My 8 game advice! part 1 - Limit 2-7 Triple Draw

Hi all, I was asked to write a blog about my experience in the pokerstars 8 game.

Currently im a breakeven player at that game, however I know I can get better.

Just a run down on all the games available:

Limit 2-7 Triple Draw
Limit Holdem
Limit Omaha 8 or Better
Razz
Stud
Stud 8 or Better
No Limit Holdem
Pot Limit Omaha

Today, in the first part of my series, I will talk about Limit 2-7 Triple Draw and my strategy about this.

Limit 2-7 Triple Draw is a "draw game".

In Limit 2-7 Triple Draw, the goal is to make the lowest hand possible. As the name of the game suggests a 2-7 low is the best hand.

Here are the hand rankings from the strongest hands with a 2-7 low:

23457 (best possible hand)
23467 (2nd best possible hand)
23567 (3rd best possible hand)
24567 (4th best possible hand)

So you get the idea of the hand rankings. Straights don't count!

Most of the time you will not get a 2-7 low tho. So you need to plan for a 2-8 low. These are the hand rankings for a 2-8 low:

23458 (5th best possible hand)
23468 (6th best possible hand)
23478 (7th best possible hand)
23568 (8th best possible hand)
23578 (9th best possible hand)
24568 (10th best possible hand)

So there you go. That's the top 10 strongest hands in Limit 2-7 Triple Draw.

So as you can see, you get dealt 5 cards face down in this game. You have 3 chances to make the best hand possible (triple draw).

Now to illustrate the betting rounds. Generally you want to stay in the hand when you have 3 good cards lower than 8. You can discard as many cards as you want, or you can "stand pat" if you have a 2-7 or 2-8 low and don't want to discard any cards. Generally, you will stand a good chance of winning the pot with a 2-7 low or 2-8 low hand, thus you generally don't want to fold 2-7 low or 2-8 low hands because most of the time they will be the winner.

So Limit 2-7 Triple draw, as the name suggests is a Limit betting game. There are 4 betting rounds total. You can make 1 bet in the first 2 betting rounds and double the bet in the last 2 betting rounds, making it 4 betting rounds total. Of course you can raise in this game, just like any other poker game. The noteable difference here is though, since this is a Limit game, the bets are not as big as say No Limit Holdem, so your opponents are getting good odds to stay in the hand to try to outdraw you. The lowest hand wins.

So that concludes part 1 of my series on playing 8 game poker on PokerStars. I have created a Home Games club on PokerStars for anyone interested in playing 8 game. I would suggest to wait until I have revealed all 8 parts of my series on 8 game mix before playing 8 game though, to make sure you are equipped with the best information possible

Thanks for listening everyone! Any questions or suggestions on how I can improve my blog is greatly appreciated

Best regards,

Richard Cuming
richierichnz from PokerStars

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For more info on this blog and my journey on PokerStars, feel free to visit and like my public facebook page :

https://www.facebook.com/Richierichnz-Poker-Pro-591364387907005/?modal=admin_todo_tour

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To join my PokerStars Home Game and play 8 game poker with me online, send me a invitation request to by following the following instructions:

Open the poker stars main poker lobby, then click on the Home Games tab.

Click the 'Join a Poker Club' button
Enter my Club ID number: 2176551
Enter my Invitation Code: becomeapokerprotoday

That's it! Once I've approved your membership request, we'll be ready to start playing Home Games online together.

If you want to find out more, visit https://www.pokerstars.com/poker/home-games which is the PokerStars Home Games web page.

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You need to brush up on the hand rankings as you've made a couple of mistakes

toots babos said:

You need to brush up on the hand rankings as you've made a couple of mistakes

Click to expand...

cheers buddy. i'm a member of another poker forum and I was told the same thing. I'll update my guide as soon as I get the green light in regards to the hand rankings

My 8 game advice! part 1 - Limit 2-7 Triple Draw EDITED 12/2/19

Hi all, I was asked to write a blog about my experience in the PokerStars 8 game.

Currently im a breakeven player at that game, however I know I can get better.

Just a run down on all the games available:

Limit 2-7 Triple Draw
Limit Holdem
Limit Omaha 8 or Better
Razz
Stud
Stud 8 or Better
No Limit Holdem
Pot Limit Omaha

================================================== ================================================

Today, in the first part of my series, I will talk about Limit 2-7 Triple Draw and my strategy around this.

Limit 2-7 Triple Draw is a "draw game".

In Limit 2-7 Triple Draw, the goal is to make the lowest hand possible. As the name of the game suggests a 2-7 low is the best hand.

Here are the hand rankings from the strongest hands with a 2-7 low:

Please note: the hands are ranked from highest card to lowest card.

The best way to think about these card rankings is to think of it like a number! The lowest number wins!

75432 (best possible hand) (eg. 75,432)
76432(2nd best possible hand) (eg. 76,432)
76532 (3rd best possible hand) (eg. 76,532)
76542 (4th best possible hand) (eg. 76,542)

So you get the idea of the hand rankings. Straights don't count!

Most of the time you will not get a 2-7 low tho. So you need to plan for a 2-8 low. These are the hand rankings for a 2-8 low:

85432 (5th best possible hand) (eg. 85,432)
86432 (6th best possible hand) (eg. 86,432)
86532 (7th best possible hand) (eg. 86,532)
86542 (8th best possible hand) (eg. 86,542)
86543 (9th best possible hand) (eg. 86,543)
87432 (10th best possible hand) (eg. 87,432)
87532 (11th best possible hand) (eg. 87,532)

So there you go. That's the top 11 strongest hands in Limit 2-7 Triple Draw.

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The basic rule of thumb is the 2 is the most powerful card in the game, because you can not make a 7 low without it. Ideally you want to start with either a 2-7 in your hand or a 2-8 in your hand, to ensure you cannot accidentally get a straight (which doesn't count).

Also credit to VorpalF2F! He pointed out about the 6: This is a poison card -- it is in all straights 7-high through T-high, so if you're drawing to a hand with a six in it, your top-card minus your bottom card must be greater than 4.

VorpalF2F also mentioned the following:

EXAMPLES OF HANDS DRAWING TO 1 CARD:

Example:
Drawing to 7,6,4,3 can draw a straight if you get a 5
Drawing to 7,6,4,2 can't
If you are drawing to a hand where a straight is possible, you can -- you just have 4 fewer outs.

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An Ace is a high card in this game - ie. it is useless. However a Ace low will beat any pair.

Just like straights, a pair is useless in Limit 2-7 Triple Draw. ie. 23456 or 23477.

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So as you can see, you get dealt 5 cards face down in this game. You have 3 chances to make the best hand possible (triple draw).

Now to illustrate the betting rounds. Generally you want to stay in the hand when you have 3 good cards lower than 8. You can discard as many cards as you want, or you can "stand pat" if you have a 2-7 or 2-8 low and don't want to discard any cards. Generally, you will stand a good chance of winning the pot with a 2-7 low or 2-8 low hand, thus you generally don't want to fold 2-7 low or 2-8 low hands because most of the time they will be the winner.

Another strategy to using "stand pat" when you don't want to discard any cards - is to stand pat on the final betting round with any low. If your in position and your opponent discards 2 or more cards on the final draw, you may want to stand pat as a bluff to act strong, even if you do not have a strong hand. This way if your opponent checks to you on the final betting round, you can bet out and take down the pot when your opponent thinks you are strong after you stand pat.

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So Limit 2-7 Triple draw, as the name suggests is a Limit betting game. There are 4 betting rounds total. You can make 1 bet in the first 2 betting rounds and double the bet in the last 2 betting rounds, making it 4 betting rounds total. Of course you can raise in this game, just like any other poker game. The noteable difference here is though, since this is a Limit game, the bets are not as big as say No Limit Holdem, so your opponents are getting good odds to stay in the hand to try to outdraw you. The lowest hand wins.

==================================================================================================

So that concludes part 1 of my series on playing 8 game poker on PokerStars. I have created a Home Games club on PokerStars for anyone interested in playing 8 game. I would suggest to wait until I have revealed all 8 parts of my series on 8 game mix before playing 8 game though, to make sure you are equipped with the best information possible.

Thanks for listening everyone! Any questions or suggestions on how I can improve my blog is greatly appreciated

Best regards,

Richard Cuming
richierichnz from PokerStars

==================================================================

For more info on this blog and my journey on PokerStars, feel free to visit and like my public facebook page :

https://www.facebook.com/Richierichn...dmin_todo_tour

==================================================================

To join my PokerStars Home Game and play 8 game poker with me online, send me a invitation request to by following the following instructions:

Open the Poker Stars main poker lobby, then click on the Home Games tab.

Click the 'Join a Poker Club' button
Enter my Club ID number: 2176551
Enter my Invitation Code: becomeapokerprotoday

I have created 2 8 game tournaments a day! Only 11c! This tournament will be IDEAL for improving your 8 game performance, following my instructions

That's it! Once I've approved your membership request, we'll be ready to start playing Home Games online together.

If you want to find out more, visit https://www.pokerstars.com/poker/home-games which is the PokerStars Home Games web page.

==================================================================

Please note: this post was edited on 12/2/19

A couple more tips from nsavov from another poker forum site:

If we start with the nuts, we should NOT 3bet it! Letting more people in is as good if not better than playing a 3bet Heads Up pot.

Pairs are really useful for standing pat - bluffing, also known as "snowing" because they block the good hands your opponent may have/chase.

Even though this is a limit game, position is just as important as in NLHE or PLO. It is true, that there are 4 betting rounds but the draws themselves can be seen as "bets" too. Like "I bet my 9 is ahead here, Im standing pat" or "I bet my 8 cant win vs his raise, I should draw".
So, in poker, the more actions you can make in a hand, the more important your positional advantage gets. In this game there are up to 7 actions!

Which leads to the next tip - Some times it's not that good to raise your good but vulnerable hand. Lets look at this scenario:


Hero is BU, raises [72]. BB calls
BB draws 2, Hero draws 3
BB bets, Hero calls. (Its a completely standard practice to auto bet after your opponent drew more cards than you)
both draw 2
Hero gets [86]742
BB bets, Hero??

Its really unlikely that Villain hit a strong hand after drawing 2 and after we having an 876 low.
That being said, its likely that Villain has a strong draw to a 7 and possibly made some kind of a 9 or T.
If we just call his bet he may stand pat with [9]7532 or [T]7532 because he has 67% or more against our strong draws.
And if he chooses to stand pat with a 9 or T, he is drawing dead against our 8.
But if we raise, he knows he's probably no good but he has the odds to chase to his strong 7 draw, and he will have 21% against our vulnerable 8.
Getting the extra bet in after the second draw is not worth the equity we can win if we make our oponent pat a weaker hand, because we have position and can get that extra bet in anyway.