in 2-7 Triple Draw, is 77772 strong?

[Moose]

I know next to nothing about Triple Draw lowball, but a friend of mine plays a fair bit, and talks about a scenario where he was against players A and B, who capped the betting between them before the first draw, and then A stood pat while B drew three.

He swore up and down that this was a 100% sign he was being cheated, claiming that there was no hand worth capping that had a three-card draw.

My instinct is that 77772 would be an amazing hand with three draws to go, but again, I've played for nothing but trivial stakes for a total of two hours of my life.

Worth a cap preflop? Barely playable?

M.

[MarkGritter]

I would be happy to see 77772. I'm not sure whether I would snow with it or try to draw to a 7--- probably depends on the number of players, position, etc. The disadvantage is that when somebody makes a hand it's not going to be a 87, so they'll feel pretty confident calling with it; no rough 876s. I wouldn't cap with it, though, it's not that strong, but I'd try a steal from the button or CO.

On the other hand, four of a kind is so rare you could just fold it every time without costing yourself too much.

In the example you give it's possible the 2nd player was planning to stay pat with a rough hand and then realized it wouldn't work--- T98ww? Or was trying to isolate a weak player with, say, 2277x or 222wx. It's not clear who capped.

If they were colluding they did an awfully stupid job of it by driving somebody out before the first draw--- that's not going to be very profitable.

Some people raise with weak draws from any position. (I'm still trying to wean myself off 248, 258 from EP.) Heck, some people call a raise in the BB and draw 5. I wouldn't read too much into it from a single instance.

[lucas9000]

while i'm unclear as to who held 27777 in your example, i think it can be a strong hand. first, it's a great hand to snow with, because no one can make a 7. on the other hand, even if someone puts you on a legit pat hand and not a snow, if they have a really good draw and end up making an 8 (say they start with 2345x, and make 23458 on the river), they're not folding to one bet on the river just because they don't have a 7. the chances would be too good that you have a worse 8. so, its snowing value is not absolute. second, if you decide to draw 3, you know that any 7 you make is going to be the nuts. however, i don't think that makes it worth a cap preflop in most situations.

[Moose]

Sorry for not making this as clear as it should have been:

A> I never was told which player pitched 3 cards, but obviously he either bet and reraised, or raised and capped, and then discarded three cards. I'm sure the order is very important: If A ditches 3 in response to B's standing pat, that's a lot different that if A discardes 3 to open the 'draw round'.

B> no one had a 77772 specifically in this example. The reason why I mention it is because my friend insisted that no hand would be worth putting in a raise and cap (or a bet and a reraise) and then draw three. I figured this hand would clearly be worth it, simply because any 7 is the nuts, and any 8 would be easy to throw away if you put your opponent on an 8 at the end of it all.

C> What the heck does 'snow' mean? ^_^

M.

[MarkGritter]

[ QUOTE ]
What the heck does 'snow' mean?

[/ QUOTE ]

It refers to bluffing, specifically by standing pat with a bad hand. (I wouldn't call betting out with a pair after drawing 1 a snow, just a bluff, but keeping a K going into the last draw would be a snow.)

[timprov]

22227 is better, and also fits your criteria. It's also a better hand to draw to, headsup, because you're the only one that can make anything better than #9, and a smooth 87 will likely be good.