Ace-to-five low is the most common method for evaluating low
poker hands. As in all lowball poker 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 poker hands are compared starting with the highest ranking
card, just as in high poker, except that the high poker 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 poker 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 poker because the
lowest (and
therefore best) possible poker hand is 5-4-3-2-A,
called a wheel or
bicycle. 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, 7-5-3-2-1, etc.
When speaking, low poker hands are referred to by their highest
ranking card or cards. Any nine-high poker 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.
High-low split poker games with ace-to-five low are usually played
cards speak, that is, without a declaration. Frequently a
qualifier is required for the low poker hand (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
poker game is called scooping or
hogging the pot. The perfect
poker hand in such a game is called a steel wheel, 5-4-3-2-A of
one suit, which plays both as perfect low poker hand and a straight
flush high.
Ace-to-five lowball poker is often played with a
joker added to
the deck. The joker always 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 poker games.
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