A to 5 Triple Draw Poker Rules

Ace to Five Triple Draw

A to 5 triple draw is a less popular variation of draw poker. It has basically the same game structure as 2 to 7 triple draw poker. The only difference between these two games is the hand strength. In A to 5 triple draw straights and flushes are perceived as an advantage of the hand and ace can act as the lowest card. Therefore the best Ace to Five Triple Draw card combination is A2345 followed by A2346, A2356, A2456, A3456, 23456 etc.

Winning Hands

Ace to five is the best-possible low hand. Here are the game rules by which the lowest hand in A to 5 draw is determined:

Pairs are not considered to be the winning hands. Any hand with no pairs wins over the hand with one ore more pairs in it. One pair beats two pairs, two pair beats a sets etc. Straights and flushes are simply ignored and do not influence the strength of the hand. Aces are always perceived as the lowest card.

Just like in the traditional high poker, non-paired hands in A to 5 draw poker can play the best cards with only one exception – the higher card looses. It's also the same for the paired hands – the lower pair wins.

So all the previously explained Ace to Five Triple Draw poker rules make it obvious that the best hand in this poker variation is A-2-3-4-5 of any suit. This is actually the reason why the game is called A to 5. Straight ending with the five with no pairs, straight and flush being ignored and ace being  the lowest card, is the lowest-possible card combination. This combination is also known as the “wheel”. In the high-low games, where the pot is being split, the wheel is regarded as a rather strong hand or the “nuts” (the best-possible combination) for the low pot as well as a competitive hand for the high-pot with the straight.

Examples

8-4-3-2-A looses to 7-6-5-4-3 as eight is a higher card than seven. The strength of the hand is determined by its highest card, therefore the hand with 8 in it looses to the one with 7 in the given example. Should the highest cards in two different hands be the same, the winner is determined by the following highest card and so on. Therefore 7-6-5-4-A would win against 7-6-5-4-2. When the cards in the hand after the highest one appear to be very low, the hand is called “smooth”, otherwise – “rough”. For example, 9-4-3-2-A would be a “smooth nine” whereas 9-8-7-4-3 – “rough nine”.

Game Play and Betting Structure

The game is played in the same way as any other Five Card Triple Draw game. The winner is the one to collect the best Ace to Five Lowball poker hand.

In most of the casinos each hand starts with posting the blinds, whereas the home games are usually played with antes. As soon as the compulsory bets are contributed, every player receives 5 hole cards. There are no community cards and no one can see the other players' cards until the showdown. After all of the players have received their cards the first betting round starts with the player on the dealer's left (or on the big blind's left).

As soon as the firs betting round is finished, the first draw starts. Each player may change as much as five of their cards.

Another betting round follows with the second change of cards afterwards. The process continues until three draws have been made (as the game is called Triple Draw) along with the fourth and the final betting round. The showdown of the cards determines the winner.