ would have the edge in Omaha making this particular match-up almost a pure coinflip. Many pots involve a pat ten or jack low hoping to survive a few opponents that are usually drawing very live to overtake it. Reading opponents, in particular what side they are probably confident in, is a key skill and there is often opportunity to make good poker plays on the later streets.
A low version of Dramaha may also be played as Ace-to-Five, but it is far less popular. Starting hand values are somewhat harder to judge, the ace might be too important for Omaha, and some players are more reluctant to enter pots when faced with some uncertainty on how to proceed.
As games are introduced, I thought it would be fun to assign ratings on a scale of 1-10, so here we go:
Deuce-to-Seven (9 out of 10) is often very well received and those trying it out for the first time tend to grasp it quickly. It probably produces more action than any other form of Dramaha, and occasionally after a spirited round a spontaneous request to play another orbit will get through without objection. And it’s usually hard to get a bunch of poker players to agree on anything.
Players can enter the pot with the knowledge that it’s unlikely someone else was dealt a hammerlock hand (it’s only around a 1% probability to be dealt an eight-or-better low), thus any reasonably good low they end up completing has a good shot at winning. And obtaining what they need for low on the draw doesn’t necessarily make it less likely to also improve in Omaha.
Dramaha High (7 out of 10) usually doesn’t have quite as much action as most players have come to realize that small and medium pairs aren’t worth very much, and good multi-way hands don’t come around that often. And with only one draw available, flushes and straights are difficult to make. It’s still a good poker game, however, over the years the rounds have become increasingly tight-aggressive.
While Ace-to-Five (5 out of 10) isn’t a bad game, it clearly plays second fiddle to Deuce-to-Seven and we are grading on a curve. In a home game or low-limit casino mix, there might only be an appetite for two or three Dramaha games, in which case one of the badugi or point system variants is probably a better choice to add for variety. ♠

Kevin Haney is a former actuary but left the corporate job to focus on his passions for poker and fitness. The certified personal trainer owned a gym in New Jersey, but has since moved to Las Vegas. He started playing the game back in 2003, and particularly enjoys taking new players interested in mixed games under his wing and quickly making them proficient in all variants. Learn more or just say hello with an email to [email protected].