Poker Hand Rankings by Variant: Low Hands, Razz, Omaha, Short Deck
Poker low hand rankings invert the familiar high-hand order: in games built around a low hand, the weakest-looking combination of cards often wins the pot. Most players learn the standard high-hand hierarchy first, where a royal flush beats a pair. That order still governs Texas hold'em and most Omaha games, but several variants use a different scale entirely. This entry covers how razz, lowball, short deck, pot-limit Omaha, and pai gow poker each depart from the standard hierarchy — not how the standard order itself works, which the poker hands in order entry covers in full.
Razz Poker Hand Rankings
Razz poker hand rankings use Ace-to-Five low, sometimes called California lowball ranking. Straights and flushes do not count against a hand, and aces always play low. The best possible razz hand is A-2-3-4-5, called a wheel or a bicycle. A hand like 7-5-4-3-2 of the same suit still counts as a seven-low, not a flush. Razz is dealt as seven-card stud, so its betting structure differs from hold'em; the poker variants rules guide covers how each format deals and bets.
Lowball Poker Hand Rankings
Lowball poker hand rankings are not a single fixed scale — the term covers at least two systems. Ace-to-Five lowball matches razz: aces are always low, straights and flushes don't count, and A-2-3-4-5 is the nut low. Deuce-to-Seven lowball, common in triple draw, flips this again: aces play high only, and straights and flushes count against the hand, making 7-5-4-3-2 of mixed suits the best possible hand. Knowing which scale a table uses matters more than knowing the cards themselves, since the same five cards can rank as a near-nut hand under one system and a mediocre hand under another.
| Variant | Low Scale Used | Best Possible Hand | Straights/Flushes Count? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Razz | Ace-to-Five | A-2-3-4-5 | No |
| Ace-to-Five Lowball | Ace-to-Five | A-2-3-4-5 | No |
| Deuce-to-Seven Lowball | Deuce-to-Seven | 7-5-4-3-2 | Yes, against the hand |
| Omaha Hi-Lo (8-or-better) | Ace-to-Eight qualifier | A-2-3-4-5 | No |
| Pai Gow Poker (low hand) | Ace-to-Five, no straights/flushes | A-2-3-4-5 | No |
Omaha Poker Hand Rankings
Omaha poker hand rankings follow the standard high-hand order in regular pot-limit Omaha, with one structural twist: every player must use exactly two hole cards and three board cards to build a five-card hand, never four hole cards or one. Omaha Hi-Lo, also called Omaha/8, splits the pot between the best high hand and the best qualifying low hand, using the Ace-to-Eight low scale. A low hand only qualifies with five cards of rank eight or lower and no pairs, so many showdowns award only the high half of the pot.
Poker Hand Rankings Short Deck
Poker hand rankings short deck (also called six-plus hold'em) remove all cards ranked 2 through 5 from the deck, leaving 36 cards instead of 52. This changes hand probabilities enough that two adjustments follow. A flush now ranks above a full house, because removing low cards makes flushes harder to make relative to full houses. In most short deck rule sets, an ace can also complete a low straight of A-6-7-8-9. Outside these two swaps, short deck keeps the standard high-hand order intact.
Pai Gow Poker Uses Two Hands at Once
Video Poker Hand Rankings
Video poker hand rankings generally mirror the standard high-hand order, though payout tables vary by machine and game type. Jacks or Better requires a minimum of a pair of jacks to pay out, while Deuces Wild treats every 2 as a wild card, shifting the relative frequency of hand types and the paytable ranking for five-of-a-kind and wild royals. Because payouts, not just rankings, drive video poker strategy, the paytable posted on a machine matters as much as the underlying hand order.
- Razz and Ace-to-Five lowball: aces low, straights/flushes ignored, A-2-3-4-5 is the nut hand
- Deuce-to-Seven lowball: aces high only, straights and flushes count against the hand
- Omaha Hi-Lo: standard high order plus an Ace-to-Eight qualifying low, split pot format
- Short deck: flush beats full house, ace can play low in an A-6-7-8-9 straight
- Pai gow poker: two hands at once, high hand must outrank the two-card low hand
The common thread across these variants: no single hierarchy governs every poker game. A hand's strength depends entirely on which scale the format uses, and mixing up scales leads to a fundamental misread of the pot. For how these games deal and structure betting, see the poker variants rules guide; for the baseline order these variants depart from, see poker hands in order. New readers can consult the glossary for terms like qualifier, wheel, and nut low. A standard external reference on the subject is Wikipedia's list of poker hands.