Welcome to Play Lowball Poker

The purpose of Play Lowball Poker is multi-part. Ultimately, our aim is to be the definitive guide to lowball poker games, with rules and strategy for each lowball poker variant. Our goals include introducing and promoting lowball poker to serious poker players and educating poker enthusiasts about the rich history of lowball poker. It is our hope that as you navigate and read the pages of this website, the content is received with the same level of enthusiasm we put into creating it.

What is Lowball Poker

If you’re not familiar with what Lowball Poker is, it is a form of poker where the lowest hand, not the highest hand, wins at showdown. There are many different forms of lowball with the 7 card-stud version called Razz being the most popular. Razz uses Ace to Five lowball hand rankings and is available at PokerStars.com and Full Tilt Poker.

The second most popular version of Lowball is 2-7 Draw. This game is available at PokerStars.com both in the Single Draw and Triple Draw formats. 2-7 Lowball uses Deuce to Seven hand rankings. Last, but certainly not least, the third most popular form of lowball poker played online is Badugi Poker. This is a rather odd game as it uses four cards instead of three and has its own unique method of ranking hands. You can learn more about this game on our How to Play Badugi Page.

Lowball Poker History

Lowball Poker has a rich history dating back to the origins of poker. It wasn’t long from the time five-card draw was invented that someone came up with the idea, “Hey, let’s play where the worst hand wins”. Who that man was we have no idea, and we can’t even verify this story is even true, however it certainly makes sense. The rich history we’re talking about is not some drunk donkey wanting to change the rules, but that lowball poker was the game preferred by many of the legends who paved the way for the poker environment we enjoy today.

2-7 NL Single Draw is considered by many old timers, as well as early new generation stars, to be a pinnacle event on the World Series of Poker schedule. While it certainly doesn’t have the same prestige as the WSOP Main Event, many of the “who is who” of high stakes poker gather together each year to play this event at high stakes, generally $10,000 buy-in or $5,000 with $5,000 re-buys. Every year, with very few exceptions, a big name pro has won this event.

The first WSOP NL 2-7 Single Draw event (1973) was won by one destined to be 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 Single Draw 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. In 2008 the event was won by Mike Matusow, and in 2009 Phil Ivey picked up a bracelet in NL 2-7 Single Draw.

To view more big names that have won WSOP bracelets in NL 2-7 Single Draw, as well as other lowball poker variants, view our WSOP lowball page.

Play Lowball Poker Online

PokerStars.com is the world’s largest online poker site, and as a result they are by far the best online poker room for players looking to play lowball poker games. Their lowball line-up: Razz, Triple Draw, Badugi and 2-7 Single Draw. If you’re a Razz player who doesn’t play any of the Draw poker games, then you have a few more choices in addition to PokerStars, with the most popular additional option being Full Tilt Poker.

Note: Pokerstars have recently started offering a sports betting service to their customers alongside the poker product. It’s not great and we don’t recommend it.

If you’re a tournament player, be sure to check our page lowball tournaments, where we include a schedule of all regularly scheduled online Razz, Triple Draw, Badugi and 2-7 Single Draw tournaments.

If you don’t think you’re ready to play lowball poker online yet then why not check out our how to play lowball poker guide which will give you a brief run down of all the most popular lowball poker games as well as link you to articles where you can learn to play all of the games mentioned. Learning to play one or more lowball poker game well can give you a real advantage as a player giving you more choice when it comes to game selection and opening up more tournament opportunities.