Triple Draw Deuce To Seven Lowball
Triple Draw 2-7 is gaining popularity as it is one of the many games that is played in rotation at the "Big Game" in Las Vegas. It's extremely complex, with many many subtle complexities that I myself have yet to grasp. At this point, I want to discuss strictly basic strategy as it is important to understand that first. Furthermore, as it is played in Pokerstars 8-game rotation tournaments, Knowing the basics will help get you though the level, so you can get to the games where you can expect to have an edge on the table(Razz, 7-card stud and NLH for me)
The most important thing I can say is-don't leave home without a deuce. Every 7 low hand requires you to have a deuce in your hand, as 3-4-5-6-7 is a straight and that counts against you in Deuce to Seven. The 4 best possible hands are 2-3-4-5-7, 2-3-4-6-7-, 2-3-5-6-7, and 2-4-5-6-7. All of these are very strong hands and are unlikely to be beat. Pat 8-low hands are also very good, such as 8-6-5-3-2 and are generally sat on when you are dealt them. Playing a pat 9 is trickier however. A hand like 9-8-6-5-4 does not play well in a multi-way pot, as in general the other players will be drawing to 7's or 8's, and if you break your 9, you are only drawing to an 8-6 low which is not enough to beat the person who made his draw. However, hands like 9-7-4-3-2 or 9-6-4-3-2 are far stronger, as in a multi-way pot they can be broken up into a 1-card 7 draw or if heads up against someone drawing they can be sat on, and if it appears he made his draw can then be broken.
One card draws can also be very good-but be wary of 4-card straights. A 4-5-6-7-x can only hit a deuce to make a 7-low, and it's still only the 4th best low. In a multi-way pot there might not even be a deuce that you can hit to make that 7, and the best you can do then is a 9-7, which won't win a big pot. Generally, 1-card draws that are good enough to play are:
2-3-4-8, 2-4-6-8, 2-4-5-8, 2-3-5-8, 2-3-6-8, 2-5-6-8, 2-3-7-8, 2-4-7-8, 2-5-7-8, 2-6-7-8, 3-4-5-8, 3-4-6-8, 3-5-6-8, 3-4-7-8, 3-5-7-8, 3-6-7-8.
These hands should be played very aggressively, as you don't want to be drawing against a wide field with many of your outs in other peoples hands. Also, 4-card straights are borderline playable if they allow you to make a 7 and 8, but should always be folded if they only allow you to make an 8. So 2-3-4-5 and 4-5-6-7 are borderline playable, but 3-4-5-6 is not.
However, seeing made hands and 1 card draws is rare in Deuce to Seven. A good share of the hands you play will be 2 card draws. Generally you want to improve once on the draw to continue, but use your poker instincts and judgment from other games to try and figure out if drawing 2 again might be correct or if throwing away a 1 card draw is the right move. That being said, these 2-card draws are playable for any amount before the draw, but again you want to be aggressive when you play: 2-3-4, 2-3-7, 2-3-5, 2-4-5, 2-4-7, 2-5-7.
There are some other 2-card lows that are also playable, but these should be folded to a reraise and played somewhat cautiously, although I still recommend raising if you are coming in: 2-3-6, 2-4-6, 2-5-6, 2-6-7. Hands with a 6 in them cannot make the nuts, so you always have to remember that you could be beat. However, these hands do have a good chance of improving to a strong 1 card draw or a pat hand, and should be played accordingly.
And that's about all the hands I would play. In tournament situations you might find yourself in blind stealing positions, and it is okay to do that with a wide array of hands, but when doing so, know what you are doing and use good tournament strategy to guide your decisions. When stealing or defending your blinds keep anything 8 or lower and throw the rest away. You should never defend with only 1 low card and I don't recommend stealing with one either.
~klinkman, with props to Daniel Negreanu and his section on Deuce to Seven lowball in "Super System 2". Much of what I've learned about the game came from him.
