7/27

This is one of the biggest hits wherever I play and one of the easiest to win money at. Oh yeah, the only relation it has to poker is that betting is involved, and lots of attempts at bluffing.


It's a split pot game. The object is to get as close to 7 or 27 as possible. The value of each card is as follows:


2 - 10: face value ie a 2 is worth two "points" a 10 is valued at ten.


J,Q,K : the value of these cards is half a point.


Ace : is valued at either one or eleven points.


Two cards are dealt to each player. One down, one face up. For example, if you hold an Ace and a King, you've got either one-and-a-half, or eleven-and-a-half points. It's up to you. Again, the object is to get as close to (or better yet to hit) 7 or 27.


A betting round occurs. (Keep the bets small, there are a lot of them). We usually make it a flat dollar per bet, three raises max.


After betting, the dealer goes around the table asking each player if he wants a card and deals accordingly. Another betting round. It's the dealer's job to announce the total of each player's board cards as a new card is dealt.


And so it goes. The cards cease being dealt when everybody has passed on taking a card three times. To reiterate, a player is only allowed to refuse a card three times. After that he is stuck with his hand.


In the frequent event that you, for example, finish with a hand worth six-and-a-half and your opponent finishes with seven-and-a-half, the low side of the equation wins (you are both equdistant from seven). If you both have six-and-a-half, you're quartered. If you have six-and-a-half and your low opponent has seven-and-a-half, you win. Same with a 26 vs 28 scenario for high. The guy holding 26 wins.


I'll finish up with some strategy, common occurances, and pot sizes, and other miscellaneous musings in a post below.

With six or seven weak players, it's not uncommon for 200-250 bets to end up in the pot. Beginners rarely fold until they've hit 30 or some other number way over the top. Bear that in mind.


You always want to go low. Always. The only exception is when you are dealt something like ACE TEN, then you can go a few bets to try for the nut 27. Be warned, you're taking a huge risk by stopping on 26, or even 26-and-a-half. Yes sometimes you'll win money but in the long run you'll lose. 27-and-a-half and above is a killer, absolute suicide. You'll soon see why.


So, we're all dealt our two cards. Obviously Player A with the 3(x) showing would prefer everybody else's up card is a 7 or higher. If so, he has virtually a lock on the nut low, irregardless of what his down card is. The obvious strategy here is to bet, raise, ram and jam until you make Player B with his 7 (and probably a face card down = Seven-and-a-half) reconsider going for low and start drawing for high. You've got to be flexible though and be willing to toss your hand eg 3(9?) if he refuses to budge.


More frequently though, most of the up cards give the appearance of going for low. Lots of twos, threes, and face cards showing (remember, face card = half a point). In this case, if your two cards add up to less than seven, start jammin the pot. Don't take any cards yet. Again, you want to scare your opponents into drawing cards, they hoping to hit a card to make a nut seven, you hoping they hit something which will force them to surrender the low and start drawing for high.


The absolute key to this game is to know when you are beat. If somebody resolutely refuses to budge from his obvious low hand you've got to draw and hope to end up with the nut seven. If you go over, get out immediately. Trust me, most times, especially against players who are new to this game, you will be able to force everybody off their low hand unless they do have a seven, so it is absolutely worth raising and reraising in the early stages of the game. But again, when Player C, with a worried look on his face finally takes a draw in the fourth round, pulls a face card and smiles, you're screwed sunshine. He's got the nuts. Get out if you don't have the seven, and even then, stop raising if there are less than four players left.


The profitable part of this game comes from the inexplicable fact that Player D will be happily sitting on a high hand all by himself after Player E busted out, when suddenly Player B (with six-and-a-half) loses his nerve after you, Player A, have been raising and reraising at every possible chance. Player B draws, hoping for a half point face card to make nut 7. Oops. He gets a five instead. Rather than just give up right there (and if you are playing in this circumstance you BETTER GIVE UP HERE) he'll decide to try for high. The unwritten laws of 7/27 dictate that he will now draw many, many face cards, twos and threes in his quest for the magic number 27.


More unwritten laws. Once Player B stops drawing for high, he will start raising. If Player D has any draws left, HE will often start to draw again. And on it goes.


Some suggestions: Count the cards out that will help you or hurt you. Keep track of the number of face cards out. A long run of not seeing a face card will often tell you now is a good time to take a punt to turn your six-and-a-half into the magic 7.


Make sure the players keep their board cards showing in the order they are dealt. This is useful in figuring out exactly what a player has in each hole card.


The game can be dealt two cards down, one card up. The plus side to this is it forces more players to go high right away, thus easier to bluff for low. The down side is there are usually less bets in the final pot. The ones going for high often bust out cheaply.


This game may be played either cards speak or declare. I prefer cards speak myself.


May you be dealt draw endless Ace Ace Five hands. Seven Twenty-Seven. (It scoops the pot). Peace and good luck. Paul

One more point for the truly evil b@@stards among you. Remember I said you can only refuse to draw three times, after that you are stuck with your hand? A profitable amendment is to allow only three FREE refusals. After that, if a player later decides he wants to continue drawing you can charge him a dollar a draw.

We play 7/27 in our home games, and also play a variation of this game called 2/22, and to start out two cards are dealt to each player (face down), and each player has the choice of which card they want to flip over. The game is played essentially the same way, with the exception that prior to the start of the hand, the dealer announces which color of cards will count (red or black). If the call is "RED", and you are dealt a black card, it has no value. And to keep all the players that are dealt 2 black cards down from all trying for the low (with zero), there is the stipulation that you must have at least 1/2 point to qualify for the low. (Same rules on 3 refusals and you are done).


The pot building comes when multiple people are on a draw for 22, and continually draw cards of no value.


And just like A-A-5 in 7/27, A-A (right color) scoops the pot.


Most of the weak players at this game though, start to get fed up with the fact that they never win and eventually learn to quit dumping a ton of money into the pot.


I agree...always go low, make your hand, or get out cheap.

How many players are you usually playing with in this game? And how does that affect the outcomes/winning hands?


G

I see infinite possibilities in 2/22 Tom. Thanks.

I have never been a fan when this game gets called. I agree, go low or get out cheap. However, I will draw for high if I have a hand of 17 or better. This way you can either get there quick, or get out. Any thoughts on the point to draw for high?

Once you are the only low left and 2, 3 or 4 suckers are all WAY high and have stopped taking cards.......TAKE A CARD. Squeeze them for extra betting rounds. Take 2 cards, 3 cards, 4 cards. Go til you are at 17.5. Sometimes you will get someone with the nut 27 raising you. You can then reraise and trap the donaters, errrr, other high hands for extra bets while you keep drawing and tacking on extra betting rounds. This is where you really crush the fish.


Clark

I was waiting for a post like yours Clark. My "Last Point" post above which mentions paying for extra cards after you've used your three free refusals is the prelude for pulling such a dastardly play.


Keep in mind though you only want to make that move with the right crowd. It doesn't make for good losers but occaissionally provides everyone with a laugh.


I played in a game once where this guy Lester (sitting on a seven) decided to get tricky. It must be said he was a bit drunk though at the best of times he wasn't the sharpest tool in the box. As an aside, we all knew Lester had nut seven because he loved going for high (go figure) and wouldn't stand pat on low unless he had seven.


Anyway, another player, Steve, was sitting on board cards queen, ten and five. (Not too hard to figure out he's got an ace under there).


Lester decided to get clever, and made his move after the draws had stopped. He drew a ten and bet. The high hand raised, Steve reraised and Lester actually capped it. This was a declaration game, with a final bet after declaring. Lester's mouth dropped a mile when he saw Steve chose to go low. As Steve put it later, "I would have taken it easy on the idiot if he hadn't smiled at me like I was dinner just before he drew another card."

How many players are you usually playing with in this game? And how does that affect the outcomes/winning hands?


I've played it with as few as five and as many as ten. With ten you've got to balance the likelihood that more players are dealt the nuts over the course of an evening against the pot odds you're being given. In other words you can stay a bit longer on a six and a half trying to scare other low players out because if that fails and you feel you're beaten and then miss a face card draw, much more money is going into the pot each game. When you do win the excess will compensate you for your previous losses.


But again, you've gotta stay low. Having six-and-a-half then deciding to take a punt on a face card is fine. The huge mistake people make is, if they hit anything other than the card they need, they decide to try "just one more draw" for high.


The classic case is you're on six-and-a-half, you can't budge the guy with a two showing (and no fives are showing on anybody's boards) and since lots of players are still gambling, you draw, hoping for a half point face card. Bang. You get an ace. You're a sure loser for low, so you try for two more miracle cards. Now you need a face card and a nine. And on it goes, with you and the others getting jammed every step of the way.


Stay low, fold when you know you're beaten. You'll win.

This strategy is minimized by the rule of not being able to draw after passing 3 times. It would be rare for you to not have passed thrice before the highs stop taking cards.

Your post brought up some memories...


Man, I used to HATE this game! The variation my buddies liked to play is that we could call "On or under" or "On or over".


"On or under" meant a hand could only qualify for low if it was 7 or under and for high if it was 27 or under and so forth.


I just hated any version of it.


However, I found a way to play it so as to make my friends (especially the guy who always called it) not want to play.


First I announced : "I freaking HATE this game and I am only going to play if I get dealt a 7. Then I am going to raise it every single time!"


Well, one of the first times I said this, I was dealt a 7, raised every time, and won 1/2 a big pot.


The next hand it was dealt, I folded after the first card.


The third time, I raised it every time as if I had a 7, knocking one guy off of a good 6, but then took cards to make a good high hand and won again.


No one wanted to see what I would do the 4th hand and we haven't played it since that night! And I believe that was in 1989.


I was playing in a home game the other night and a guy I hadn't played with before suggested 7-27. My longtime buddy Jim, who has played with me for 20 or so years, said "No way, I am NOT playing that game with Danny!"

I used to play this as a teenager and we had a rule that in the case of a tie 61/2 vs. 71/2 or something like that the person with the fewest cards won. Have you ever played with that rule.

when i learned the game, the showdown was after everybody refused a card in the same round. 3 refusals was not a rule, and there was one guy who would always sit on a face card or any card below 7 and sit and sit and sit, and then start drawing for high after everybody has busted out (this isn't necessarily a bad strategy) also, anybody drawing for high and going over 27 had to fold right away. it was played declare, and so sometimes an obvious low and obvious high were the only 2 left in the pot, and declared accordingly, but the high was forced to show to prove he didn't go over 27. fun little game, unfortunately the people i play with now pretty much refuse to play ANY new games.

he should have declared high/low and scooped the whole thing...

The 3-max rule is specifically in place to prevent the strategy you suggested. When a player starts with say 6 and 1/2, and then sees that nobody has lower than 17 on the board, he can take a card after everyone else in order to add more bets the pot. It unbalances the game towards low holdings and late position even more...and more than tolerable IMO (unless you're the dealer calling it every time).


Mojay