[MarkGritter]

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as a general rule in poker the hands are ranked according to how rare they are dealt. A flush is more rare than a straight so it is higher.

In holdem, omaha hi, and stud, this "rule" is broken for a lot of hands; flushes, two pair hands and high card hands, for example - the easiest hands to make are the best (ace high flush being the most common flush, aces up is the most common two pair hand, ace high is the most common high card hand). If these games were more "pure", they would regard the lowest high card as the determining factor (AA22 would lose to KKQQ because "queens down" is better than "deuces down" - likewise AT987 would lose to KQJT8 in a flush or high card hand)


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I like it.

Another way to eliminate this glaring inconsistency is to eliminate all differences based on rank. I call this variant "discrete poker." AAAKK beats a straight or flush but splits the pot with 66677. For maximum consistency straights must be allowed to wrap around (for example QKA23); otherwise there are fewer straights using an ace.

However, I take issue with your assertion that lowball is generally consistent. Only A-5 has this property. In 2-7 the incredibly rare 2s3s4s5s7s (and the 3 similar hands) loses to the 1020 unsuited 75's. (Though note that in your proposed ranking scheme for high the 7-high flush is the nut flush.)