Oh, on basics: Ace is high. Straights and flushes are bad. Best hand is 23457. Until these basic principles are hammered into your soul, stick to play money. Or come to my table.
I'd suggest playing it for awhile with play money. PS also has play money tourneys on these games. Yes, I know that people play differently with play money -- but that does not mean you have to.
2-7 triple draw -- any hand over an 8 high is going to lose a lot of the time. So you want to stay in a hand seldom, only drawing to a 7 or 8, and only drawing one single card (except when you are in the BB and it is unraised -- then draw however many you need.) Because you are only keeping hands with positive equity, each hand you are playing is worth a raise. Make the other guys pay for their draws. Stand pat on a 9 or ten, or even a jack, if you are in late position and everyone else is drawing. But once someone stops drawing and also stands pat, your hand is probably beat.
2-7 single draw NL -- I like this game better. But you cannot play with real money for cheap. You need a decent bankroll. There are play money tables and tourneys. In this game, a 9 or ten high often wins. If you catch a 7 or 8 high, you are unlikely to lose. Again, do not voluntarily enter a pot in which you are drawing more than one card. A 3xBB raise pre-draw is appropriate. You do not want to encourage drawing, but you don't want to discourage it altogether. Also, your pre-draw raise may be all there is to get the pot a bit bigger, as when people miss their draws, they are unlikely to call a bet after the draw. (Duh.) Some people bluff big, but most do not. In fact, there are far fewer big bets and all-ins in this game than in holdem. Mostly, these only happen when two people get huge hands. And then one is very disappointed...
Oh, on basics: Ace is high. Straights and flushes are bad. Best hand is 23457. Until these basic principles are hammered into your soul, stick to play money. Or come to my table.
@ Spiderman -- I'd strongly suggest not drawing 2 cards -- on either game. You can usually tell the better players at a table because they raise pre-draw, and they almost never draw more than one card.
In triple draw, it is sometimes clever (if you get lucky) to hide that you are drawing 2 cards, by drawing one at a time. For instance, on the 4567K example, discard the K on the first draw. If your draw is low and not pairing, you will likely have either a monster or a str8. If a str8, discard the 6. I don't advocate this if any opponents are pat.
If there are other (good) players, assume that some or most of those outs are gone. This is why you want to play only near-nut hands, and do not want to be drawing more than one card -- you will have a hard enough time catching the desirable cards, because they are desirable for everyone. so you watch to see how many cards others are drawing to find out how many of these desirable cards they have. You may, in actuality, be drawing dead and unaware of this. Keep that in mind.
i've been playing a bit and kinda made some observations.
first: I try not to draw more than 2 to a 7 or 1 to an 8... if i get a low 9, i don't draw unless i'm convinced the person has made a better hand than I have..
Second: If i draw two and get no good cards from the draw and i'm being bet into by someone who drew equal to or less than I did, i'll STRONGLY consider folding
third: I raise with anything i am playing 1 to a low 8 and 2 to a 7.
Am i off base here?
Originally Posted by doops
In triple draw, it is sometimes clever (if you get lucky) to hide that you are drawing 2 cards, by drawing one at a time. For instance, on the 4567K example, discard the K on the first draw. If your draw is low and not pairing, you will likely have either a monster or a str8. If a str8, discard the 6. I don't advocate this if any opponents are pat.
This [my suggestion to break up draws to hide the fact that you need to make 2 cards] sounds like dangerous advice, whether your opponent(s) is standing pat or not. You need to improve your hand as quickly as possible, and make the move to best ensure that likelihood. Your scenario, you're looking at a 2, period. Discard the 6 and K, you're looking at a 2 or 3 or 8 - and if you're really lucky, 2 of the 3. But you've increased your odds 3x, and that's a critical point, IMO. You'll save money by knowing where you stand after the 1st draw.