Lowball or low poker is a variant of poker in which the normal ranking of hands is
inverted. Several variations 🍊 of lowball poker exist, differing in whether aces are
treated as high cards or low cards, and whether straights and 🍊 flushes are
used.
Low-poker ranking [ edit ]
Lowball inverts the normal ranking of poker hands.
There are three methods of ranking 🍊 low hands, called ace-to-five low, deuce-to-seven
low, and ace-to-six low. The 'ace-to-five' method is most common. A sub-variant within
this 🍊 category is 'high-low poker', in which the highest and lowest hands split the pot,
with the highest hand taking any 🍊 odd chips if the pot does not divide equally.
Sometimes straights and/or flushes count in determining which hand is highest 🍊 but not
in determining which hand is lowest, being reckoned as a no-pair hand in the latter
instance, so that 🍊 a player with such a holding can win both ways and thus take the
entire pot.
Lowball variants [ edit ]
The 🍊 most popular forms of lowball are ace-to-five
lowball (also known as California lowball), and deuce-to-seven lowball (also known as
Kansas 🍊 City lowball). Ace-to-five lowball gets its name because the best hand at that
form is 5-4-3-2-A. In ace-to-five lowball straights 🍊 and flushes do not prevent a hand
from being low. You win by simply having the five lowest cards. Deuce-to 🍊 seven lowball
gets its name because the best hand at that form is 7-5-4-3-2 (not of the same
suit).[1]
Ace-to-five low 🍊 is the most common method for evaluating low hands in poker,
nearly universal in U.S. casinos, especially in high-low split 🍊 games.
As in all low
hand games, pairs count against the player. That is, any hand with no pair defeats any
🍊 hand with a pair; one pair hands defeat two pair or three of a kind, etc. No-pair hands
are compared 🍊 starting with the highest-ranking card, just as in high poker, except that
the high hand loses. In ace-to-five low, straights 🍊 and flushes are ignored, and aces
play as the lowest card.
For example, the hand 8-5-4-3-2 defeats 9-7-6-4-3, because
eight-high is 🍊 lower than nine-high. The hand 7-6-5-4-3 defeats both, because seven-high
is lower still, even though it would be a straight 🍊 if played for high. Aces are low, so
8-5-4-3-A defeats 8-5-4-3-2. Also, A-A-9-5-3 (a pair of aces) defeats 2-2-5-4-3 (a 🍊 pair
of deuces), but both of those would lose to any no-pair hand such as K-J-8-6-4. In the
rare event 🍊 that hands with pairs tie, kickers are used just as in high poker (but
reversed): 3-3-6-4-2 defeats 3-3-6-5-A.
This is called 🍊 ace-to-five low because the
lowest (and therefore best) possible hand is 5-4-3-2-A, called a "wheel". The next best
possible hand 🍊 is 6-4-3-2-A, followed by 6-5-3-2-A, 6-5-4-2-A, 6-5-4-3-A, 6-5-4-3-2,
7-4-3-2-A, 7-5-3-2-A, etc.
When speaking, low hands are referred to by their
highest-ranking 🍊 card or cards. Any nine-high hand can be called "a nine", and is
defeated by any "eight". Two cards are 🍊 frequently used: the hand 8-6-5-4-2 can be
called "an eight-six" and will defeat "an eight-seven" such as 8-7-5-4-A.
Another
common notation 🍊 is calling a particular low hand "smooth" or "rough". A smooth low hand
is one where the remaining cards after 🍊 the highest card are themselves very low; a
rough low hand is one where the remaining cards are high. For 🍊 instance, 8-7-6-3-A would
be referred to as a "rough eight", but 8-4-3-2-A would be referred to as a "smooth
eight". 🍊 Some players refer to a hand containing a 4-3-2-A (in ace-to-five low or
ace-to-six low) or a 5-4-3-2 (in deuce-to-seven 🍊 low) as a "nut" (thus, in ace-to-five
or ace-to-six, a 7-4-3-2-A would be called a "seven nut").
High-low split games with
🍊 ace-to-five low are usually played cards speak, that is, without a declaration.
Frequently a qualifier is required for low (typically 🍊 8-high or 9-high). Some hands
(particularly small straights and flushes) may be both the low hand and the high hand,
🍊 and are particularly powerful (or particularly dangerous if they are mediocre both
ways). Winning both halves of the pot in 🍊 a split-pot game is called "scooping" or
"hogging" the pot. The perfect hand in such a game is called a 🍊 "steel wheel", 5-4-3-2-A
of one suit, which plays both as perfect low and a straight flush high. Note that it 🍊 is
possible—though unlikely—to have this hand and still lose money. If the pot has three
players, and one other player 🍊 has a mixed-suit wheel, and a third has better straight
flush, the higher straight flush wins the high half of 🍊 the pot, and the two wheels
split the low half, hence the steel wheel wins only a quarter of a 🍊 three-way
pot.
Ace-to-five lowball, a five-card draw variant, is often played with a joker added
to the deck. The joker plays 🍊 as the lowest card not already present in the hand (in
other words, it is a wild card): 7-5-4-Joker-A, for 🍊 example, the joker plays as a 2.
This can cause some interesting effects for high-low split games. Let's say that 🍊 Alice
has 6-5-4-3-2 (called a "straight six")--a reasonably good hand for both high and low.
Burt has Joker-6-5-4-3. By applying 🍊 the rule for wild cards in straights, Burt's joker
plays as a 7 for high, giving him a seven-high straight 🍊 to defeat Alice's six-high
straight. For low, the joker plays as an ace—the lowest card not in Burt's hand—and his
🍊 hand also defeats Alice for low, because his low hand is 6-5-4-3-A, lower than her
straight six by one notch. 🍊 Jokers are very powerful in high-low split games.
Wheel [
edit ]
A wheel or bicycle is the poker hand 5-4-3-2-A, regardless 🍊 of suit, which is a
five-high straight, the lowest-ranking of the straights.
In ace-to-five low poker,
where aces are allowed to 🍊 play as low and straights and flushes do not count against a
hand's "low" status, this is the best possible 🍊 hand. In high/low split games, it is
both the best possible low hand and a competitive high hand. The best 🍊 deuce-to-seven
low hand, 7-5-4-3-2, is also sometimes called "the wheel".
Ace-to-six low is not as
commonly used as the ace-to-five low 🍊 method, but it is common among home games in the
eastern region of the United States, some parts of the 🍊 mid-west, and also common in the
United Kingdom (it is the traditional ranking of London lowball, a stud poker
variant).
As 🍊 in all lowball games, pairs and trips are bad: that is, any hand with no
pair defeats any hand with 🍊 a pair; one pair hands defeat two pair or trips, etc.
No-pair hands are compared starting with the highest-ranking card, 🍊 just as in high
poker, except that the high hand loses. In ace-to-six low, straights and flushes are
accounted for 🍊 (as compared to Ace-to-five) and count as high (and are therefore bad),
and aces play as the lowest card.
For example, 🍊 the hand 8-5-4-3-2 defeats 9-7-6-4-3,
because eight-high is lower than nine-high. The hand 7-6-5-4-2 defeats both, because
seven-high is lower 🍊 still. The hand 7-6-5-4-3 would lose, because it is a straight.
Aces are low, so 8-5-4-3-A defeats 8-5-4-3-2. Also, A-A-9-5-3 🍊 (a pair of aces) defeats
2-2-5-4-3 (a pair of deuces), but both of those would lose to any no-pair hand 🍊 such as
K-J-8-6-4. In the rare event that hands with pairs tie, kickers are used just as in
high poker 🍊 (but reversed): 3-3-6-4-2 defeats 3-3-6-5-A.
It is called ace-to-six low
because the best possible hand is 6-4-3-2-A (also known as a 🍊 Chicago Wheel or a 64),
followed by 6-5-3-2-A, 6-5-4-2-A, 6-5-4-3-A, 7-4-3-2-A, 7-5-3-2-A, etc.
When speaking,
low hands are referred to by 🍊 their highest-ranking card or cards. Any nine-high hand
can be called "a nine", and is defeated by any "eight". Two 🍊 cards are frequently used:
the hand 8-6-5-4-2 can be called "an eight-six" and will defeat "an eight-seven" such
as 8-7-5-4-A.
A 🍊 wild card plays as whatever rank would make the lowest hand. Thus, in
6-5-Joker-2-A, the joker plays as a 3, 🍊 while in Joker-5-4-3-2 it would play as a 7 (an
ace or six would make a straight).
High-low split games with 🍊 ace-to-six low are usually
played with a declaration.
Deuce-to-seven low is often called Kansas City lowball (the
no-limit single-draw variation) or 🍊 just "low poker". It is almost the direct opposite
of standard poker: high hand loses. It is not as commonly 🍊 used as the ace-to-five low
method.
As in all lowball games, pairs and trips are bad: that is, any hand with 🍊 no
pair defeats any hand with a pair; one pair hands defeat two pair or trips, etc.
No-pair hands are 🍊 compared starting with the highest-ranking card, just as in high
poker, except that the high hand loses. In deuce-to-seven low, 🍊 straights and flushes
count as high (and are therefore bad). Aces are always high (and therefore bad).
For
example, the hand 🍊 8-5-4-3-2 defeats 9-7-6-4-3, because eight-high is lower than
nine-high. The hand 7-6-5-4-2 defeats both, because seven-high is lower still. The 🍊 hand
7-6-5-4-3 would lose, because it is a straight. Aces are high, so Q-8-5-4-3 defeats
A-8-5-4-3. In the rare event 🍊 that hands with pairs tie, kickers are used just as in
high poker (but reversed): 3-3-6-4-2 defeats 3-3-6-5-2.
Since the ace 🍊 always plays
high, A-5-4-3-2 (also called the Nut Ace) is not considered a straight; is simply
ace-high no pair (it 🍊 would therefore lose to any king-high, but would defeat
A-6-4-3-2).
The best possible hand is 7-5-4-3-2 (hence the name deuce-to-seven low),
🍊 followed by 7-6-4-3-2, 7-6-5-3-2, 7-6-5-4-2, 8-5-4-3-2, 8-6-4-3-2, etc. Hands are
sometimes referred to by their absolute rank, e.g. 7-5-4-3-2 (#1, 🍊 said 'number one',
see table).
Hand Name (#) Other Name 7-5-4-3-2 #1 Seven perfect, The nuts, Number one,
The wheel 7-6-4-3-2 🍊 #2 7-6-5-3-2 #3 7-6-5-4-2 #4 8-5-4-3-2 #5 Nut Eight, Eight perfect
8-6-4-3-2 #6 8-6-5-3-2 #7 8-6-5-4-2 #8 8-6-5-4-3 #9 Rough 🍊 eighty-six 8-7-4-3-2 #10
Eighty-seven smooth 8-7-5-3-2 #11 8-7-5-4-2 #12 Average eight 8-7-5-4-3 #13 8-7-6-3-2
#14 8-7-6-4-2 #15 8-7-6-4-3 #16 8-7-6-5-2 🍊 #17 8-7-6-5-3 #18 Rough eighty-seven, The
Dave P. 9-5-4-3-2 #19 Nut Nine, Nine perfect
When speaking, low hands are referred to
🍊 by their highest-ranking card or cards. Any nine-high hand can be called "a nine", and
is defeated by any "eight". 🍊 Two cards are frequently used: the hand 8-6-5-4-2 can be
called "an eight-six" and will defeat "an eight-seven" such as 🍊 8-7-5-4-2.
Another
common notation is calling a particular low hand "smooth" or "rough". A smooth low hand
is one where the 🍊 remaining cards after the highest card are themselves very low; a
rough low hand is one where the remaining cards 🍊 are high. For instance, 8-7-6-4-2 would
be referred to as a "rough eight", but 8-5-4-3-2 would be referred to as 🍊 a "smooth
eight".
Wild cards are rarely used in deuce-to-seven games, but if used they play as
whatever rank would make 🍊 the lowest hand. Thus, in 7-6-Joker-3-2, the joker plays as a
4, while in Joker-5-4-3-2 it would play as a 🍊 7 (a six would make a straight).
High-low
split games with deuce-to-seven low are usually played with a declaration.
See also [
🍊 edit ]
