Home game · Guts
Lowball Guts is three-card guts played for low. Each player gets three cards, a ghost hand is dealt beside them, and everyone declares in or out at the same moment. The lowest hand among those who stay in wins the pot, the others who stayed in must match it, and a player who stays in alone must beat the ghost hand or match the pot.
Lowball Guts was contributed to pagat.com by Chris Hood. It is a low version of Guts.
The game is played with a standard 52-card deck and no wild cards. The source does not set a number of players; with three cards for each player and three for the ghost, one deck serves up to sixteen.
The object is to hold the lowest three-card hand among the players who stay in.
Aces are low. Straights and flushes do not count against a hand, but pairs and three of a kind do. The lowest possible hand is A-2-3, in any suits.
Hands without a pair are compared by their highest card first; the lower highest card wins. If the highest cards are equal, the next highest cards are compared, and so on.
2.2(a) 9-8-7 is lower, and so better, than 10-3-2, because the nine is lower than the ten.
2.2(b) 7-4-3 is lower than 7-5-3, because the sevens are equal and the four is lower than the five.
Any hand without a pair beats any hand with a pair, and a pair beats three of a kind. The source does not rank paired hands against one another; the usual lowball practice is that a lower pair beats a higher one. See Lowball and hand rankings for low ranking in general.
Every player pays an agreed ante to the pot.
The dealer deals three cards face down to each player, and three cards face down to a spare hand called the ghost.
Players look at their cards and then declare all at once. Each player holds their cards face down a few inches above the table. The dealer counts to three, and on three each player either drops their cards to the table, which means out, or keeps holding them, which means in.
If every player drops, all players ante again, and the cards are shuffled and dealt again.
| Players in | Result |
|---|---|
| None | Everyone antes again and there is a new deal. |
| One | The ghost hand is turned up. The player must beat it or match the pot. |
| Two or more | The ghost is not played. The lowest hand wins the pot, and every other player who is in matches it. |
If two or more players are in, the player with the lowest hand among them wins the pot. The ghost hand is not used.
Each player who was in and did not win must pay an amount equal to the pot.
If only one player is in, that player must beat the ghost hand or match the pot. The usual practice in guts games is that a lone player who beats the ghost takes the pot.
The source does not cover ties. The dealer shall announce before play how tied hands are settled.
Three players stay in
Player A holds 8♥6♣2♦. Player B holds 7♠7♦A♣. Player C holds 9♣4♥3♠.
Player B has a pair, so B's hand is beaten by both unpaired hands. Comparing A and C, A's highest card is an eight and C's is a nine, so A's 8-6-2 is lower.
Player A wins the pot. Players B and C each pay an amount equal to the pot.
Since straights and flushes do not count, any three different low cards make a strong hand. A-2-3 cannot be beaten.
Because the ghost plays against a lone player, staying in alone with a weak hand is risky: the ghost's hand is random, and a random three-card hand has no pair more than four times in five.
A-2-3, in any suits. Aces are low, and straights and flushes do not count against you.
Yes, against you. Any hand without a pair beats any hand with one, and three of a kind is worse still.
Everyone antes again, and the cards are shuffled and dealt again.
Where any doubt remains in the application of this document, Rob is right.
Lowball Guts Rules · OPR-625 · officialpokerrules.com/lowball-guts/