Online Poker » Dealers Choice Games » Ace to Five Lowball with Joker

Ace to Five Lowball poker is an interesting variant on the game of poker. Instead of your goal being to get the highest hand possible, lowball rewards those with the lowest possible hands. Lowball is in the draw category of poker games, meaning that players can trade out a few of their cards for those in the deck. The players are dealt five cards face down. Then each player bets or folds. Those that bet then have the opportunity to draw from the deck. A player can trade up to five consecutive cards from the deck. Ace to Five Lowball can be played with blinds or antes depending on the game structure you want to create.

Types of Lowball Poker Games

Lowball poker can be played in several different ways using several different betting structures. One common betting structure is based around blinds. Everyone pays their blinds, and then the cards are dealt. After players look at their cards they can either fold, bet, raise or call. Then there is the first draw round where players can trade their cards for other cards in the deck. This can be between zero and five cards. After the first draw there are two more draws and two more rounds of betting. There is one last round of betting and then players will show their cards.

In Ace to Six Lowball, the best hand you can possibly have is 6,4,3,2,A. Aces are considered low and flushes and straights are seen as high hands.

In Deuce to Seven Lowball, also known as Seven to Five Lowball, aces are high and straights and flushes are seen as high hands. The lowest hand you can get in this type of Lowball is 7,5,4,3,2. This version is almost the exact opposite of traditional poker.

Razz is a popular version of lowball played at many online poker sites. It is a seven card stud version with the ace played low and the best possible hand being 5,4,3,2,A.

Ace to Five Lowball with Joker

Another popular version of lowball is known as Ace to Five. In Ace to Five, aces are low cards and straights and flushes do not count for anything. As in all lowball variants, the object is to get the best low hand. In Ace to Five Lowball, the best hand you can have is 5,4,3,2,A. A common way to play is Ace to Five Lowball is by adding a joker to the deck as a wild card.

When playing Ace to Five Lowball with Joker, the joker is used as the lowest card in your hand. Therefore, if you have 5,4,3,2,J, the joker would be taking the place of an Ace, giving you the best hand in the game.

The Sevens Rule

There is a rule that is commonly used in Ace to Five Lowball with Joker as well as straight Ace to Five Lowball. It is known as the Sevens Rule. The Sevens Rule is designed to stop a player that has a great hand from luring people into the final pot. If the player has a seven high or better and decides to check rather than bet, all play after the draw is void if that seven high or better hand is the winner.