Poker 2-7 Lowball Rules

  1. 2-7 Lowball rules for NL Single Draw are simple; however, players not familiar with the Deuce to Seven ranking of hands often get confused. Of course, in lowball poker the goal is to make the lowest hand possible. In Deuce to Seven the best hand a player can make is 2-3-4-5-7.
  2. 2-7 Triple Draw is a form of “lowball” poker, where the best hand is the lowest hand. The best possible hand in 2-7 Triple Draw is 2-3-4-5-7, or number 1 as players of the game refer to it. As you can see, this hand would be complete garbage in a “high-hand” variation of poker.
  3. First lets take a look at the NL 2-7 Single Draw rules after which we will show you how NL 2-7 Triple Draw rules differ. NL 2-7 rules are the same as Holdem rules when it comes to the small and big blind. The small blind sits directly to the left of the dealer and the big blind sits directly to the left of the small blind.

2-7 (Deuce to Seven) Single Draw is a form of draw poker, sometimes referred to as ‘Kansas City Lowball’. Lowball games reward the best low hand, making it the opposite of games likes Hold’em and Stud, in which the highest hand wins. Like board games Hold’em and Omaha, the game is played with blinds and a button, and is also sometimes played with antes. In Single Draw, each player has the opportunity to discard and draw cards once, though you may ‘stand pat’ (not discard any cards) on the draw.

Poker 2-7 Lowball Rules Card Game

How to Play 2-7 Single Draw

How to Play 2-7 Triple Draw Poker: Starting Hands to Golden Rules If you don’t feel like playing Hold’em or Omaha anymore, 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball might be an appealing option for you. It’s become the de facto game of choice for the elite high-stakes games online and a new $1,500 event at the WSOP has helped a surge of interest in the.

Poker

First, it’s important to understand that the hand rankings are different in 2-7 than in other low games. In 2-7, straights and flushes count against your low hand, and aces are always high. So the best possible hand is: 7, 5, 4, 3, 2. The following 2-7 hands (not a complete list) are ranked from least powerful (#1, which will rarely win the pot) to most powerful (#16, the nuts):

  1. J, 7, 4, 3, 2 (all the same suit - a flush)
  2. 8, 7, 6, 5, 4 (a straight)
  3. 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 (a lower straight)
  4. 5, 5, 5, 6, 3
  5. 2, 2, 7, 6, 5
  6. A, 9, 6, 4, 2
  7. A, 8, 7, 4, 2
  8. A, 5, 4, 3, 2 (not a straight - ace-high)
  9. K, J, 8, 7, 4
  10. T, 7, 5, 4, 3
  11. T, 6, 5, 4, 3
  12. T, 6, 5, 4, 2
  13. 9, 7, 6, 4, 3
  14. 8, 6, 4, 3, 2
  15. 7, 6, 4, 3, 2
  16. 7, 5, 4, 3, 2

Blinds

Triple Draw 2-7 Lowball Rules

Draw games are played using forced bets known as ‘blinds’, with the player sitting to the left of the dealer button posting a small blind, and the player to their left posting the big blind. The small blind is usually equal to half the size of the big blind. Lowball is also sometimes played with an ‘ante’, which is a small forced bet posted by each player in addition to the blinds.

The Deal

Each player is dealt five cards face down. There is then a round of betting, where you have the option to either call, raise, or fold. Players still left in the hand after the first round of betting now have the opportunity to draw. This means you can try and improve your hand by discarding some of the cards, and being dealt new ones to replace them. Click the cards you want to discard, and then hit the ‘Discard’ button. You can discard all five cards if you wish. If you feel that you already have a strong hand, you can opt to ‘Stand Pat’. This means that you are choosing not to discard any of your cards. When the draw is complete, another round of betting ensues, with players having the option to bet or fold (if a bet has been made before the action is on them). If no bets are made, players also have the option to check. If more than one player is still left in the hand at this point, a showdown takes place, with the player holding the best hand taking the pot.

So the sequence of action is:

Poker 2-7 Lowball Rules Dice Game

  1. Five cards dealt to each player
  2. Betting round #1, beginning with player to left of big blind
  3. Discard/Draw, beginning with the player to the left of the button
  4. Betting round #2, beginning with the player to the left of button
  5. Showdown (if necessary)

In draw games, it is possible for more cards to be needed than are remaining in the deck. In this case, the cards are reshuffled, and play continues using the new deck. For more information on reshuffling in draw games, please see Reshuffling the Deck.

Showdown - Determining the Winner

The player with the best five-card 2-7 hand wins the pot. After the pot is awarded to the best hand, a new game of 2-7 Single Draw is ready to be played.

If two or more hands have the same value, the pot is equally split among them. There is no rank of suit for the purposes of awarding the pot. Please remember, this is different from other forms of low or high/low poker, where an ace can be played either high or low. In 2-7, an ace is always the highest card.

Basic Strategy

In Lowball, most hands that are usually strong in games like Hold’em are weak. Pairs, trips (three of a kind), straights and flushes are always considered to be high hands, and so do not qualify in Lowball. If a hand has no pair, the player with the highest ranking card loses. For instance, if one player has 9-6-5-2-3, this hand beats 10-9-6-2-3. In 2-7 games, aces are always high, and are therefore not good. This means that a player holding J-9-7-3-2 beats an opponent with A-9-7-3-2. The best possible hand is 7-5-4-3-2 of different suits. This is because the hand is low, has no ace and is not a straight or a flush. It’s for this reason that the game is called 2-7 Lowball.

Learn How to Play 2-7 Single Draw for Free

If you are unfamiliar with 2-7 Single Draw poker, we recommend you try the game out first to get a feel for how it’s played. You are always welcome to play on free poker tables at PokerStars, and sharpen your skills before playing real money poker.

Finally, if you like to play other draw variants, we recommend you check out Triple Draw 2-7 Lowball, Five Card Draw, or Badugi, all of which are very popular poker games as well. These games are a nice change of pace from the amazingly popular Texas Hold’em game, and they are also available in our poker tournaments selection.

As well as 2-7 Single Draw, we also offer many other poker variants. See our Poker Games page to learn more.

If you have any questions about 2-7 Single Draw games at PokerStars, please email Support.

Find out how the different hands compare in Texas Hold'em, Omaha and other games.

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Poker 2-7 Lowball Rules Against

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