Updated In September, 2020 - 2-7 Triple Draw follows a format that will be very familiar to most poker players. I'm talking about the five card draw format. You'll get five cards and you get to trade some in. In 27 Triple Draw you will be able to draw 3 times. The goal of the game is also different, instead of drawing for the highest hand you want to draw for the lowest hand. There are a couple rules concerning the lowest hand, these will be covered shortly. Before we begin discussing the rules of 27 Triple Draw lets take a minute to look at the mixed poker games that its included in. Currently the only mixed games that offers 2-7 Triple Draw are 8 Game Poker at Pokerstars and 10 Game Poker at Full Tilt Poker. These two mixed games have overtaken horse poker in popularity online. 27 Triple Draw is the most uncommon and misunderstood game in 8 game poker and is one of three draw poker games 10-Game. This means that 2-7 Triple Draw has the potential to either be your most profitable game or your most unprofitable game in the line-up.
Since you are here its safe to assume the first option is the one you prefer. Learning the rules of 2-7 Triple Draw is only the first step in the road to domination though. Luckily we offer a 2-7 Triple Draw strategy guide that will help you become the most well rounded player at the table. I'm getting a little ahead of myself though, you are here to learn how to play 27 Triple Draw so lets begin.
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Highest 27 TD Traffic - At Poker Stars you will find the largest 27 Triple Draw community in the world. The competition is much tougher then FullTilt's fledgling 27 Triple Draw community but if you are looking for high volume 27 TD action at a wide range of stakes Pokerstars is the place for you. Our Pokerstars new player code offers three consecutive 100% bonuses, up to $600 (see review for more details). - 2014 Pokerstars review
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How 2-7 Triple Draw Is Played
27 Triple Draw uses blinds just like Texas Holdem and Omaha. The players to the left of the button are force to put in the small and big blind. You will be dealt 5 cards and players can either call, raise or fold. You will do this 2 more times for a total of 3 draws, I have broke it down below.
1. Blinds
2. 5 cards are dealt
3. Players call/raise/fold
4. Players draw 0 - 5 cards (Draw #1)
5. Players bet/fold
6. Players draw 0 - 5 cards (Draw #2)
7. Players bet/fold
8. Players draw 0 - 5 cards (Draw #3)
How To Win In 2-7 Triple Draw
The objective in 2-7 Triple Draw is to get the lowest hand. There are a couple specific rules that you need to know. The first thing, which many new players learn the hard way, is that Aces are always high. The worst single card you can be holding is an Ace. Another important rule is that flushes and straights count. This is why it is called "2-7" Triple Draw. Since Aces are always high A-2-3-4-5 is not a good hand at all and since straights count 2-3-4-5-6 is an even worse hand. The best possible hand in 27 Triple Draw is 2-3-4-5-7. Here is a summary of you just learned:
- Aces are always high
- Straights and flushed count
What is "Standing Pat"?
Standing pat means you are not drawing cards. As you can see in the image to the right I'm holding a fairly strong hand so drawing any cards would be inadvisable. If you are in a situation where drawing cards will probably weaken your hand it is best to "stand pat". Standing pat can also be used as a bluffing tool but we will cover that type of stuff in our 2-7 Triple Draw strategy article.
27 Triple Draw can be played in fixed limit, no limit and pot limit formats. Two to six players can play at a time. With 3 draws and five initial cards each player can end up going through 20 cards in a single hand. Multiply that by 6 and you will get a number much larger than the 52 cards in a standard deck. That scenario will probably never happen to you but you will certainly be in a hand where you run out of cards. Typically what you would do is just shuffle up the discards and use them. Pokerstars has employed a much more controversial and method to running out of cards in 27 Triple Draw. They do re-shuffle the discards but they have programmed it in a way that guarantees that you never receive the same cards that you discarded earlier in the hand.
This has been met with a lot of negativity from the Triple Draw poker community. If you run out of cards after the 2nd draw you are guaranteed not to receive any of the cards you discarded during the 1st and 2nd draw phases. While there really isn't any harm in doing it in this fashion the problem most players have is its not random. As online poker players we expect everything to be exactly as if we were playing at a home game or brick and mortar casino. This little known rules changes the odds of the game somewhat too. A good Triple Draw player remembers his discarded cards and factors that into his decision making when drawing. As one unhappy player puts it:
Other than this the rules of 27 Triple Draw are pretty much universal. The next stop on your road to success is our 27 Triple Draw strategy article.