A-5 NL Single Draw vs 2-7 NL Single Draw
I know in 2-7 NL SD, standing pat with a Jxxxx is a slight favorite vs a single opponent drawing one card. What is the weakest standing pat hand in A-5 NL SD that is a favorite against the same single opponent drawing one?
4 Replies
Where do you play A-5 single draw?
A 9 will always be a favorite over somebody drawing 1. A 10 will almost always be a favorite. But if they are smooth, you are probably better off drawing, unless somebody is already allin.
Interesting question. The pat thresholds between A-5 and 2-7 SD are something I've been thinking about a lot lately.
In 2-7, the pat J being ~50% vs a clean one card draw is a well known baseline, but in practice I find that the playability of the hand matters almost as much as the absolute strength — a J7432 plays way differently than a JT843 because of the break-and-draw options.
FossilMan's point about pat 9 in A-5 being always good vs one draw makes sense given the wider range of completing hands in A-5.
I've actually been building a NL 2-7 Single Draw bot to test out these kinds of spots — pat vs draw EV in different stack depths, positional adjustments, etc. It's been a great way to develop intuition for where the breakeven points actually are. Would be cool if someone built an A-5 version to compare the two side by side.
