Playing pairs in 5-Card Draw

Yes, usually draw three to a pair. There's not much that can go wrong if you almost always draw three to a pair.

Sometimes draw two to AAK (or AAQ) in certain heads up spots where the opponent is likely to have AA or KK as you mentioned. For you to do this, you'd also want to draw two to trips in those same spots as well as some rubbish hands like AKQ suited or AKJ suited. For example, if you open raise from the HIJ and get called by the SB who draws three, this would be a time to draw two to AAK; thus, you should also draw two to AKQ suited in this spot ( and maybe a hand like TTAKX where you may draw two to TTK ) and two to only a few trips hands such as 222AK (because you don't want to guess which kicker to keep).

There are some rare spots where you don't draw three to your pair. For example, say you have 2s 2h Ad Kc 6c in the BB and a late position player limps ( say CUT/BTN) and you figure it's likely he has a pair like TT/JJ or even QQ (he may even have a draw). You simply draw to Ad Kc since your objective is to maximize equity against the limper's range, which means essentially to try to make KKA+ which is likely to win in a check down. Even if your opponent happened to be on a draw, there's virtually no difference in showdown equity between 22 and AK unimproved.

About that 22A free play in the BB, it just depends, but it doesn't hurt to usually draw three to 22.

Example
A pack of feral cows chewed their cuds for .0043 seconds to convert this hand
PokerStars Limit 5 Card Draw $0.10/$0.20 - 6 players

UTG: $5.94
UTG+1: $7.54
CO: $3.86 (Hero)
Button: $2.94
SB: $2.18
BB: $1.14

Dealing Hands: ($0.15) A♣:9♥:4♥:2♣:A♦: (6 players)
2 folds, Hero raises to $0.20, 2 folds, BB calls $0.10

First Draw: ($0.45) (2 players)
BB discards 2, Hero discards 3,
A♣:A♦: || 7♠:9♦:J♥:
BB checks, Hero checks

Hero showed A♣:7♠:9♦:J♥:A♦:, a pair of Aces
BB showed 9♠:A♠:K♣:3♠:K♠:, a pair of Kings
Hero won $0.43
(Rake: $0.02)

Hi, nice to see you again at least here:f_thumbsup:. It'a a pity that you don't have time/passion for your blog anymore

I didn't play 5CD for ages but as far as I remember if you somehow sure that you are playing against KK- doper and had small pair with A kicker it's better to draw 2 cards. Please check.
GLGLGL

Royal flush : do not draw.
Straight flush : do not draw.
Four of kind : do not draw, looks amateur if "act" two pair when pot is capped?
Fullhouse : do not draw.
Flush : do not draw.
Straight : do not draw.

Here' the game :
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Three of kind : draw 2 cards.
Two pair : draw 1 (+ open ended straight flush?).
Pair : draw 3 cards. If you are on position with AAKQJ, you can bet second betting round too.
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High card : do not play?

It is simple. You need something stronger if you going to bluff your opponent and it is physical tell.

- Juha

I would draw 1 card if I had 4 of a kind. This way your hand looks weaker than it is and the 5th card isn’t important anyway.

Yes, definitely draw 1 with quads. Drawing one could mean anything, including trash hands like busted straight/flush draws. So not only do you have an almost unbeatable hand, but you can also sell it as a weaker one to get more value without compromising your hand strength. A perfect situation.

About the original question, my personal strategy was to always discard the kicker with a pair and always keep the kicker with trips and high cards. Therefore, I would only ever draw one or three cards with any hand, hopefully resulting in more polarized and less readable hand ranges.

But I have heard recently in a couple of places that it was preferable to ditch the kicker with trips and draw 2 instead, in which case you'd probably want to throw in some instances where you draw 2 with a pair in order to be less readable.

It's been a while since I've played 5CD, though.

I still won't draw 1 with quads, it is useless move and best strategy in your life is avoid meaningless moves. There's no two same quads so kicker no matter.

- Juha

I don’t think it’s a meaningless move, because if you don’t draw it looks like you have strong made hand of at least a straight and if you draw 1 card you can represent 2 pair or a missed draw if you bet and then it’s likely you get more action and makes drawing 1 card a +EV move to me.

Yes, the problem with pat hands is that you only ever get value from other pat hands and bluff catchers who think you're snowing. Drawing 1 with quads gives you an excellent opportunity to under-sell your hand to get more value, and it would be absolutely crazy not to take advantage of it.

Originally posted by pahismail
Here' the game :
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Three of kind : draw 2 cards.
Two pair : draw 1 (+ open ended straight flush?).
Pair : draw 3 cards. If you are on position with AAKQJ, you can bet second betting round too.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

High card : do not play?

It is simple. You need something stronger if you going to bluff your opponent and it is physical tell.

- Juha

Hi All,
Here are some alternatives
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Three of kind : draw 2 cards. draw 1 to disguise your hand so that it looks the same as two pair.
Two pair : draw 1 (+ open ended straight flush?). Also draw 1 to 4-flush or OESD if you have pot odds.
Pair : draw 3 cards. If you are on position with AAKQJ, you can bet second betting round too. vs 1 player perhaps -- vs two or more there is > 50% chance someone else's pair improved
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High card : do not play? In SB AQxxx is higher than 50% of all hands. Raise this pre-draw, and draw 3 if called.

The above depends on who has opened before you, and what your position is, and assumes playing fixed limit cash games.

Also important is whether you open with a raise, and with what hands and from what positions.

5-Card Draw is a great game!

Best of luck,
VS

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
Here are some alternatives
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Three of kind : draw 2 cards. draw 1 to disguise your hand so that it looks the same as two pair.

Here's an illustration of what I mean:
The villain is very tight, especially from early positions -- vs some players I might 3Bet Queens up.
If he draws one, I might just call post-draw, since he never raises draws -- not that I've seen anyway.
So he has two pair or better.

Feral Cow Poker
PokerStars Limit 5 Card Draw $0.10/$0.20 - 6 players

CO: $3.06
Button: $12.28 (Hero)
SB: $1.09
BB: $0.59
UTG: $4.42
UTG+1: $1.21

Dealing Hands: ($0.15) 2♣:Q♠:2♠:Q♥:6♦: (6 players)
UTG folds, UTG+1 raises to $0.20, CO folds, Hero calls $0.20, 2 folds

First Draw: ($0.55) (2 players)
UTG+1 discards 2, <== He is not keeping a kicker with a pair, since he almost never draws to a pair in early positions
Hero discards 1,
2♣:Q♠:2♠:Q♥: || 4♠:
UTG+1 bets $0.20, Hero folds

UTG+1 collected $0.53

(Rake: $0.02)

Maybe not a perfect example, but it does the job.

Cheers,
VS

It looks like a good example to me that he has 3 of a kind here most of the time.

Originally posted by SDK1987
It looks like a good example to me that he has 3 of a kind here most of the time.

Yup -- if he had drawn one, I might possibly have called.

VS

My question is here >>Hero discards 1,
You are in position and you know he has trips. In case you had Aces up, you definitely should discard 3 to increase probability to beat trips below your higher pair.
Median trips is 888, and in your case it's also about 888.
So I am not sure what to do with QQ22 as verses AAA and KKK it's better to draw 1. Rather simple math but don't have time at the moment.

Originally posted by Anykey444
My question is here >>Hero discards 1,
You are in position and you know he has trips. In case you had Aces up, you definitely should discard 3 to increase probability to beat trips below your higher pair.
Median trips is 888, and in your case it's also about 888.
So I am not sure what to do with QQ22 as verses AAA and KKK it's better to draw 1. Rather simple math but don't have time at the moment.

Thanks for the reminder.
For some reason, I rarely remember to do that!

Cheers,
VS

Two pair is money.

- Juha

Originally posted by pahismail
Two pair is money.
- Juha

Small two pair is trouble, though.

Against another player drawing one, you are very likely drawing nearly dead (11:1 against making a full house) and even if not, you beat only bluffs if villain bets.

All the best,
VS