The 7-2 Game: Rules, Bounties and Strategy for Poker’s Favorite Side Game (Now a Table Format)

Seven-deuce offsuit is the worst starting hand in Texas Hold'em. The 7-2 game turns it into the most fun one. Here is how it works, why home games love it, and where you can sit at a table that runs it around the clock.

The rules

1. Play normal Texas Hold'em.
2. If you win a pot at showdown holding 7-2 offsuit (a seven and a deuce of different suits), every other player at the table pays you a bounty.
3. Suited 7-2 does not count. It is the worst hand that pays, not the second worst.

That is the whole game. On PokerSweepStars house tables the bounty is 5 big blinds from each player, so at a six-handed table a successful 7-2 pays 25 big blinds on top of the pot. Home games vary on whether a pot won without a showdown counts; online it is settled at showdown, automatically, the moment the cards are turned over.

Why it works

The 7-2 game injects action into any table. Everyone knows that anyone raising might have seven-deuce, so people call lighter, re-raise lighter, and the pots get bigger. And every so often someone actually turns over 7-2 after a three-barrel bluff, the table erupts, and that is the hand everyone talks about for a week.

Strategy: playing with the bounty on

When you hold 7-2. The bounty is paid at showdown, so the goal is to get there and win, not to bluff everyone off the pot. That means seeing cheap flops with it, especially in position, and turning up the aggression when the board hits you (a seven-high flop is your best friend) or when the other player clearly has nothing. A bounty is worth 25 big blinds at a six-handed table, not your whole stack, so do not shove 7-2 into a raise and a re-raise.

When someone else is playing strangely. A player who calls a raise out of position with nothing and then keeps firing at a low board may be chasing the bounty. Call down a little lighter against players who have shown 7-2 before. Most people play it exactly the same way every time.

Watch the show. If a player wins a pot without showing, there was no 7-2 in it. If they win at showdown with it, note how they got there. That is the line they will take next time.

The 7-2 game online

On PokerSweepStars the 7-2 game is a table format in the lobby, not a setting you have to hunt for. House tables labeled 7-2 Game run the bounty at 5 big blinds and sit next to the regular Hold'em and All-in or Fold tables. On the free PlayCoins tables, house players keep the seats warm when the room is quiet. The bounty is settled automatically the moment the 7-2 is shown, so there is no arguing over who owes what.

You can also switch the 7-2 game on when you create your own table, public or private, and set it up alongside straddles, bomb pots and run-it-twice. Private home game tables are rake-free.

A few house-rule variations

• Bounty paid on any win, even without a showdown, in some home games, as long as the winner shows. PokerSweepStars pays at showdown, where the cards are checked automatically.
• Suited counts in some games. Online it is offsuit only.
• Bigger bounties as the night goes on. Common in live games; online the bounty is fixed per table so the stakes stay predictable.
• Both players pay if two players both show 7-2 in the same hand. Extremely rare, and yes, it has happened.

Sit at a 7-2 Game table in the PokerSweepStars app on the App Store, Google Play, or in any browser. Free chips daily, no purchase needed.