How to Play A-5 Triple Draw

Updated August 2026 · 6 min read · By the Beyond Hold'em team
The short answer

A-5 Triple Draw is a draw game where the lowest five-card hand wins, aces count as the lowest card, and straights and flushes are ignored completely. You get three chances to swap cards, betting between each. The best possible hand is 5-4-3-2-A — the wheel — and it does not matter that it looks like a straight, because straights do not exist here.

The rules in six ideas

If you know 2-7 Triple Draw, this is its mirror: the same three draws and the same betting, with both of the scoring rules flipped back. If you know Razz, you already know how to rank these hands — you are just drawing to them instead of being dealt them one at a time.

1. Lowest hand wins. Five cards, and you want them small, all different, and unpaired.

2. Aces are low. The ace is the best card in the deck, exactly as in Razz. This is the single rule that separates this game from 2-7, where the ace is the worst card you can hold.

3. Straights and flushes are ignored. They simply are not hands. Five cards in a row and five cards of one suit are read as their ranks and nothing else, so neither can hurt you.

4. So the best hand is the wheel, 5-4-3-2-A. There is nothing to skip and nothing to avoid. The five smallest ranks in the deck, in any suits at all, and no hand beats it.

The nuts — and the same cards in the other game
5♣
4♠
3♥
2♦
A♠
✓ 5-4-3-2-A — the wheel, and the best hand there is
5♣
4♠
3♥
2♦
A♠
✗ the very same cards in 2-7, where the ace is high and this is a weak hand

5. Five cards, three draws. You are dealt five, and after each betting round you may throw away as many as you like and take new ones. Three times. Taking none is standing pat.

6. Pairs are the only real enemy. With straights and flushes off the table, pairing is the one way a drawing hand goes wrong. Every card has to be a different rank, and that is the whole battle.

Try it — one real decision

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After the first draw you hold this. Your move?

5♣
4♠
3♥
2♦
A♠
YOU

How the betting works

Blinds, not antes — there is no bring-in and no door card, because nothing is face-up. Four betting rounds: one on the deal, then one after each of the three draws. Played fixed limit, so bets come in two sizes with raises capped.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best hand in A-5 Triple Draw?
5-4-3-2-A, known as the wheel. Straights are ignored in this game, so the five lowest ranks in the deck make the best possible hand regardless of suit.
Is the ace high or low in A-5 lowball?
Always low, which makes it the best card in the deck. This is the same as Razz and the opposite of 2-7 Triple Draw.
Do straights and flushes count in A-5 Triple Draw?
No. They are ignored entirely — a hand is read only as its five ranks, so neither a straight nor a flush can cost you the pot.
How many draws do you get in A-5 Triple Draw?
Three, with a betting round before the first and after each one. Four betting rounds in total.
How is A-5 Triple Draw different from 2-7 Triple Draw?
Two rules flip. Aces play low instead of high, and straights and flushes are ignored instead of counting against you. The shape of the game — five cards, three draws, fixed limit — is identical.

Terms to know

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