Having the fifth card "at the extremes" of the deck makes the Deuce worth
more than if it were "in the middle" of the deck, like a seven or eight. This
is because throwing away a middle card makes a straight or straight flush
slightly less likely on the draw when you hold just the Deuce. The fifth card is
a penalty to the Deuce alone, not a penalty to the straight draw, which is
always worth exactly 5.0000 coins in NSUDs.
The difference is small, but enough to change the play when you are talking
about the one-Deuce-four-card-open-ended-straight draws.
Brian
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In a message dated 6/15/2006 3:37:07 PM Pacific Standard Time,
nbuntz@yahoo.com writes:
Who can explain why if I have QJT2, a 3 is penalty card, and I should
just hold the deuce? How does a 3 possibly relate to the QJT straight?
(Similarly, why 3 or 4 a penalty with 7892?)
This question has been bugging me on and off for a couple of years.
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