[Ringo]

To decide who goes to the shops, my flatmates and I played a hand of Irish Holdem, with the worst hand going to the shop. It's better than texas holdem or cutting high card for that kind of thing, since there`s at least a bit of decision making in one hand. For those not familiar with Irish Holdem, it's similar to Omaha, in that each player is dealt 4 starting cards - but on the flop, each player must discard two of them. It makes for some interesting situations, and in this case, the worst hand was going to the shop. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

The hand in question provoked a bit of discussion, and I'd like to see if anyone here has any thoughts or insights. After the hand was over, the discussion was whether my flatmate played his hand optimally.

He was dealt 8-9-10-10, and the flop came J-Q-A. I forget the suits, but they didn`t come into the question. Now bearing in mind there are 3 of us in the hand, each with 4 cards, my flatmate caused a bit of controversy when he ditched a made hand (10`s), and kept 9-10 for open ended straight draw.

His reasoning was that with two other players in the hand, each with 4 cards, his 10`s were beat. I think this was a bad move. Remember, the aim in this situation is to just not have the worst hand. Best hand, and second best hand aren`t going to the shop. With his draw, I figure he will be going to the shop 2/3 times (assuming if he hits, he`s not going, and he is if he misses).

He, however, reasoned that with a flop of 3 overcards, his 10`s were most likely beat, and by going for the draw, had at least a 1/3 chance of not going to the shop. To justify this, I think he`d have to be sure his 10`s have a worse than 1/3 chance of being a "not go to the shop hand" to ditch them... and with 3 overcards, and two opponents each with 4 cards, maybe he's not such a muppet for ditching a made hand [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Any thoughts on this? I found it interesting, in that the numbers are nice - 3 players, 2-1 against the straight, and in that you aren`t trying to make the _best_ hand as such, but just not the worst hand.

I'd like to hear what anyone else has to say on the play, as well as the way we're approaching the analysis.. cheers guys! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]