Lowball Poker

 Low stakes poker

Introduction

Lowball (or Low Poker) is poker in which the lowest ranking hand win. This is possible for most poker variants. However, Lowball or Low Poker is more commonly used to describe a low version Five Card Draw Poker. Here are several versions of this game. You will find information on the differences in the hand ranking, drawing procedures, and the use of a wild card.

You can read the hand ranking page to see all possible rankings for low poker. The difference depends on whether Aces are considered high or low, as well as whether straights and/or flushes are included. A hand that contains five or more pairs of cards counts, and a hand without straights or flushes will be considered as a hand.

If you are drawing to a hand of five cards to make a low card, it is rare to draw more than one card. Draw two cards and you'll make a pair approximately half of the time. Regardless of the cards that you keep, your chances of making a high hand or a 9-high are never greater than 25%. There are lowball games that allow players to draw more than one card. This game allows you to draw more cards than you need, but if you don't stay long enough, you have two options: either you stand pat or you draw only one card and hope for a low card that doesn't pair with any of the other four.

Draw Poker is probably the most common Lowball form, but the Lowball Five Card Stud version also works well. Seven Card Stud Low is also available under the name Razz. Lowball can sometimes be used to refer also to Jacks Back on this website. This game starts as Five Card Draw Jacks or Better. If no one has enough hands to open, it is played for low.

California Lowball

This game is also known as Ace to Five Single Draw Poker. The showdown uses ace-to five ranking to determine the winner. The aces are always low while straights and flushes do no count. Therefore, the lowest hand is usually A-2-3-4-4. Next, you will see A-2-3-4-4-6 and then A-2-3-4-4-6. Finally, you will see A-2-3-5-6. The highest cards of an unpaired hands are always compared first. So 7-5-4-3-2-A is better than 7-6-3-2-2-A.

While it is possible for a player to play with an ante in casual games, it is more common to use blinds when playing formal games. The dealer sets a small blind, and the two other players to the left place a large blind equal to the minimum wager.

Every player gets five cards. There is also a round to bet. If an ante has been placed, it begins with the player on the left of dealer. Blinds placed count as bets. The first betting round starts with the player to your left of the blinds. Big blind players are allowed to raise when the turn comes around, even if nobody else has made more than call.

After the first round of betting, the remaining players can turn and discard as many cards as they wish, although in practice, this is rarely more than one card. There is a second round. If the game involves blinds, this round is initiated by the first player to the left of the dealer. If there is no blinds or antes, the next round will be opened by the person who opened the first round.

Some people play Lowball as a fixed-limit game. Others play that the bet's size doubles after the draw.

This game is often played with an additional joker. The joker, also known as the fitter or the fitter is the lowest rank in the holder's hands. For example, 8-6-4-2 A-joker is equivalent 8-6-4-2 A.

Betting Sevens

Some rules state that the player who checks after a draw with a hand that's 7-low (or better) and has the best hand in the showdown, can only win those chips. All chips bet after the draw are put in a separate pot. This player is not eligible for winning.

You can win the whole pot by calling, betting, or raising after the draw provided that you did so with your 7-low hand or better. You should not check your hand after the draw unless you plan to fold if someone else bets against.

Kansas City Lowball

Kansas City Lowball is sometimes called Deuce to Seven Single Draw (or Billy Baxter Lowball) after the player who won several times the world championship in this particular game. This game is dominated by Aces, which are high, and straights and flushes don't count (and therefore are bad). However, A-2-3-4-5 is not a straight because the Ace is higher. The best hand is 7-5-4-2-3 (hence "Deuce to Seven") followed by 7-4-2-3-3... KQ-J-10-8, 7-4-4-3-2... A-5-4-2-3, A-5-4-3-3-2, A-62-4-3-2... and the usual royal flush. This is the exact opposite of normal high-poker except for A-2-3-44-5.

California Lowball is similar in terms of deal, draw, betting. This game can be played with or without a joker. There is no equivalent to the "betting 7s" rule.

Additional information is available on this game at the Play Lowball Poker page.

Lowball Ace-to-Six

Five Card Draw Poker is a game that uses the ace-to-6 ranking. In this case, straights and flushes count, but aces can be very low. A-A is normally the lowest pair and therefore the best, however A-KQQ-J-10 would be considered a straight. But opinions may differ so make sure to get all details in advance.

The game is often overlooked or considered unusual by poker sites and books. This could be because the game isn't offered in online poker rooms or public card room on the American West Coast. However, it seems to be quite common in home poker, particularly in the American East Coast and Europe.

Triple Draw

There are three ways to improve your hand in this game. Some sources claim the maximum number allowed to play this game is six. With a greater number of players, the cards will run out more frequently and will require that discards be recycled.

It is normally played with blinds. The player to the dealer's left posts one small blind, while the next player to their left posts one big blind. This blind is equal to the minimum bet for that game.

The dealer gives five cards to each player, and there's a round to bet that begins to the left. In games with blinds, the bigblind player can raise regardless of whether the other players have folded or called. In clockwise order, beginning at dealer's right, players can discard any number of cards before being dealt replacements. A second round begins when the first player active is dealt replacements. After this, the second chance to draw and discard, a third round is opened for betting. The fourth round is complete with a final draw and discard. A fixed limit game has a doubled size bet after the second draw. The last two rounds are therefore filled with big bets.

The dealer often runs out of cards in this game. This is when all the cards (the "muck") that were discarded are shuffled into a new deck. Players who have not drawn are given replacement cards.

There are two versions depending on the hand ranking in the showdown. (See low poker hand rank)

The most well-known game is probably Deuce To Seven Triple Draw. This game uses the deuce-to-7 ranking.

Sometimes Ace to Five Triple draw is played, in which the ace to five ranking is used.

Additional information is available on the Triple Draw page at Play Lowball Poker.

Double Draw

Triple Draw is an identical game, but this game has only two rounds where players can improve their hand by drawing cards. The deal ends after the draw. There are also three rounds of betting after that draw. Players can choose to use either an ace or deuce ranking (or even an ace and six), as long as they agree. Playing Stud Online Lowball