Triple Draw Lowball

With the popularity of hold 'em these days, it is hard to imagine that people actually play other varieties of poker. Obviously, all of the easy money is in no limit hold 'em these days, but I like some variety in my poker playing. I've always made it a point to try and make myself a well rounded poker player and competent in all poker disciplines. It is usually pretty easy to get into a pot limit omaha, omaha 8/b or a stud game. Razz and stud 8/b are harder to find--I usually play those games exclusively online. I know triple draw lowball (both 2-7 and A-5) is spread on one of the big online sites. However, I don't have any money on that site.

I was determined to take a shot at a triple draw lowball tournament. In my opinion, only good poker players will try their hand at draw poker. It is "old school" in the sense that you heavily rely on your reading of other players. I don't know why I wanted to play this tournament. I guess I was just up for the challenge of playing against a talented field of players. I had played a few triple draw hands in my home game and even a few online for play money, but had never played this game in a real casino. I played this tournament the day after I fumbled around in the H.O.S.E. event. I guess I wanted some redemption after making a few mistakes in that tournament.

I got off to a bit of a slow start and didn't pick up any big hands. I quickly learned how valuable position is in this game. My first big confrontation was in a 3 way pot with one player holding 2-3-4-6-8 who led after the third draw. The pot was raised, I called and the player with the 8 also called. I held 2-3-5-6-7, while the raiser held 2-3-4-6-7. Ouch. I kept my composure, but the cards were just not cooperating. I made a good read on a California area pro but couldn't make the overcall with my 9-6. The pro had a smooth 10 low and the caller had a 9-7.

When the cards are not cooperating, sometimes you just have to take things into your own hands and manufacture a win here and there. I certainly did that when I had position. I started bluffing a lot. I was standing pat and betting with nothing--just hoping that my opponents did not make their draw. I led out and bet after the third draw more often and was winning pots. I even led out with a pair of 3s after the third draw and got my opponent to fold his pair of 3s. While I really wanted to show that bluff, you can't afford to give any information away in a game like this. Before too long, I realized that we were down to the final 3 tables (18 players--draw poker is 6 handed) and I was sitting with an average stack. I was pleased with my little run to get back in this thing. I maintained my aggressiveness on the button (which meant standing pat and betting a lot of 10 lows) and did not allow myself to lost my average chip stack size.

I believe my patience paid off as we we got down to 10 players pretty quickly. By the time we were 8 handed, I had become short stacked. The tournament only paid out the top 6, so I had to decide if I was going to to go for the win or try and fold my way into the money--I went for the win. I put it all on the line with an 8 draw and I pulled out a 2 on the last draw to hit. I was still somewhat short after that, but I picked up a couple of pots to build my chips back up a bit. By the time we got to the final table, I was 4th in chips and felt confident in my game.

I went on a bit of a tear early on at the final table. I stood pat with a jack low while my opponent drew one card. He led out after the draw and I called him down with my jack. I was right--he made a pair of 3s and I took down a huge pot. If you didn't know a made jack against a 1 card draw is about even money. At that point I was the chip leader and carefully played the big stack. I attempted to knock out a local pro with a 10-9 after he kept drawing and he made a crying call with a 10-8 after the third draw. I knew my table image changed at that point as I couldn't turn over a hand that could beat a 10-8. I tightened up a bit as I had just doubled up a short stack and no longer held a huge chip lead. Eventually, we got to heads up between myself and the local pro. He had knocked out two players while I had done the same. However, he held a 3-2 chip lead over me and the blinds were high.

We traded pots back and forth for a while. After playing 10 hours, I figured heads up could last quite a long time. It didn't. About 5 hands into heads up play, I lost a big pot when I folded a made 9-7 after getting raised after the last draw. I went with my read that my opponent drew out. Maybe I should have called there, but I just felt as though I was beat. I was now down in chips about 3-1 and needed to get back in it. I had the button and raised after the first draw where we both drew one card. After the second draw, we both drew one again and I made the 8-5 low. The fifth nuts. We capped the betting after the second draw. I was somewhat worried that I was beat, but how do you break the nut 8 and draw to a 7? If my opponent has a 7, then I'm drawing to 3 outs. If he doesn't, my hand is good. I got my last bet in after we were both pat on the last draw. Of course, my opponent rolls over 2-3-4-6-7--the second nuts. I was out in second. While the money was nice, you are always disappointed when you get eliminated from the tournament--especially with a hand like that. While I don't have the bankroll to play in a triple draw cash game (you rarely find a low stakes game going), I'll definitely play more triple draw tournaments.