In part popularized by its employ on the poker TV show ‘High Stakes Poker,’ the variation of Hold Em known as ‘Seven Deuce’ is where if a casino player wins a pot holding a 7 2, the worst hand in online poker, all the other players at the table have to give him a bonus amount (decided upon before the game by the players). The primary logic here is that an opponent who can bluff his way into winning with an abysmal hand deserves a little extrabut the variation also has a number of interesting ramifications on the psychology of the game.

When a player will raise aggressively, trying to win a pot by force, it can often look as if he has pocket aces. The deceptive nature of trying to mask a horrible hand like 7-2 into the nuts can get into an opponent’s head as he is trying to decide whether his opponent actually has a huge hand, or if he is just trying to plow through and win with the 7-2. The theatrics and fireworks entailed when a player actually gets a monster hand to lay down (such as the famous Phil Hellmuth vs. Mike Matusow scene where Phil held 7-2 and got Mike to lay down KK) are alone enough to make the induction of the 7-2 in any home game a true treat.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009 at 9:15 am and is filed under Fun + Enjoyment, Gambling Capers, Life Of Games. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.