In the game of poker, the lowball mode (low poker) denotes a style of play where winning hands are the hands of the weaker force.
It is used for example to specify the type of game which we will play: Omaha low
When the game is announced without specifying which mode will be played, it is agreed that it is in high mode; to play low, it is necessary that the donor specifies that it is this mode that will be activated before the start of the game.
Low mode still exist in two variants that the donor must specify:
- Ace to five
- Deuce to seven
Ace to five
In this variant of low suites mode, flushes and straights do not count, and aces count as one, therefore lower than the 2s.
If a player has the following hand:
A player’s hand:
Straight to 8: 8♣ 7 6♣ 5 4
It is weaker in this mode (the hand is a straight and we are low mode, this hand value is an 8, its highest card) and therefore wins against:
B player’s hand:
A pair of three: A♣ Q 10♣ 3 3
In this game mode, the strongest hand (so the lowest hand in the high ranking when excluding suites and colors), is, for example:
The strongest hand:
White straight or wheel: 5♣ 4 3 2 A
The strongest hand:
White straight or wheel: 5♣ 4♣ 3♣ 2♣ A♣
The latter, although a straight flush combination, remains the same strength than the first because the flushes, suits and straight flushes do not count.
These are the hands that gives its name of ace to five variant.
Deuce to seven
In this variant of the low mode, the aces only count as high cards. The straights and flushes also count respectively for straights and flushes and are therefore wrong hands.
In this game mode, the strongest hand (so the lowest hand in the high ranking), is, for example:
The strongest hand:
The nut in deuce to seven: 7♣ 5 4 3♣ 2
This is the hand that gives the name of deuce to seven variant.
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