Help with Big Deuce

[killakev]

The game we play here at work on our lunch break is "Big Two" or "Big Deuce," which is a card game where each player gets a certain amount of cards and plays poker hands and variations of poker hands. You can see the rules here.

Some of us play for small stakes ($1-$10) and some for fun. Yesterday a challenge was brought up and two teams of three will be playing each other with three head's up matches. Whoever loses either two out of three or all three matches will have to eat raw egg.

My team, which is myself, Young V and Benson, have to be the favorites. All three of us play in the cash game, along with Alan, who's teammates are Liliana and Aarti, both of whom do not play the lunch time cash game. I think that we have three of the top four players so we should definitely take it.

Here is the email I sent to my teammates today.
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Fellas,

I really do not want to eat some raw eggs today.

So let's discuss the way to dominate. I am going to offer some insight to you guys that has made me the most successufl big two player in the history of LZ. In the future, I'm sure that you will be able to use the strategy that I am offering you now against me, but that's fine. As long as I don't have to eat raw eggs.

Some of this will obviously be very basic to you, but at the same time some of it may help.

1. Recognize the strength of your hand and group your cards. Put all your singles together, all your pairs together and all your five-cards together so that you know what low singles and low pairs you have to get rid of.

2. Take a moment to consider how your opponent plays. Is he/she someone who always keeps their pairs or forces five cards hands with weak straights? This can be key.

3. If you have a lot of low singles, get rid of these asap. Obviously if your opponent comes out with a high card right away, say you throw a five and he throws a queen, then he is definitely holding onto pairs and five cards. Take advantage of this by playing singles the next time you have the lead. It may be key to burn a high card, pair, or five-card right away just so you can burn your singles. The worst possible scenario is to be stuck with your low cards at the end. Sacrifice your high pairs if it will enable you to get rid of low cards in a straight or flush.

4. Keep track of the cards. Count the kings, aces and deuces and if you can remember what suits have been played already. Also, keep track of what your opponent is saying. In head's up, almost everyone gives off a tell when they draw a card. Pay attention to it because someone will usually grimace or complain when they draw a card that doesn't help them at all. If they don't, their card probably helped or at the least paired them up.

5. Keep track of how many cards your opponent has. If they have six, you gotta be extremely careful. Anytime someone has six or seven cards, I always throw out a single to see what they do. If they have a five-card hand and a pair, they'll usually pass. If they have a deuce and a five-card hand, they'll pass. This is how you take control of the game when you're behind.

6. The bottomline is getting rid of your cards. Get rid of them fast and early, figure out the order in which you can be the most successful dumping your cards. Because we play with true beginners, they like to hold onto their high cards. Everyone we play with will be willing to burn a king or maybe an ace in the beginning, but very few will use their deuce so if you have a low deuce (club or diamond), use it in the beginning to take control of the game. If you save a low deuce, it may become a waste later in the game when your opponent is willing to use their higher deuce. This can help a lot early in the game. Not many people will burn their deuce early, but it can help to control the game early.

7. Pay attention. What card is your opponent drawing on? Remember that and try to use it to your advantage.

Here is something I found on the net:

As for Big 2 strategy, it's all about knowing the strength of your hand as soon as it's dealt. If you're dealt Q high with no fivers (Or weak straights) you probably just want to dump off as many cards as possible every time it's your turn. When you have a lot of power (Aces, deuces, Kings), you probably want to just keep it in singles because you can always get the lead back.

Really strong, and really weak hands are easy to play, it's the middle of the road hands that can be tough to make the right plays with. Sometimes passing over and over again until you know you can get the lead and go out can be a fatal mistake, leaving you with 10 or more cards, other times you look like a genius waiting for that boss 2 to come out, leaving you with the most powerful card.

Let's do this fellas. This is a matter of pride for me as I have never lost a big deuce challenge (Benson you weren't present for my come from behind head's up tournament victory against BC and Viet last night).

Please let us know if you have anything to add.

Kev.



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Anyone have any pointers to add?

[rminusq]

How exactly are you playing it? The way I've played two-player is each has 13 cards and you draw one every time you pass.

[ApeAttack]

[ QUOTE ]
The game we play here at work on our lunch break is "Big Two" or "Big Deuce," which is a card game where each player gets a certain amount of cards and plays poker hands and variations of poker hands. You can see the rules here.

Some of us play for small stakes ($1-$10) and some for fun. Yesterday a challenge was brought up and two teams of three will be playing each other with three head's up matches. Whoever loses either two out of three or all three matches will have to eat raw egg.
...

Anyone have any pointers to add?

[/ QUOTE ]

With so few matches, it may end up being a crap shoot with whatever team getting the most twos will win.

Just get 4 twos and take it down right away. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Are you playing Viet style?

Did you see this? wiki There are links to big 2 software and the bottom.

[garcia1000]

All I can say is if you're only counting down to Kings, you probably need more help than 2+2 can give you.

You could check this file out for a basic strategy guide (It's for the conventional 4-player game and won't be anywhere near enough to get you to expert though)
http://www.pagat.com/climbing/sps2172.pdf

[ApeAttack]

[ QUOTE ]
All I can say is if you're only counting down to Kings, you probably need more help than 2+2 can give you.


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exactly. I only count 2's and Aces... too lazy after that.

[godofgamblers]

It's amazing how many times people have never lost a challenge in something that involves so much luck.

[renegades8]

Big 2 is an awesome game. For those of you wanting to try it out, I'd recommend Tiger Gaming, where you can also play chinese poker.