Low poker, also called lowball, is not a single term but a family of poker variants in which the lowest hand wins instead of the highest. Most rules match ordinary poker, but the hand rankings are turned upside down, a bit like playing poker on opposite day. A royal flush, the top hand in standard poker, is a poor hand here.
Which hand is best depends on the variant. The two most popular forms rank hands differently:
- Ace-to-five, or California lowball: aces count low and straights and flushes are ignored, so the best hand is A-2-3-4-5.
- Deuce-to-seven, or Kansas City lowball: aces count high and straights and flushes count against you, so the best hand is 7-5-4-3-2 in mixed suits.
Lowball rankings also decide the low half of the pot in split-pot games such as Omaha Hi/Lo.