The games · Coolhand Poker

2-7 Single Draw

Five cards, one swap, and no ceiling on an offer. The lowest hand takes the pool, aces are high, and runs count against you.

18+ · Nothing to win but the hand.

Players: 2 to 6
Family: Draw
App: Coolhand Poker · iOS and Android, soon

How it goes

You're dealt five cards face down and get one swap. There's a round of offers before the swap and one more after it, then the reveal. The lowest hand takes the pool, counted the 2-7 way: a run or five of one suit counts against you, and the ace is always high. An offer can be any size, up to everything you have in front of you, so one round can decide the whole hand. With only one swap, most hands are set before anyone touches the deck, and the offers decide the rest.

A good hand

A made hand from the start is strong: nine-high or better, with no run and not all of one suit. Seven-five-four-three-two is the best there is. With one swap, a hand that needs two new cards rarely gets there, so what you were dealt is most of what you'll end up with. You want low cards with gaps between them, and to need at most one more.

The usual mistake

Swapping when your hand is already good enough to win. With one swap and offers of any size, keeping all five cards of a rough made hand and putting tokens in is often stronger than swapping for a slightly better one. Hand back a card and you've told the table your hand wasn't finished. Keep all five and they have to guess.

Played differently where you are?

Card games change from table to table, and we researched some of these games instead of playing them. If 2-7 Single Draw goes differently where you play it, tell us. That's one of the things the closed beta is for.

The closed beta is by invitation. How to ask to join.