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Lowball is often played with an ante, and that bet should be placed into the pot before the cards are dealt. When no ante is required, a blind bettor is used. Sometimes both a blind bettor and an ante are part of the structure.
After the shuffle and cut, cards are dealt clockwise, one at a time, until all players have received five face down cards. The first player to receive the cards, the one at the immediate left of the button or dealer, is also the first player to act. For purposes of illustration, let's assume a $5-$ 10 lowball game using a blind. This first player, being the blind, is required to make a $5 blind bet. He promptly does so, flipping a $5 chip into the pot. All bets before the draw in draw poker, high or low, are in the lower tier of the betting limit. In this example, all bets and raises are in $5 increments.
The next player to act sits at the blind's left, since play in all poker variations proceeds in a clockwise direction. He has three choices. He can call the $5 blind bet and remain an active player, raise that bet $5 more and place $10 into the pot, or fold his cards. Play proceeds around the table until all players have made their decisions—either to call the blind and any raises made, or to fold and wait for the next cycle of poker life to begin.
The draw occurs in the same order as the betting and dealing of the cards. The blind, if he is still in the pot, goes first. He can exchange up to five cards for new ones. Each active player, in turn, can exchange as many of his original cards as he likes, but he should do so only after the preceding player has received his cards. Discards should be announced so that all players are aware of the number of cards each person has drawn. Players who elect to stand pat (not draw any cards) can indicate this verbally or by knocking on the table with their fists.
After the draw is completed, the second and last betting round occurs. It is begun by the blind, or, if he has folded, by the first active player closest to the dealer's left. All bets and raises in this round are in the upper tier of the $5-$ 10 limit, in $10 increments. If the game were a $3-$6 game, all bets after the draw would be in $6 increments.
After the betting round is completed, there is the showdown, where the lowest hand collects the pot and all the money in it. If, at any point in the game, all opponents drop out of play, the remaining player would be the automatic winner, and he claims the pot. The deal now moves to the left. In the case of a casino game, the former blind is now the button, and can enjoy all the advantages of playing the dealer's position.
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As with all the other poker variations, the single most important strategy in jacks or better is to start out with cards which have good winning possibilities. The opening requirement of jacks or better tells you right off that any pair you hold which is less than the minimum opening hand of jacks is automatically a big underdog. For example, if an opponent opens the betting, what chances do your pair of 8s have against this opener? You know that he has jacks or better.
Position is also an important consideration in jackpots. The relative position a player has in the order of betting affects the types of hands that he should play and how he should bet those hands. For example, if a player opens betting with a pair of jacks or queens in an early position, he's in a bad situation if his opener gets raised by several players. You have to figure the raisers for at least kings or aces, possibly better, and against a lowly pair of jacks, nobody is scared. The jacks are underdogs and must be folded.
Let's examine the minimum requirements for correct play in jacks or better.
Jacks or Better • Minimum Opening Cards
First Four Positions (Early): Kings or Better Second Two Positions (Middle): Queens or Better Last Two Positions (Late): Jacks or Better
In late position, when no openers have yet been made, the pair of jacks becomes a stronger hand. The jacks are in a good leveraged position, and an opening bet may be able to force other players out of the pot, effectively stealing the antes. If only one or two players call the opener, the jacks are in a decent enough position going into the draw to improve to a winner.
Once someone has opened the betting, players holding jacks or queens should call only if two players or fewer are in the pot and no raises have been made. Otherwise, you should foldjacks and queens. Their winning chances rapidly diminish as the number of active players increases.
Four-card straights and flushes have good potential. You should play them to the draw, but only if Concept #6 in Chapter 8.) Do not raise with these hands, however. At this stage they're speculative and hold no value. Should the draw fill these cards into a straight or flush, then you've got the goods to be raising and building up the pot.
If you hold kings, aces, and low three-of-a-kind hands, you should not only call the opener but raise as well. These are strong cards. If you don't force out weaker and speculative hands, these inferior hands may bury your favorite with a lucky draw.
Against fewer opponents, there's less chance of this occurring. The more players that stay in for the draw, the higher the average winning hand will be, and the greater the opportunity that the kings, aces, and small trips will get beat out by an inferior hand that improves. Raise with these strong cards. Don't make the game cheap for dreamers.
On the other hand, with a high three-of-a-kind, such as trip 10s or higher, don't raise—call! You have a powerful hand which can win without improvement. You want to keep as many players in as possible.
Do not play three card-straights or flushes, or inside straights. An inside straight is a four-card straight that has only one way of improving, such as 4 5 7 8. These are nothing hands, and the chances °f improving are steeper than a canyon.
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