The internet has changed things, but poker is still the most popular card game in the world – especially No-Limit Hold’em, one of several poker variants you can play at Bovada. All these variants share the same basic rules: Players sit around a table, taking turns clockwise, and they get dealt cards at random from the standard 52-card.

In any game of poker, including lowball, table position is important. The strongest position is on the button, because the button bets last. The last player to bet has the most possible information with which to make a decision. The players who must bet first are in much weaker positions because they must bet with very little information. 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. How to Play Poker. Poker is a popular game that's easy to learn but difficult to master. Although it's a card game, poker is also a game of strategy, and you'll need to constantly read the other players to decide when to fold, when to.

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.

How to Play 2-7 Single Draw

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

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:

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.

Low Hand In Poker

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.

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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. This is because Aces are always high, so A-2-3-4-5 is not a straight, in fact it’s not a good hand becasue it loses to even king high. 2-3-4-5-6 is a straight which is a hand unlikely to ever win in 2-7 lowball. Hopefully by now, you can see the reason a non flushing 2-3-4-5-7 is the best hand possible (it’s the lowest collection of cards that doesn’t make a straight and isn’t a flush).

When ranking a 2-7 Lowball hand, the first thing that is looked for is if the hand is a pair, straight, or flush which are all horrible 2-7 lowball hands. Assuming we have an actual low hand (high card only), we’ll then look at the highest card in the hand. Example: a 2-3-4-7-8 is an eight low. This hand will beat a 9 low, 10, low etc, and lose to a 7 low. If two players both have the same low, example: 2-3-4-7-8 and 2-3-4-6-8 then the second card is examined. In the case given, an 8-6 is a lower hand than an 8-7 so it would win at showdown. As cards match further each kicker is compared until a winner is determined.

2-7 Lowball Rules – No Limit Single Draw

If you’ve played five card draw we can sum up the 2-7 Lowball rules in a single sentence. It is played the same way as Five Card Draw with the only difference being the best deuce to seven lowball hand will win at showdown (or more simply stated: the worst hand wins). In case you’re a complete newbie to poker, don’t worry we’ll break the 2-7 lowball rules and nl 2-7 rules down further.

2-7 lowball starts with two players posting a blind. These are forced bets which are a small blind and a big blind (the amount determined by table stakes). Each player is then dealt five cards and a round of betting occurs. The betting starts with the player to the left of the big blind and will go around the table with each player having an option to fold, call the current bet, or raise the current bet.

In 2-7 Lowball the betting stakes are no limit, which means a player can bet as much as he would like. If a player does not have enough chips in front of him to cover the bet, he can still remain in the hand by declaring himself all in. A side pot will then be created, and that player will have an opportunity to win what was in the pot matched up against his remaining bet. If only two players are left in this hand, the extra chips in the pot are returned to the bettor who had more chips at the start of the hand. If more than two players are in the hand, there will be a sidepot which only the players who covered the bet can compete for. If this sounds confusing, don’t worry too much, after you’ve seen this occur a few times, you’ll be fully aware of how all in situations work in No Limit poker games.

How To Play Lowball Poker For Dummies

To get back on track with the 2-7 lowball rules, as we mentioned, each player has been dealt five cards and a betting round has occurred. Now that this betting round is complete, each player, starting to the left of the dealer button, has the option to discard as many cards in his hand as he would like and have them replaced with new cards. This is called the draw. Once the draw is complete, a final No Limit round of betting takes place. When this final betting round is complete, if more than one player is left in the hand, there will be a showdown. At showdown, the pot is awarded to the player with the best Deuce to Seven lowball hand.

How To Play Lowball Poker Game

A great way to learn 2-7 lowball poker yourself is to start off at the micro-limit tables at the World’s largest online poker site and exclusive provider of 2-7 lowball online, PokerStars.com.

Lowball Poker Game

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