Lowball poker is a fashionable poker variety in the western U.S that has steadily been moving eastward, though it still hasn’t quite caught on the way it has in Vegas and certain parts of California. Maybe it just takes some getting used to playing a game of poker where the lowest hand wins. You will find a hefty following of this game by ardent players on https://koinqq.com, who regularly discuss the tricks and strategies of playing the game in forums. The lowest possible hand you can win with in lowball poker is 5-4-3-2-Ace The Ace is usually referred to as the wheel or the bicycle in honor of that little picture on the deck of the most popular cards and in lowball poker is always counted on the downlow and never as a high card. (Actually, that isn’t strictly true; there is a variation of lowball poker where the Ace is always high; yet another reason to know the rules before playing the game.) In the standard version, however, holding a pair of aces in lowball poker beats a pair of anything else, whether it is a pair of twos or a pair of kings. Of course, it is wildly vital to understand that almost no one ever actually wins a hand of lowball poker when they are holding a pair of twos. Winning a hand of lowball poker while holding a pair of kings would be a miracle so enormous that your name would spread like wildfire throughout the lowball poker community.
So how does one go about winning at lowball poker if even holding lowly pair usually means defeat? Probability is the byword, of course. And the better your understanding of how probability actually works, the better your chances of winning at this fun version of poker. All poker is about probability and the correct apprehension of variability, but in lowball poker it is even more vital to fully comprehend them. The typical poker enthusiast whose frustration level has slowly increased with the delivery of each losing hand tends to greatly miscalculate the statistical difficulties involved drawing a low hand. As an example, let’s say you drew a hand along the lines of this: 3-7-Jack-King-King. The average poker player would probably be moved to drop both those kings and draw two cards. Doing so really isn’t as smart an idea as it seems; the smart move in a game of lowball poker would be to go ahead and fold with the realization that the Jack alone is probably too high to get you a win and you just might wind up drawing another pair anyway.
When playing lowball poker, it’s worth remembering that it rarely makes sense to take the risk of drawing two cards if the high card of three you’re left holding is anything above an 8 since the statistical risk involved in drawing two cards lower than an 8 without leaving you with a pair is way too freaking huge. On the other hand, let’s say that draw a hand that is topped off with a 10. In that case, the wisest course is to stand on what you’ve drawn because should you take the risk to come up with something lower than your 10, you are merely tempting fate. If you’ve got a talent for bluffing, this is the perfect opportunity for showcasing your talent because the odds are actually better that you can trick the other players than that you will draw a lower card.