Explanation of Wheel
It’s common to use a range of colloquial terms to describe different types of poker hand. The Ace to Five straight is commonly referred to as the wheel.
Example of Wheel used in a sentence -> The wheel is the nuts in the lowball game Razz but a very weak hand in the lowball game 2-7 triple draw.
How to Use Wheel as Part of Your Poker Strategy
The Ace to Five straight is a strong hand in the majority of poker variants, but by no means invincible. Its strength will often be determined by the likelihood that one of our other opponents has made an even stronger hand. For example, the wheel will be less strong in Hold’em if the board is paired. In Stud, the wheel will be stronger if our opponents’ boards are not co-ordinated.
In certain variants such as Stud hi/lo and Omaha hi/lo, the wheel is the nut low hand.
Knowing nicknames such as “the wheel” is not especially important, but we might find ourselves feeling left out of a poker discussion if we don’t know the term.
How Strong is the ‘Wheel’ in Hold’em?
The wheel (five high straight) in Hold’em can vary from being the stone cold nuts to a heavily dominated straight. If the board is paired and/or there are higher straights or flushes available the value of the wheel goes down.
How Strong is the ‘Wheel’ in Omaha?
Although the wheel in Omaha can potentially be the stone cold nuts it is generally very vulnerable to being outdrawn in Omaha. Like in Hold’em, if the board is paired and/or there are higher straights or flushes available the value of the wheel goes down significantly. As a general rule the wheel is a lot weaker in Omaha than it is in Hold’em.
What is the Significance of the ‘Wheel’ in Split Pot Poker Games?
The wheel is especially important in many split pot games because it is the best possible low hand as well as being a high hand with a lot of firepower. It’s therefore often strong enough to win both the high half of the pot and the low half of the pot at the same time (known as ‘scooping’).
What is the ‘Steel Wheel’ in Poker?
The steel wheel is the five high straight flush. The term ‘wheel’ is a nickname in poker for the five high straight (ace to five). We add the word steel in front of the name to indicate that all the cards are suited so we have the five high straight flush rather than just the five high straight.
Is the ‘Wheel’ a Strong Hand in 2-7 Triple Draw?
No, the nuts in 2-7 triple draw is 7,5,4,3,2. The ‘wheel’ is an extremely weak hand in triple draw because straights and flushes count against our hand strength. The strength of hands in 2-7 triple draw is the exact opposite of the Hold’dem hand rankings system. Since the wheel is a relatively strong hand in Hold’em, it’s an extremely weak hand in 2-7 triple draw.
See Also
Ducks, Fish Hooks, Sick, Straight, Stud
