Welcome  

Instructors

  Lessons  

  FAQ 

  Testimonials 

  Resources 

  Articles 

  Book Reviews 

Special Offers

  Affiliations 

  Contact 

What's The Rush to Play ATWD & ATSWD Anyway? -by Al Spath

You would think a chain letter was emailed to millions of internet players about the latest and greatest equalizer in the poker world, the newest ultimate weapon for their arsenal, and as sure fire as es, it has been to revitalizing the medical black-market most wanted list .... yes, it's the ever popular: ATWD and ATSWD hands. 

Yes, I'm talking about players falling in love with the two "trendiest" new hands (more popular than a Paris Hilton sleepover): Any Two Will Do (ATWD) and its big brother, Any Two Suited Will Do (ATSWD). By wide acclamation these two hands have been embraced and are being stealthily deployed at internet and brick & mortar card rooms throughout the world. They are driving solid players mad, causing countless tilts at the table, while providing users a sense of gratification for now being such instant tactical poker geniuses. I bet a good number of experienced hold 'em players are about to puke after reading that newsflash. 

So what is all the commotion about? It's just playing a new style at the lower limits (5-10 and below), isn't it? I see many of you shaking your head and muttering to yourself: "This is not a new style, it's just plain ridiculous and it's ruining the game." There are far too many newcomers to the game getting their hold em' education from watching the "Hollywood Home Game" and the weekly WPT events on TV, where seeing the cards has confusingly tipped them off as to "what cards are really playable." 

But hold on; let's hear some excerpts from both sides before we rush to judgment as those who endorse the use of ATWD and ATSWD make their case and state the following: 

"Sometimes, I will play a Trash Hand, even call a raise with it in LIMIT. I'll see a flop with it. If I flop a Monster, I want to show my trash hand down. I want the table to get the impression that I will play Any 2 cards. This isn't the truth, but I want them to think that." 

"From a total new player's point of view, I see quite a bit of AT(S)WD and I can see the allure. It takes little thought and if there is a table full of callers, then you can easily make up your lost calls in decent size pots, if/when you get lucky. And that is it really, hoping to get lucky." 

"As for me, when it comes to women and big-bet poker, almost any (suited) two will do when it's getting late (position). I want opponents who play their hands too far, and are not afraid of putting in money without the nuts or on a bluff. They'll often call to keep me honest or even raise out of disbelief. Many opponents can get tricked out of their normal game if you play a lot of hands, and I want as many occasions to snap them off as possible. Again, I want position on them, and I prefer short-handed ." 

"I like to play ATSWD if the game is passive and loose also the ATSWD must either be connectors or contain an A or K." 

"I play any two because all those solid players usually have a big pair like AA or QQ, so when I have a hand like J7, it gives me more outs if I can just catch one of my cards on the flop, all I have to do is pair up one card to take down the pot and now I have five outs to their two!" (Author's Note: Excluding a straight or a flush he has five outs and the big pair has the rest of the deck) 

"In the past week I have seriously been re-evaluating my play in these loose situations and trying to figure out what I am doing wrong. In a book I was reading (I forget which one off the top of my head) the author stated that he felt other authors were incorrect in saying you should tighten up at these loose tables and instead if your opponents are too loose you should loosen up. This statement came to mind when thinking about how to beat these tables." 

"So I started mentioning this to other players at PokerSchoolOnline (PSO), and got feedback that suited connectors become more valuable in those cases. I pieced all these tidbits together and realized that maybe I SHOULD be playing a lot more hands than I normally do in these situations. The logic of playing looser instead of tighter tends to be contradictory to everything I had read previously but it does seem to work better. Also you really have to learn to adapt, modify, change gears, etc at each table you sit at. That is key and what I am still working on perfecting at this point." 

Okay, so we heard from a small sampling of a few who utilize ATWD and ATSWD, and I've got to ask: You buyin it? I'm not convinced either, although I needed to have an appreciation for what these players are trying to accomplish and why they believe this play is not only effective, but will surely unsettle a solid player when they crack a pocket pair of aces every few hands. 

Now let's hear from those on the receiving end and listen to what they want to state: 

"We're not talking about the odd ATWD you play to mix up your play, we're talking ATWD every hand. You get in a very low limit game there and it's worse than a freeroll. Most of the people tow the party line and say that if you tighten up and play good, conservative poker you'll win. All I can say is that after getting AA, QQ, and several other "good" hands busted, I don't understand how to play a table of ATWD'ers (like when all the other 9 play that way). Play solid? Even your AA is going to get busted over 2/3 of the time. Since every hand is raised to the max (limit game), how can you hope to make up lost ground by winning less than 1/3 the time?" 

"My game does well to earn one big bet an hour so to play ATWD or ATSWD is an expensive proposition. I can see there to be some logic in big bet poker in late position or the utton but in limit hold'em, I would need seven or more callers, and be on the button or the small blind before I would call with that 78s." 

"However, I only play them from the blinds without a raise. Over time they'll kill you if played from anywhere. But once in a while in the

they're OK if you want to make an impression of being loose." 

"I won't play less than KTs with position new to the table. When I have seen the table how people are playing i.e.- people calling all time on ANY suited I'll move my standards down to maybe J8s UTG, I'll then play ANY PP for any raise (but less than 10% of my total stack) if they are in the pot, pray I hit my set when they flop there flush draw and make them pay dearly. (I make sure I play at limits where my bankroll can handle this) I make a lot of $ off ATSWD players. (Of course bare in mind I don't play limit)" 

"I play almost exclusively NL, and I chew up and spit out the players who play ATWD and ATSWD. Yes, they chase me down far too often for my liking, but at the end of the day, I am at the cashier cage with their chips. Gotta love it!" 

Ironically, there always seems to be a line from a movie or a book, a classic statement that sums up the entire situation and I think we have such a quote (again from another post), to finish this article. So, as the debate rages on, both sides are continuing to defend the merits of playing ATWD and ATSWD in forums, chat rooms and at live tables and being as fair and impartial as I can be I found one last post that might put a smile on everyone's face. 

"For some reason new players or inexperienced players will always play suited cards. I saw it so often at the poker room playing 2/4 I was sick to death of them. I even got beat by 72-suited one hand and I asked why they would call my raise with that? Surprisingly half the table, and I mean -half the table- stated ......"it was suited"....!