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.