Lowball hand rankings question?

[wyman13000]

IN lowball (or in any game where lo hands count) I don't understand how they rank the hands. The only information I can find is that A-2-3-4-5 is the best hand, but outside of that I don't know which would be better. 3-4-5-7-9 or A-A-2-3-4 or A-A-3-9-J. Can anybody tell me a consistent way in which they rank hands.

[age_of_sages]

the person that has the lowest non paired cards wins some examples:

A 3 4 5 6

beats

A 2 3 4 7

which beats

A 2 2 3 5

[xDiamond_CutteRx]

Low hands are ranked by the highest card in the hand (out of the 5 lowest cards), followed by the next highest, and so on:

A2345 is the lowest, followed by A2346, followed by A2356 (in Ace-to-five lowball)

In Deuce-to-Seven lowball, straights and flushes count against you and Aces are high only, so the best (worst) hand is 23457.

[snoogins47]

IN lowball (or in any game where lo hands count) I don't understand how they rank the hands. The only information I can find is that A-2-3-4-5 is the best hand, but outside of that I don't know which would be better. 3-4-5-7-9 or A-A-2-3-4 or A-A-3-9-J. Can anybody tell me a consistent way in which they rank hands.

For non-pairs, the highest card denotes the rank.

If they match, the second highest is ranked, and so forth.

So, 789TJ beats A234Q.

In your example, 34579 would be the best hand. Usually it'd be referred to as just a "Nine" or "Nine-high," sometimes "Nine-Seven" to denote the second rank.

Pairs are ranked in the reverse of high games. In Ace-to-Five rules, Aces are low, so AAxxx beats 22xxx, which beats JJxxx, you get the idea. If the pairs are tied, then the kickers would be compared. So, to use your examples, the AA234 would beat the AA39J.


This is the foundation for most low-rank games. Razz, Omaha 8/b, Stud 8/b.

Sometimes games are played with "deuce to seven" or "kansas city" low rules. In that, it's just the worst poker hand, period.

So 23456 is a straight. It can only beat higher straights, or hands that are stronger than a straight. Flushes would count against you as well. Aces are HIGH. So 23457 is the best hand (hence the name Deuce to Seven)


Those are the only two you're bound to run into. There are some variants though, that tend to just be alterations (the only one off the top of my head I can think of is something I've heard of referred to as "European Lowball" where the Ace is counted as a low card, but straights and flushes count against you)