h/l games?

I have a question. When playing a H/L game, like stud h/l or omaha h/l, what makes the best low hand. I know its ace to 8, but so many times when I thought I had the best low hand I would get beat and could never figure out why. Is it the lowest carded hand of all , or what?

Maybe you are looking at the lowest cards first rather than the highest cards in the low hand - 75432 beats 7632A.

About 3rd of the way down the page has low hand rankings and explainations, it might help: http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/games/rules/hand-rankings/

And I saw a tip somewhere that said imagine the cards as a number 76,432 is higher than 75,321.

All low games are not the same, so the best hand depends what you're playing. Sometimes, straights and flushes are ignored for low, e.g. in omaha hilo, where A is both hi and low, so A2345 is the nut low. However 2-7 lowball is an example where straights and flushes do count, and A is high, so 23457 not all one suit is the nuts

In the games mentioned, stud 8 and omaha 8, straights and flushes do not count against you.

Here's teh relevant section from the poker stars page:
Ace to Five Lowball Hand Ranks

This method of ranking low hands is used in traditional Hi/Lo games, like Omaha Hi/Lo and Stud Hi/Lo, as well as in Razz, the ‘low only’ Stud game.






Note that suits are irrelevant for Ace to Five low. A flush or straight does not ‘break’ an Ace to Five low poker hand. Aces are always a ‘low’ card when considering a low hand. Please also note that the value of a five-card low hand starts with the top card, and goes down from there.
Five Low, or Wheel: The Five, Four, Three, Deuce and Ace.

In the event of a tie: All Five-high hands split the pot.
Six Low: Any five unpaired cards with the highest card being a Six.

In the event of a tie: The lower second-highest ranking card wins the pot. Thus 6, 4, 3, 2, A defeats 6, 5, 4, 2, A. If necessary, the third-highest, fourth-highest and fifth-highest cards in the hand can be used to break the tie.
Seven Low: Any five unpaired cards with the highest card being a Seven.

In the event of a tie: The lower second-highest ranking card wins the pot. If necessary, the third-highest, fourth-highest and fifth-highest cards in the hand can be used to break the tie.
Eight Low: Any five unpaired cards with the highest card being an Eight.

In the event of a tie: The lower second-highest ranking card wins the pot. If necessary, the third-highest, fourth-highest and fifth-highest cards in the hand can be used to break the tie.
An Eight Low is the weakest hand that qualifies for low in Omaha Hi/Lo and Stud Hi/Lo. However in Razz, there is no such ‘qualifier’ and the lowest hand will always win the pot, even if it is a nine low, queen low, or even a pair!