For methods of splitting a pot, see split (poker)
In traditional poker games, the player
with the best traditional hand wins 🔔 the whole pot. Lowball variations award the pot to
the lowest hand, by any of several methods (see Low hand 🔔 (poker)). High-low split games
are those in which the pot is divided between the player with the best traditional hand
🔔 (called the high hand) and the player with the low hand.[1]
There are two common
methods for playing high-low split games, 🔔 called declaration and cards speak. In a
declaration game, each player declares (either verbally or using markers such as chips)
🔔 whether he wishes to contest for the high hand or the low hand. The lowest hand among
those who declared 🔔 low wins that half of the pot, and the highest hand among those who
declared high wins that half (for 🔔 further details, see declaration). In a cards speak
game, all players simply reveal their cards at showdown and the hands 🔔 are evaluated by
all players; high hand wins half of the pot and low hand wins the other
half.
Especially when 🔔 using the ace-to-five low method, it is possible for one player
to have both the low hand and the high 🔔 hand, and therefore win all of the pot (called
"scooping," "hogging" the pot, or "going pig"). In the event more 🔔 than one player ties
for either high or low, the pot can be further split into quarters or smaller
fractions. 🔔 For example, if one player has the high hand on showdown, and two other
players tie for the best low 🔔 hand, the high hand wins half of the pot and each low hand
wins only a quarter of the pot.
It 🔔 is common, especially in cards speak games, to
require a certain hand value or better to win the low half 🔔 of the pot, called a
qualifier. For example, in an "eight or better to qualify low" game, a player with 🔔 a
hand of eight-high or lower is entitled to win the low half of the pot (assuming his
hand defeats 🔔 all other low hands), but a player with a 10-high or 9-high hand cannot
win, even if his hand is 🔔 the lowest. In this case, the high hand wins the entire pot.
There is generally no qualifier to win high, 🔔 although one common variant is any pair/no
pair, where a hand of at least a pair is required to win 🔔 high and any hand with no pair
is required to win low.
In high-low split games where each player is dealt 🔔 more than
five cards, each player chooses five of his cards to play as his high hand, and/or five
of 🔔 his cards to play as his low hand. The sets may overlap: for example, in seven-card
stud played high-low split, 🔔 a player dealt 7-7-6-4-4-3-2 can play a high hand of
7-7-4-4-6 (two pair, sevens and fours) and a low hand 🔔 of 7-6-4-3-2 (seven-high).
See
also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
