Ace-to-Five Lowball Rules

The object of the game is to win the pot, either by holding the lowest five-card hand at showdown under the ranking in Article 2, or by making a bet that no other player calls.

The game is played with a standard 52-card deck. It is often played with one joker added, used as described in 2.5. The dealer shall announce before play whether the joker is in use.

Every player's hand consists of the five cards they hold. There are no community cards.

The same ace-to-five ranking is used in Razz and for the low half of split games such as Omaha Hi-Lo. It differs from Deuce-to-Seven and Ace-to-Six lowball, in which straights and flushes count against you.

Aces always count low, below the 2. Straights and flushes do not count: 5-4-3-2-A is simply a five-high hand, whatever its suits.

Any hand with five different ranks beats any hand containing a pair. A hand with one pair beats a hand with two pairs, two pairs beat three of a kind, and so on. A pair of aces is the lowest pair.

Two unpaired hands are compared by their highest card first; the lower highest card wins. If the highest cards are equal, the next highest are compared, and so on down to the lowest card. Hands are described from the top down, so 7-5-4-3-2 is a seven-low.

Suits have no rank. Two hands with the same five ranks tie and split the pot.

The joker. When a joker is used, it acts as a bug (sometimes called the fitter): it counts as the lowest rank not already in the holder's hand. It is not fully wild. For example, 8-6-4-A with the joker counts as 8-6-4-2-A.

See hand rankings for how ace-to-five compares with deuce-to-seven, and Ace-to-Six Lowball for the ace-to-six system.

The game may be played with antes or with blinds. The structure, and the size of the bets, shall be announced before play.

In formal games it is more often played with blinds. The structure described on pagat.com has the dealer post a small blind, and each of the next two players to the dealer's left post a big blind equal to the minimum bet. Cardrooms that use a different blind structure publish their own.

Blinds count as bets. A player who posted a big blind may raise when the action returns to them, even if everyone else has only called.

Each player is dealt five cards face down, one at a time, starting with the player to the dealer's left.

With blinds, the first betting round begins with the player immediately to the left of the blinds. With antes and no blinds, it begins with the player to the dealer's left.

No minimum hand is needed to open or call.

After the first betting round, each remaining player in turn, starting from the dealer's left, may discard any number of cards and receive the same number of replacements. A player who draws no cards stands pat.

In practice players rarely draw more than one card. Drawing two or more to a low hand makes a pair likely.

A second betting round follows the draw. With blinds, it begins with the first active player to the dealer's left. With antes, it begins with the player who opened the first round.

In fixed-limit games, some groups double the bet size after the draw and others keep it the same. The dealer shall announce which applies.

If more than one player remains after the second betting round, there is a showdown and the lowest hand wins the pot.

Where the sevens rule is in force, a player who checks at their first turn after the draw while holding a seven-low or better (five different ranks, none higher than 7) and then has the best hand at showdown wins only the chips that were in the pot at the time of the draw.

Any chips bet after the draw are placed in a separate pot, which that player cannot win.

A player who bets, calls or raises after the draw, without having checked at their first turn to act, may win the whole pot with a seven-low or better in the normal way.