Rank of Hands
The rank of hands remains the same no matter which type of poker game you play. In a nutshell, a poker hand consists of five cards. Poker hands fall into one of several categories, such as flush, straight, or two pair. The player whose hand is in the higher category wins.
Some games are called Hi-Lo Games (Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo and Omaha Hi-Lo) because to win the pot, not only do you need to consider the rank of hands explained above (Hi) but also the lowest hand (Lo). The pot is then split between two winning hands: the high one and the low one.
We've covered the high hands above. A low hand is a hand that contains five different cards inferior or equal to 8. Ex: A- 2- 4- 7- 8
PartyPoker.com offers two games where the pot is split between the best high hand and the best low hand - Omaha Hi/Lo and 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo. Hi/Lo games are played with an 'eight qualifier' for the low hand, where a player must have five unpaired cards lower than eight in order to win the low part of the pot.
Straights and flushes do not count toward a low hand, and aces are treated as the lowest card. Hands with five cards of equal rank share the low pot equally, regardless of suit.
In Hi/Lo games, as played on PartyPoker.com, the best possible low hand is a 5-high straight, called a wheel or a bicycle. Should two or more players have wheels/bicycles, the low portion of the pot is split. All wheels/bicycles are equal regardless of suit.
