Ace-to-Five Review

What Is Ace-to-Five ?

Ace-to-Five is among the variations of Poker where the players will attempt to have the lowest hand as opposed to the highest. It is considered the oldest method to evaluate low hands in Poker making it very common in most of the casinos in the US, especially in high to low games.

Aces are intended to be the lowest cards while Flushes and Straights are ignored. A-2-3-4-5 would be considered the best possible hand, and widely known as the wheel, regardless of the suit.
‘Ace to Five’ is usually played with a joker added to the deck. This card serves as the lowest one which is not yet present in hand. This means that it’s a wild card, or it’s played as an Ace, making it a very powerful card in the high to low split games.

Explained

High to low split games like ‘Ace to Five’ low are typically played without a declaration. A qualifier is often required for ‘low’, that is generally 8-high or 9-high. Some hands which may be both low and high hands are considered to be strong hands. Hogging or scooping the pot is the term used when winning both halves.

‘Ace to Five’ was first played in 1973 during the World Series of Poker through a draw format. The goal of the game is to achieve the lowest possible hand, while the most crucial factor are the highest cards left in the hands of the players.

For example, a player with a final hand of 5-6-7-8-9 can beat another player with A-2-3-4-10, due to nine being lower than the opponent’s ten. For an added twist, any player without a pair can trump a player with a pair. For example, 8-7-6-3-2 beats the hand of J-J-6-4-3.

There are some instances that a ‘high to low’ split game can be a variation of A to 5 Lowball Poker. Meaning, the player with the highest card can take any chips left over if the pot fails to divide equally, right after the low-winning hands have taken the winning share.
A Joker will act as a wildcard if you add it to the deck. It is the lowest card available that is not already in the hand of the player. For example, if the hand was 8-5-4, a Joker could represent a 2 making it the lowest possible card currently not in hand.