The worst hand in poker

Ok, me and some of my poker buddies have had a lot of controversy over this one. I think that the worst hand is 7/2 offsuit, but my friend keeps on telling me that it is an 9/2 offsuit. So, what is the worst hand? 7/2 offsuit?? 9/2 offsuit?? or something different?!?!?

72 offsuit...your friend is a liar. Nice post...except not.

You are both wrong. 3 2 off is the worst hand in poker if played 'cold' (i.e no betting) it has a 32% chance against a random hand whereas 7 2 has a 35% chance against a random hand.

i'm with stack them up.
if played cold its the 3 2 off

There is no "worst hand" in poker. The worst hand is the losing hand!

why would a 2/9 be worse than a 2/7??? Doesn't matter anyway, don't call with this cards anyway!

Of course there is a worst hand! You are at a severe disadvantage if you are holding 2 3 off compared to lets say K J!! What a silly comment

I'd take 9/2 over 7-2 heads up any situation, you got the best kicker!

You also forgot to mention the dreaded 9,4 off suit. and the 8,2

I feel 7 and 2 is.

Playing once and the big blind wins with three 2's, had 7 and 2 in his hand and hit two 2's on the flop.

All low cards can be bad but always consider the situation and especially the blinds.

The reason that 7 2 off is the worst hand is because it has the worst potential of any other poker hand. It is in the class of junk hands that have no way to pick up a straight with out getting 4 cards. Off suit meaning you also need 4 cards for a flush.

23 offis better because you only need to pick up 3 cards for a straight.

9 2 off is better because the nine is higher and a 9 high straight if you were to get it. Beating a 7 high straight.

HoldemChamp..I'm afraid your wrong! Get yourself a decent poker calculator and work it out. I am telling you straight.. 2 3 off is the worst hand in poker played cold. Ask any decent professional and he'll agree...check david Sklansky's book too!
John

I have been amazed at how many times I get 7-2 os while in the big blind. Of course, nothing ever seems to come on the flop. However, if I am not in the blind and I fold my 7-2 os, invariableythe flop looks something like this - 2-7-7 ... lol

Lemme clear this up.

32o is the worst hand heads-up.
72o is the worst hand multi-way.

Ask any decent professional and he'll agree...check david Sklansky's book too!
John[/quote]
Is Sklansky's book worth getting? I know the technical aspect is meant to be very concise but I have been warned that its very high brow and can be very difficult to read. (my attention span wouldn't be the best!).

In English???

I play A's with caution,especially preflop,if I just limp in it's not bad but when they jack the bid up I fold. Say if I'm holding A-3 suited say hearts,the flop is 4-6-9,say only 2 hearts here but holding 2,I'll stay because I have a chance of hitting A-high flush or possible low straight. River up and it's a 7 of heart,I'll stay and bet.knowing a straight is not going to beat me,no possible way of making a full boat and I'm holding the A. How would you play the cards, any different?

Hi,
I would only recommend sklansky's book to people who already have a pretty strong grasp of poker. Some of his chapters make heavy reading and some are double loaded with maths. But if you feel like your ready to improve you MTT then you can't go wrong with this book, i enjoyed it and i have also incoporated some aspects into my MTT strategy.
John

Dorcus,

Thank you for clearing that up. I meant multi-way.

2,8 offsuit is probably the worst.

This gets the award for the most insightful, useful reply of the day. Keep it up, only 13 more to go!

This is not true if there are more than a certain number of players at the table. Let me put it this way... is your 2 7 which paired a 7 on the flop (Which is all you can really hope for, since you are saying that the 2 7 is better than the 2 3 because a 7 is higher than a 3) going to hold up against 5 callers with likely much better hands? Of course not, which is why a potential straight from playing the 2 3 will win you more money in the long run than a 2 7.


Sure, your 7 might pair, beating a pair of 3's in heads up. But your 2 7 is almost always going to lose in bigger games, as opposed to a possible straight with the 2 3 (especially since most likely nobody else will catch the straight since they will be playing higher cards)

BOTH HANDS SUCK...DONT PLAY THEM

but 2 3 is better than 2 7 (especially for long-term payoff) given a certain number of players are in the game.

I really hate to disagree crippler but i'm going to. I've worked it out using a very clever poker calculator, the same one as david sklansky.
2 3 off against 3 other random hands has a 12.5 % of winning cold
7 2 off against 3 other random hands has a 18% of winning cold
If you don't believe me,pm and i'll send the calculator for you to use it and see for yourself.

John

You know what is the all time, super duper, make me want to puke thing ever? This thread.

Cold / hot who cares.

You want to play 7/2 against my 3/2 feel free. I'd fold either. But if I was down to one shot I'd go 2/3. At least then all I need is an A 4 5 or 4 5 6

But this is also the place that they want you not to go all in while your short stacked and holding an AK offsuit

oh BTW just going heads up I put 2/3 in against AA and then did the same with 7/2

2/3 to win is 11.8%
2/7 to win is 10.8%

Doesn't mean much but just saying

Thats a specific hand,i said 2 3 off was the worst hand against a RANDOM hand. The thread asked what is the worst hand in poker and i have answered it correctly, the facts don't lie, 2 3 is worse than 7 2. End of discussion. The fact is that both are crap hands but all i was doing was answering the question.
John