How to play Deuce-Four

I admit that the post title is a bit misleading. After all, there is no one right way to play the Mighty Deuce-Four. It all depends on circumstances. But let me show you one of the many winning ways to play it.

First, here's the full hand history, in case you want to scrutinize it:



Now for the play-by-play.

I'm two off the button with 2d-4d, blinds at T15/T30. There is a limper ahead of me. I decide not to blow everybody out of the water with a raise, as it would tip the strength of my hand too soon and I'd be likely to lose my customers, thus winning only a small pot. So I sneakily limp along. The guy after me joins in. The small blind raises to 105. Big blind calls. First limper folds. I could easily reraise here, but I think if I just call, the guy in the cutoff will come along, too, fattening the pot for my later takedown. Besides, the limp-reraise fairly screams that I have one of the ultra-premium hands, and I don't want everybody to know that just yet.

To nobody's surprise, the flop comes 5-4-2, giving me two pair and almost surely the best hand. (LDO!) The original raiser checks. The big blind makes a pathetic little bet of 100 into the 450 pot. That will not do, I thinks to myself, so I raise to 350. We'll see if he really likes his hand as he is advertising. He calls, after the others fold.

The turn brings another 5. Now, this card is the main reason I'm posting this tutorial, because this is the point at which many amateurs would make a crucial mistake. They would see this as a "bad card." The so-called logic goes something like this: "Two of the types of hands my early-position opponent could have called my flop raise with are A-5, for top pair/top kicker (with a straight draw on the side), and a medium overpair, something like pocket 7s or 8s. Either of those now has me beat, with a trips or a better two pair, respectively." These players have the accursed word "counterfeited!" flash through their pea-brains.

This is a common beginner's error. What these people overlook is that my hand has now improved to three pair--and not just any ol' three pair, but top three pair! It should take no thought at all to realize that three pair beats any two pair, and that three pair is also vastly superior to three of a kind. Basically, I could only be beat by a six-card straight or a six-card flush, and a glance at the board will reveal that my opponent could not have either of those hands yet, though he could be on a draw to the former. (I'm discounting him having quads as just too statistically unlikely.)

Well, if he is on a draw, let's make him pay to get there, and if he has what he will foolishly think is the winner with trips or two pair, let's suck every last chip out of his stack! When he checks, I shove. Sadly, though, he must have read my line for exactly what it was: the virtual nuts. Perhaps I didn't disguise it well enough. I maybe should have waited one more street to spring my trap, but I thought his call on the flop suggested that he liked his hand enough to make the bad call on the turn, too.

Oh well. I made a 695 profit on the hand, or about 23 big blinds, which is pretty good.

I realize that it may be -EV to reveal this kind of top-pro secret for free like this, but I'm very fond of my readers and try to educate them as much as I can. That's just the kind of guy I am.

Class dismissed.