Okay Poker players; answer this one:

[PurityOfEssence]

In lowball, which is the winning hand, a pair of deuces or a pair of aces? I say a pair of aces.

When playing a split pot, you can go both ways and beat a pair of whatevers low, and a pair of face cards high, right?

How do the casinos do this, and where can I find out the gambling business' take on this?

[Floogeldy]

1. I think a pair of aces is always high

See Hoyle's rules of poker.

[Lucky Luciano]

2. interesting question

I guess there are two versions of the game. The type where A is high and all poker hands count - so 23457 that is not a flush is the best hand. Then there is the version you are playing where A can be low and A2345 is not a straight and flushes are ignored. I would say that AA beats 22, but I am not positive. I would say that if A can be low, then a pair of aces should be a pair of low cards as well.

[PurityOfEssence]

5. I agree

In a split pot game where the house rules are either of the versions I discuss below, if you declare low, a pair of Aces is lower than a pair of deuces. An Ace is a "1".

[Dookus]

3. No

a pair of aces is high.

Yes, in split pots, you can win both high and low. The best way to do so is with a "wheel", which is A,2,3,4,5. It's a straight for high, and the lowest low.

There are split games, and then two variants of a game called Lowball. In standard lowball, A,2,3,4,5 is the best hand. In Kansas-City Lowball, also called 2-7 lowball, aces are always high and straights count, so the best hand is 2,3,4,5,7.

[PurityOfEssence]

4. There are three versions of lowball rules (of which I know)

The one I prefer--which is the most liberal--is where straights and flushes don't count against you; thus the wheel is the best hand (A2345). The other very common version is that straights and flushes DO count against you, thus an unsuited "64" is the best hand (A2346). In both of these versions, the Ace is low, and in any version of either of these assumptions, if one chooses to go both ways, the Ace is a "1" in the low hand and above the King in the high hand unless being used to fill a low straight. (In version one, you could have the wheel and go both ways, with a straight high and the lock hand low. In version two, you could go both ways if you have an 86 or something to go low, and an Ace high to go high.)

One much rarer--and strictly conservative--version is where Aces are ALWAYS high, and straights and flushes count against you, thus a 75432 is the lock low.

It would seem that in any version of the game where an Ace could be low, if declaring low, paired Aces (a pair of "1"s) should be lower than the 2s. The Aces have been defined as the lowest cards; why do they pervert to high cards just because they pair? They're low cards.

Does anyone have a reference site, and above all else, how do the Casinos play it?