72o not the worst hand in poker? |
|
Posted Sat Jun 04, 2005 9:12 pm GMT by TazmanianD
It seems that almost everyone agrees that 7-2 off-suit is the worst hand in Texas Hold'em, but I'm having trouble understanding why.
I've been using Poker Stove (www.pokerstove.com) to run some odds calculations and the expected win of a pot with 7-2 off-suit against one other unknown hand is 34.6%. The expected win with 6-2, 5-2, 4-2 and 3-2 is 34.1%, 34.3%, 33.2% and 32.3% respectively. So it seems like all of those hands are worse than 7-2 making 2-3 off-suit the worst hand.
So, statistically, it seems to me that 2-3 off-suit is really the worst hand in poker and not 7-2 so I'm confused as to why 7-2 is so often quoted as being the worst. Is there something to it other than purely statistics? You can't make a straight with 7-2, but even making a pair of 7s (which is a lot more likely) is going to beat the top pairs of those other hands. Is it the worst because everyone thinks it's the worst and it becomes a self-fulfulling prophecy.
I did hear one of the hosts for a game on TV say that 2-3 was the absolute worst hand but that is the only case I've heard or read that. Every search I've done on the net says that 7-2 is the worst.
Can someone shed some light on this?
Did you know that participating in a poker forum can help you improve your own game? Be it by sharing experiences or simply asking for help, participation in a forum helps you focus and keep 'on topic' which will help you improve your game. You can learn from other players feedback and from their experiences. Why the THP poker forums? We offer one of the best managed texas holdem poker forums available, and the community within is far more friendly than those typicaly found on other sites. We've made a 'lurkers edition' of the poker forum available here on Holdem Poker Online, but we encourage all visitors to register and join in on the conversations on TexasHoldem-Poker.com
Posted Sat Jun 04, 2005 11:59 pm GMT by tame_deuces
2-3 off is the worst hand against a single opponent. 7-2 is the worst hand in a multiway pot.
Posted Sun Jun 05, 2005 12:23 am GMT by TazmanianD
Ah, you are right. I could have sworn that I'd tried this with multiple players but I guess I did not. A 23o is just slightly better than 72o with five players but not much.
Thank you for clearing that up.
Posted Sun Jun 05, 2005 6:46 pm GMT by snoogins47
I think the reason it's widely considered the "worst hand" almost regardless of the specifics is that it is sort of a textbook example of a "bad" THE hand.
No straight potential, no flush potential, cards are very low, etc. It's the epitome of bad, even if it's not quite the worst in many situations 
|
|
