As in Deuce to Seven Triple Draw, you are trying to make a low hand, but in Ace to Five straights and flushes do not count against you and Aces play for low. This means that the best possible hand you can have is A2345 with flushes being irrelevant to the rank of the hand. In Ace to Five, A2345 is called a wheel. A2346 is the next best hand and is called Number 2 or a 6-4. The next best hand is A2356 and so on. 23456 is the worst possible 6-low and the fact that it is a straight does not count against you.
Other than the hand rankings, the game play is identical to deuce to seven.
Deuce to Seven Triple Draw is a 5 card draw low game. Each player is dealt 5 cards and the goal is to make the lowest possible 5 card hand. There are three draws with a round of betting between each, for a total of four betting rounds. After each round of betting players choose cards to discard, anywhere from 0 to 5, and the dealer deals them replacement cards. After the third and final draw there is one last round of betting. A dealer button determines the order of betting and discarding.
In Deuce to Seven Triple Draw players try to make the lowest possible 5 card hand. Aces only play for high and deuces are low. Because you are trying to make the lowest possible hand, straights and flushes count against you. This means that 23456, for example, is a very bad hand. It is not considered a 6-low. It is a straight and is therefore worse than holding AKQJ9.
The best possible hand you can make is 23457 with no flush. This hand is called a wheel. The next best hand is 23467, again with no flush. This hand is often referred to as Number 2. Likewise, 23567 is referred to as Number 3 and so on.
Because Aces play for high 2345A is not a straight. It is the best possible Ace-low you can make-also called the Nut Ace. AKQJ9 is the worst possible unpaired hand you can make, since your goal is to make a low hand. 22345 would be the next best hand after that. The hand rankings are the inverse of the hand rankings in a regular high game.
Deuce to Seven Triple Draw is dealt with a maximum of 6 players. The game uses a dealer button just as in Texas Hold’em. The player directly to the left of the dealer button posts a live small blind and the player two to the left of the dealer button posts a live big blind. Each player is dealt 5 cards and there is a round of betting. The first betting round starts with the player to the left of the big blind, just as in Texas Hold’em. Each player in turn has the option to call, raise or fold.
After the first round of betting is complete, each player who has not folded has a chance to draw. Players are prompted in order to discard any cards they wish to replace in their hand. The first player to act is always the player closest to the left of the button. Players can discard from zero to 5 cards. If a player chooses to discard zero cards he is opting to stand pat. After a player acts on his hand and decides how many cards to discard the next player is prompted in turn to discard and so on until all remaining players in the pot have acted on the draw.
After each player has decided on their discards, the dealer begins replacing their cards in turn. For example, if the first player discards 3 cards, the second player discards 2 cards, and the third player discards 1 card the dealer would deal the first player 3 cards, then take that player’s discards into the muck. The dealer would then deal the next player 2 cards then take that player’s discards into the muck. The dealer would then deal the last player 1 card, then take that player’s discards into the muck.
After the draw is complete, there is another round of betting. The players then have an opportunity to draw again. After the second draw is complete, there is another round of betting. The players then have one more opportunity to discard. After this third and final draw, there is one more betting round.
Deuce to Seven uses the same betting structure as texas Hold’em. During the first two round of betting the limit is the small bet. So, if the game was a $10/$20 game during the first two round of betting a player could call or raise in $10 increments. The second two rounds of betting the limit is the big bet. In our example, a player can call or raise in $20 increments.
Three card poker starts with the dealer and the player are each dealt three cards. The player is shooting for 2 bets: “Pair Plus”, which is the poker player betting that he/she will have a pair or better, and “Ante”, which is the player competing versus the dealer’s hand.
Players can bet either pair plus or bet the ante, or both if he/she so chooses. After the player has made his wagers, the player and the dealer both take three cards. Let’s say the three card poker player bets on “pair plus”….he is rewarded if his hand contains a pair or better. If the three card poker player bets on the “ante”, he/she can fold if he/she thinks he can’t beat the dealer’s hand, or raise and challenge the poker dealer’s hand. If the three card poker player folds, he loses both the pair plus and the ante bet which ends the game.
Let’s say the three card poker player likes his hand and “raises”….he can now wager more cash equaling the ante bet. The three card poker dealer then flips over his cards to determine who gets the cash. To determine the game’s winner after the player has raised, the dealer’s hand must first “qualify”. In three card poker the dealer’s hand qualifies if the dealer has hi card queen or a pair or better. If for some reason the dealer doesn’t qualify, the player wins even money on his ante bet and ties on the raised bet. If the dealer and the player have the same ranking hand, the higher value wins. An example of this would be a pair of 7’s would beat a pair of 2’s. If the three card poker dealer’s hand is an exact tie of the player’s ante and raise, the bet is called a push and the three card poker player is refunded his loot.
If the three card poker player places an ante bet, raises the bet, and his hand shows as a straight, three of a kind, or straight flush, the player is awarded a bonus for a strong hand. The player can receive this bonus without the dealer having to qualify as well.
