2-7 Lowball Poker Single Draw (Kansas City Lowball)

2-7 Single Draw is a version of 2-7 lowball poker offered online exclusively at PokerStars.com. Other than a few high stakes games in Los Angeles card rooms, where the game is referred to as Kansas City Lowball, 2-7 Single Draw is rarely spread in brick and mortar poker rooms. The game has remained a factor in the poker community due to its rich history, with many of the biggest names in poker having captured a 2-7 lowball bracelet at the World Series of Poker and because of it now being available online at PokerStars.

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In 2-7 lowball poker games the lowest hand wins the pot; aces always count as high, and straights (as do flushes) count against the hand. Therefore, “the nuts” (best hand possible) is 2-3-4-5-7, as a six high hand would be a straight. The rules of 2-7 Single Draw are quite simple and are covered here in our nl 2-7 rules article. A small blind and big blind are posted, same as in holdem, and then each player is dealt five cards. The first of two betting rounds then takes place. If more than one player remains in the hand, a single draw is offered. During the draw a player can discard any number of their five cards which are then replaced with new ones. After the draw a final betting round takes place and if more than one player remains in the hand, players showdown, and the player with the best 2-7 lowball poker hand wins the pot.

Also we should note that while some of the Kansas City Lowball rules might mean the games in Los Angeles occasionally use Pot Limit or Fixed Limit betting structures, the game 2-7 Single Draw is nearly always played in No Limit format. This is the case in both the World Series of Poker Tournaments, as well as 2-7 Single Draw games offered online at PokerStars.com.

2-7 Lowball History

As a quick preface to our history section we’ll point out, 2-7 Single Draw has a rich history under the names “2-7 lowball” and “2-7 lowball draw”. After new forms of poker meeting the names description (specifically 2-7 triple draw) were introduced, the game became more commonly known as “2-7 Single Draw” or “NL 2-7 Single Draw”. For history sake, we’ll refer to it going further as 2-7 Lowball.

2-7 Lowball first appeared on the World Series of Poker schedule during the 3rd annual WSOP (1973), and it appeared on the schedule 35 of the next 37 years, with 1983 and 1999 being the only years 2-7 lowball poker was absent from the WSOP schedule. The first WSOP lowball poker event was won by Aubrey Day in 1973, but that same year another 2-7 Lowball WSOP event was won by later to become 1982 Main Event Champion Jack Straus. The following year, the event was won by soon to become 1975 WSOP Main Event Champion Sailor Roberts. Other WSOP Main Event winners to also have captured 2-7 lowball bracelets include 3 time WSOP Main Event Champion Stu Ungar, two time WSOP Main Event winners Johnny Chan and Doyle Brunson and 1978 WSOP Main Event winner Bobby Baldwin.

The 2-7 lowball event has always been a high stakes game, which attracts many of the poker’s biggest names and top players. The buy-in historically has rotated between a $10,000 championship and a $5,000 w/ rebuys event. For the reasons mentioned, it has become one of the most coveted titles in the game between poker’s elite, and each year with very few exceptions the event has been won by a big name in poker. Some other big names not already mentioned having won 2-7 Lowball bracelets include two-time WSOP Main Event runner up finisher Dewey Tomko, 2005 WSOP Player of Year Allen Cunningham, eight-time WSOP bracelet winner Erik Seidel, World Poker Tour founder Lyle Berman, Las Vegas legend and former casino owner/founder Bob Stupak, four-time WSOP bracelet winner Mickey Appleman, 2007 $50K H.O.R.S.E champion Freddy Deeb, and three-time bracelet winner John Bonetti.

Even with the prestige of WSOP bracelets and the number of entrants increasing since the online poker boom, the trend of big names winning 2-7 lowball WSOP bracelets has continued. Since 2000, winners of 2-7 lowball gold include Jennifer Harman, Howard Lederer, Allen Cunningham, Barry Greenstein, David Grey, Daniel Alaei, Erik Seidel, Mike Matusow, Phil Ivey and Nick Schulman.

The 2-7 lowball bracelet winner we’ve yet to mention is Billy Baxter. He is widely considered to be the best lowball poker player of all time, this includes not only 2-7 lowball, but all forms of Lowball including Razz and other A-5 format games. He has an astonishing five 2-7 lowball WSOP bracelets, having won the events in 1975, 1978, 1982, 1987 and 1993. This is to go along with his two other WSOP bracelets which came in 1982 in A-5 Draw and 2002 in Razz.

PokerStars Adds 2-7 Single Draw

New volumes of 2-7 Lowball history might soon be written. This game, which was previously available only to Southern California high stakes grinders, and WSOP big boys, is now available online at 2-7 Single Draw poker sites. This came in August 2008, when PokerStars introduced a number of new additions to their software which included 2-7 Single Draw and Triple Draw.  2-7 Single Draw tournaments became pretty popular straight away but on the ring game tables it was always Triple Draw which had more traffic. For the first time ever, the casual poker player can compete (even at micro stakes) at the same game that has helped make poker legends.

To play 2-7 Single Draw online, visit the PokerStars website.