Jump to content

Pass The Trash Hi/low 8 Or Better


Recommended Posts

Here's a game you don't come across often - Pass the Trash Hi/Low 8 or better. Played a crazy hand of this in my home game a few weeks ago, and I'm curious what people think I should have done. (cross posted from another poker forum)

 

 

There were a lot of people in the hand (5 got to showdown) so I'll call players P1 and P2 based on when their position relative to the dealer (I would be P6, or the cutoff had we been playing Hold'em).

 

Obviously there isn't a ton of information in this game. Everyone holds seven cards, and you only know what you've passed to other players and how confident they are based on their betting and their actions. We played that you passed to a different player on each round, so you can't load one person's hand up on multiple rounds.

 

On the deal, I'm dealt trip jacks and K-Q-5-2. The first player brings it in for a complete bet (we played with a 7-stud betting structure - dealer ante with the player to the left of the dealer being the forced bring-in), everyone calls (including me, then the dealer raises. Everyone calls the raise and we get to our first pass.

 

QUESTION #1: Would it have been correct to raise here? Or is the call okay?

 

I pass K-5-2 to Player 2. My hand doesn't improve (I get 9-8-7 and now hold Q-J-9 of clubs - the king that I passed was not the king of clubs ... obviously this is important later). P1 checks, P2 bets, P3, P4 and P5 call, I call, dealer raises, P1 calls, P2 3 bets, and it's called around by everyone except P3, who folds.

 

QUESTION #2: Is it reasonable to call here? The only players you have any information on are P2, who you know has K-5-2, and the dealer, who has been very aggressive.

 

On the second pass, I pass 8-7 to P-4 and receive 10-9 with the 10 of clubs. So now I have jacks full of nines OR an open-ended straight flush draw. I'll have to give up one of the cards on the next pass.

 

P1 now bets out, P2 calls, P4 raises, and P5 calls. I'm holding jacks full, but I'm confused by all this action, so I just call. The dealer raises, and P1, who opened the action, tank-folds, and it calls around to P5, who is down to less than three BBs and caps it.

 

Stacks are now pretty short for most people at the table. P2 and I are the only people who have enough left in our stacks to put in a full 4 BBs; P4, P5 and the dealer all have less than 2 BBs.

 

QUESTION #3: Now that we're in this position, what do we do? Do we feel like we're behind and break up the full house to give us two more outs to what would almost certainly be the winning high hand (quads or a straight flush)? Or do we pass off the Q or the 10 and essentially stand pat with the only chance to improve being the case jack?

Link to post
Share on other sites

OK to call first. In a loose game you need to draw to A26, A36 etc or high 2 pair, or high trips. Really I dont like Jacks as Kings are the real deal for high in this game. Kings full is the standard high. The game dynamic is such that there is rarely a scoop in a loose game. I assume it is A-6 low, but in any case you go for strong high or good low.

 

The concept of drawing for low flushes is theoretically sound, but practice says you will rarely scoop. In a tighter game then of course low flushes rule. In a loose game - just concentrate on a good 1-way hand.

 

Fold after the first pass. Your hand didnt improve, and there will be lows and other high hands.

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 10 months later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...