Trash hands don’t get you too far in poker. If you’re dealt a trash hand, you should fold. What’s a trash hand? Anything that is at the bottom end of the scale when it comes to hand rankings. The best starting hand in poker is A-A. The worst? 7-2 of different suits.
Doyle Brunson
Not too far away from the dreaded 7-2 is 10-2 – another truly dreadful hand.
Yet 10-2 holds a very special place in poker history and will forever be known as “The Doyle Brunson Hand”.
It’s worth noting this slice of history today because at 79 years of age, Brunson is in the midst of another deep run in the World Series of Poker Main Event being held in Las Vegas at this very moment. One of the forefathers of the modern game, Brunson is one of only four players to have won the WSOP Main Event on more than one occasion and as fate would have it, the winning hand on both occasions was 10-2!
In 1976, as a clear chip leader, Brunson saw a flop of A-J-10 in heads-up play with Jesse Alto. When Alto bet holding a dominating A-J, Brunson raised all-in over the top and was instantly called by his opponent. Brunson needed help and when a 2 landed on the turn he would need either another 2 or a repeat 10 on the river to take the title. Miraculously, the dealer burned and turned a 10 and Brunson won his first WSOP title and the US$220,000 first prize.
Twelve months later, it was Brunson heads-up for the title once more against Bones Berland with Brunson picking up 10-2 against the similarly trashy hand of 8-5. The 10-8-5 flop saw Brunson pick up top pair to Berland’s two-pair but when a 2 landed on the turn – giving both players monster hands – all the chips ended up in the middle with Brunson in great shape to land his second WSOP title. Incredibly, the river 10 saw him make the same full house for the second year running as he scooped the US$340,000 first prize – which just goes to show: although we don’t recommend you ever playing 10-2, anything can happen in poker … and usually does!
