This once popular game used to be played in every card room in California until Holdem took over. The game was just the opposite of draw poker where the high hand wins. The best Low Ball hand was Ace through Five suited or unsuited. There was the added touch of a Joker that could be used for any missing card. The game was simple to play like draw poker. Each player was dealt five cards face down and a round of betting was completed. When completed the dealer asked each player how many cards they wished to draw too. Most players would limit their draw to one or two cards. The usual good hand was a seven high with no pairs. Any hand that had a lower high card was considered to be a winning hand until it was proven differently. When a player ended up with a wheel, Ace through five, they could only be tied and never could lose with this hand. This game was extremely popular for many years in back room card rooms and even in some live casinos in Reno and Vegas.
There were problems with the game as players usually took turn dealing the cards. Some players were better at dealing than they should have been and there was an undercurrent of possible cheating going on. For this reason, many card rooms started using house dealers to take away any perception of fake dealing. For many years this game made good players a great deal of money and poor players would remain the drained pigeons. The game become an after thought with the growth of Holdem and when California allowed it to be dealt legally that ended the reign of Low Ball. Also the casinos were more interested in dealing stud or Holdem than Low Ball. There are sites online that still spread this game and there are players that still are willing to play, but the game has long since lost its audience. It was fun while it lasted and players were willing to gamble on low hands. The Holdem craze changed a great deal of games in the poker world. Ring games and tournaments have become the way to go for most sites that offer poker.
