High-Low Split Poker Game

In conventional poker games, the player having the best conventional hand or combinations win the entire pot while in lowball variants the entire pot goes to the lowest hand using various method. And in games applying the high-low split the entire pot is divided equally between a player who holds the most excellent conventional hand (named high hand) and a player who holds the low hands.

High-low split can be played in two ordinary methods namely "Card speaks" and "declaration". In a poker declaration game, a player has the option on whether he is going for the high hand or settles for the low hand. The lowest combination among players which declared low is awarded half of the entire pot.

In poker games applying the "card speaks" format, each player discloses their combinations during the showdown and is compared by themselves; a player owning the high combination is awarded half the entire pot and the player who owns the lowest hand gets the other half of the entire pot.

In particular a poker game applying the ace-5 low format, an individual player can possibly acquire both high and low hand thus winning the entire pot. This in poker term this is "hogging" a pot or "going pig". If a case arises that one or more players tie for either low or high, it is automatic that they split the pot further into quarters or a less fractions.

As an illustration, if a player owns the low hand after the showdown and two players shared the high hand, then the low hand receives half the entire pot while those who tied for the high combination each player receive 25% of the total pot.

It is widespread, specially those games employing the "card speaks" method for player to make a call for a particular "hand value or better" to earn half of the entire pot, commonly called a "qualifier". For instance in a "six or better to qualify low", a player who holds a six-high combination ( or better low for instance a five-high) who owns a six-high hand is allowed to get the pot's low half ( if his combinations beats each low hand), but any player who owns a 8-high or 9-high can't be rewarded the pot, if he owns the lowest combination.

In this situation, only the high combination runs away with the total pot. Usually no qualifier will win combinations but there is a variant "any pair/no pair" where pair hand need to earn high in addition to any combination having no pair is obliged to earn low.

In games using the high-low split method where each player is given five or more cards, every player select any five card from his cards to serves as the high hand, and/or another set of five cards to serves as the low hand The sets of cards may extend beyond: for instance, in a stud seven-card played using the high-low split, a player is given 6-6-5-4-4-3-2 that can be the high hand of 6-6-4-4-5 ( 2 pairs, fours and six's) plus a low hand 6-5-4-3-2 (six high).