Letting the Dog Die
''A thousand," Sam announced. That was an unusually big bet because the pot was scarcely over $300. I raised everything that remained in front of him, slightly less than $2000. Luckily, he had the second best possible hand, 7 6 4 3 2, and he called.
"Poor baby!" soothed his wife, wrapping an arm around his shoulder as I raked in the biggest pot Sam's game had ever seen. "Come on, we better look after Ruffian." Now she winked at him, a wink that indicated she was insensitive to his pain.
"Not now!" Sam hissed, and he extracted $500 from his wallet, trembling. "Sell me some of them chips, Doyle."
Linda didn't quite grasp what was happening. Obviously she'd been told to come rushing downstairs when he banged on the pipe. So here she was babbling, "Do you want me to go back upstairs?" Then, to give more impact to her story, so that the others wouldn't get wise to the lie, she added, "Do you want me to take Ruffian to Dr. Fryman?"
At this poker
mathematics point Sam broke under the strain. His healthy win had turned into a nightmare on a single hand and this woman kept tugging at his shoulder, unaware of his agony.
Finally he shoved her away, not very gently, and screamed, "Look, Linda, get out of here and let the dog die!"
Well, word got around Texas about that episode, and pretty soon, whenever a man had to leave a game, someone would spout, "Don't quit now. Just let the dog die." Maybe you remember hearing that expression. Now you know how it started.
Deuce-to-seven
Deuce-to-seven (Kansas City Lowball) is almost the exact opposite of conventional poker. You can just imagine how it got started. It was probably some home game, dealer's choice, and some guy said, "I've got an idea. This time let's play the worst hand wins!" So they tried it and liked it.
That's about all there is to know about it. You get five NETeller cards and you can draw as many as you want. Normally, what's the worst possible poker hand?
You're looking at it. In deuce-to-seven, this is the best hand. Unlike ace-to-five lowball, straights and flushes are not ignored. They almost always lose in a showdown. That's why a one-card draw to 7 6 5 4 is not very good. If you catch an 8 or a 3, you've got no way to win except by bluffing. Contrast that one-card draw to 7 6 5 2. Providing those is not all the same suit, that's a very strong draw because you can't make a straight or a flush by accident.
The same is true of two-card draws. Any two-card draw should include both a deuce and a seven: 7 5 2 is good, 7 5 3 is bad. There's only one other poker rule you need to know. Aces are always high. Therefore, 5 43 2 A is not a straight; it's ace-high no pair. I suggest you play no limit. But be prepared for a lot of swings. Your bankroll will do a lot of hopping around, and sometimes you'll feel like your dog died.
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