Rank Reversal: Lowball

Some poker games are lowball games. These games award the pot to the player with the worst hand. In one variation, called California Lowball, Straights and Flushes don't count, so the lowest hand is A-2-3-4-5. A more difficult version, known as Kansas City Lowball, does count Straights and Flushes, and also disallows the Ace from being used as low card. Therefore, the lowest possible Kansas City Lowball hand is 2-3-4-5-7 of differing suits.

Lowballing the Devil One legendary poker story tells of a gambler who sold his soul to the devil for fame and fortune. One day, the devil came to collect. The gambler convinced the devil to play poker, with his soul as the stakes. Confident in his abilities, the gambler was shocked to see that the devil drew Royal Flushes every time. In fact, the devil seemed unable to draw anything except a Royal Flush. Feeling cocky, the devil said, "One last hand -- you win and your soul is yours to keep. Any game you want, dealer's choice." The gambler took the cards and dealt. "Five-card draw." The devil grinned. So did the gambler. "Lowball."