Ace-to-Six 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. Every player's hand is the five cards they hold; there are no community cards.

Ace-to-six lowball is seldom offered in public cardrooms on the American West Coast or online, but is widely played in home games, particularly on the American East Coast and in Europe. The same ranking is used in the stud game London Lowball.

Aces count low. A pair of aces is normally the lowest, and so the best, pair.

Straights and flushes count as they do in high poker, and so they are bad hands for low. A straight ranks above (is worse than) three of a kind, and a flush is worse than a straight, following the standard order of hand rankings turned upside down.

Because 5-4-3-2-A is a straight, the best possible hand is 6-4-3-2-A, provided the five cards are not all of one suit.

Unpaired hands that are neither straights nor flushes are compared from the highest card down; the lower card wins at the first difference.

Because the ace is low, A-K-Q-J-10 is normally not a straight but a king-high hand, though some groups treat it as one. Players shall agree this, and whether A-A is the lowest pair, before play.

The game follows the procedure of Five Card Draw with the lowball ranking. It may be played with antes or with blinds, and the betting structure shall be agreed before play.

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

There is a betting round. With antes it begins with the player to the dealer's left; with blinds it begins with the player to the left of the blinds. No minimum hand is needed to open.

Each remaining player in turn, starting from the dealer's left, may discard any number of cards and receive the same number of replacements, or stand pat.

Most players draw no more than one card. Drawing two or more makes a pair likely, and in this game a draw can also complete an unwanted straight or flush.

A second betting round follows the draw. If more than one player remains after it, there is a showdown.

The lowest hand under the ranking in Article 2 wins the pot. Suits have no rank, and identical hands split the pot.

If all but one player folds at any point, the remaining player wins the pot without showing their cards.