Friday, December 08, 2006

Double Hold'em Primer

At my upcoming home game, Double Hold'em will be offered. The rules are just like Hold'em, except two boards are dealt simultaneously, and the high hand of each board wins.

Here are a few scenarios and percentages to keep in mind.

Starter - Two suited cards, including the ace:
If you magically flop the flush draw on both boards, there are now 6 flush cards accounted for, and 44 unknown cards in the deck. This means that you are 32.6% to hit your flush on board 1, and 34.6% to hit on board 2, about 10% to potentially scoop with a flush on both boards.

Starter - Any low pocket pair

You are 12% to hit your set on the first board flop, just like in holdem. Your odds go up slightly on the second board flop to 13%. That's a 25% chance, or 3 to 1, that you will hit a set on one board. If you hit your set on the first board, you have a 6% chance of hitting a set on the second flop, or about a 10% of hitting it by the river. (That's a 0.8% chance of hitting a set on both flops.)