The answer to the OP’s question has been given by various people above, but to summarize: 7-2 will beat x-2 (where x is 6, 5, 4, or 3) more often than it loses if both hands are simply played to the end, with no betting, so in that sense, 2-3 is the “worst hand in poker”. But when you take betting and expected value into account, x-2 (where x is 6, 5, 4, or 3) is likely to win more money (or lose less money) in the long run than 7-2 - on this definition, 7-2 is “the worst hand in poker”. So you’re both right, depending on which definition is used.
2-7 does not stretch to a straight. 5-4 does. That just adds one more way to win.
That’s completely irrelevant- obviously any pocket pair is going to be more profitable than any lower pair heads-up. The question is, how much more profitable.
Why?
Thank you. That’s pretty convincing.
He has a pretty deep understanding - enough knowledge to play professionally. As someone who has studied the game and played professionally for years, I’ve yet to read anything he’s said on the subject that was wrong. I didn’t mean to sound as confrontational as I may have… I’d be happy to explain stuff in more detail if you have any poker questions.
I have been super busy the past couple days and haven’t had a chance to come back and check on this. Thanks for the great responses guys.
Remember, the question was not if you should play the hand. The question was, which hand has better odds of winning, 7-2 or 2-x (x<7). Of course the majority of the time you will lose with any of these hands. We were just betting if the adage " 2-7 is the worst hand in poker" is true. I said it was true, my friend said it wasn’t. From what I can tell so far here, 2-7 is still the worst hand in poker.
Thanks for the help guys!
-n
It isn’t clear from your post if you got the correct gist. Perhaps you did, but if not:
In heads-up play against a random hand where both hands will go all the way to showdown guaranteed, then 23o is the worst hand to have.
In 10-handed play against 9 random hands where all hands will go all the way to showdown guaranteed, then 27o is the worst hand to have.
Neither of these is a realistic game, but they are the source of the statement in question.
I have heard, (and it makes sense) that 7-2 is the worst hand against premium starting hands (A-anything, two face cards or mid to high pairs). Running simulations at his site proves the theory
http://www.pokercalculatoronline.com/
6-2, 5-3, 3-2 etc. have a better chance of making straights so those hands have a ‘better’ chance of winning against a premium hand. But still not a very good chance.
In head to head action 7-2 is a better hand against 6-2, because the chance of making a straight is low and , the 7 will out kick the 6. In a 10 person game, the chance of 7-2 playing heads up against 6-2 is highly unlikely.
Yes, A-K loses a lot of pots, only because it gets played in a lot of pots. In my home game 7-2 never loses a pot because it never plays in any pots.
I do know of some home games that if a player wins with 7-2, that the player wins a pre-determined jackpot prize.
Both statements cannot be true. 7-2 cannot become worse than 3-2 when more random hands are added, if the first statement is true (which it is). 3-2 is better than 7-2 in hold-em poker given typical play, which is to say, in the situations 3-2 would normally be played by a skilled player. In play with any number of players checking to the river, 7-2 has a higher winning percentage than 3-2. Since realistic play involves bluffing, one cannot calculate an exact percentage for real play. However, here’s some empirical data which just goes to show you that there’s a lot of suckers out there.
Why not?
They are. In heads up play, 72o has more equity than 32o by having a bigger kicker. In 10-handed play, that equity increase goes away since the 7 kicker won’t be winning any pots, but 32o’s (smaller amount of) straight equity then becomes relevant.
I don’t see why this is at odds with – or has anything to do with – in situ statistics. (The 72o claim originated before the wave of online poker data and stems from simple calculations in the all-the-way-to-showdown 10-handed scenario.)