Hi/Low
simply means that half of the total pot goes to the winner but
now the other half goes to the player with the Low hand. This
worst hand is called "LOW". However it's not just that easy. The
"low" can only be specific cards and has no poker hand rules except
that it must be five cards total. The low is ONLY NUMBERS (1-8).
This means the Ace is counted as a (1) and is the best low card,
and the (8) is the worst low. So the best low hand possible also
happens to be a straight which is A, 2, 3, 4, 5. So your high
and your low hand could be the same sometimes as we will see in
the following examples. Now the Ace becomes even more powerful
than before since it's high AND low. How do you know which low
is better than which? Well it's counted from the 8 downwards.
Whoever has the highest low card has the WORST low hand. I know
you need examples at this point so here they are.
The
hand marked in BLUE is lower and is the best low hand of the two.
(A6384)
vs. (25634).
Here the 2-5-6-3-4 which is also a straight is lower than the
other hand even though the other hand has an ACE because the Highest
Low Card in the 2nd hand is a 6 but in the first hand it's
an 8. So in poker terms it would be an 8-6 low against a 6-5 low,
so 6-5 is the winner. Here are some more examples.
[(24678)
vs. (A2468)]
, [(34567)
vs.(A2348)] ,
[(A2347)
vs.(23456)]
What
if there is more than one low and it's the same?
If there are 3 people in a hand and one has the high like (AA774)
and the other two have the SAME low of (A2347) then the high still
get half of the pot but the low players split the other half and
receive only 1/4th of the pot and therefore actually lose money
if there were only three people in to begin with . Now there could
even be three or FOUR people with the low in the same hand or
even two or three of the same HIGH hand or even a MIXTURE! So
as you see this is much more difficult than straight forward poker
so you must be very careful and know exactly what you are doing.
Since the most widely played Hi/Low game is Omaha Hi/Low I will
focus mainly on that. In fact Omaha Hi/Low is much more played
than Omaha Hi. In Omaha Hi/Low you still must use two cards of
the four to make your hi hand but you can also use the two others,
the same two, or a mixture to make your low hand. After Omaha
Hi/Low the most common Hi/Low game is 7 Card Stud Hi/Low and after
that is Pineapple Hi/Low. The others are very rarely played in
a Hi/Low form but I will still provide examples of each type.
Below are examples of some winning low's and high's and how much
of the pot they would each receive.
* EVERY SINGLE EXAMPLE PROVIDED IS FROM
A REAL MONEY GAME FROM EITHER
* A CALIFORNIA CASINO, LAS VEGAS CASINO,
OR INTERNET GAME.
The most common and easiest to read is just One High hand and
One Low hand.
Here
the player with the high had two pair right on the flop, (or the
1st three up cards). However, the other player didn't throw his
hand down on the flop because he used the ace and the five on
the flop with his 3 and his 4 to have four good lows, plus he
had a pair of aces with his king (called a king kicker). Also
if the low player got a 2 on the fourth or fifth card he would
have a straight (A, 2, 3 ,4 ,5) and take the whole pot. The full
analysis of what happened is as follows: Each player must use
two cards AND OR two other cards in their hand for high AND OR
low. The player on the left didn't have a low hand because the
two low cards in his hand (A, 3) plus all the DIFFERENT low cards
on the board are (A, 3, 5, 7) and you need five different low
cards to have low. ALWAYS two low cards in your hand and three
on the table. However, he did have two pair of aces and jacks
with the ten on the table NOT the one in his hand because that
force him to use three cards in his hand for the same purpose
A,3,10. Remember you have to use TWO cards for high and TWO for
low but they CAN overlap, so it's possible to use three cards
just not for the same purpose. The player to right ended up with
a great low, the 3 and 4 in his hand and the Ace, five and seven
on the table. (A, 3, 4, 5, 7). His high was the Ace and the king
in his hand and the Ace, Jack and Ten on the table for (A, A,
J, 10). So the high was won by the player on the left with (A,
A, J, J, 10), and the other player takes the 2nd half of the pot
with (A, 3, 4, 5, 7). Notice that the low player could have hand
ANY low to win half the pot since the other player didn't have
one. If the low player had an 8 in his hand instead of a 3 his
low would have been much worse...(A, 4, 5, 7, 8) but it would
have still given him half the pot.
It's
not always a fair split when just two people are in with their
lows.
Here
the player on the left started out with better low cards before
the flop came, but since a 2 hit the table with two other low
cards he couldn't use his (A, 2), instead he switched to using
his (A, 4). The poker term for this is called "counterfeited",
his 2 got counterfeited just like both players above got their
Aces counterfeited. So the player on the left still has a good
low with the Ace and 4 in his hand and the 2, 6, and 7 on the
table. (A, 2, 4, 6, 7). But now strangely enough he has to use
his Ace and his two for his high which becomes two pair of 2's
and 7's with his Ace. (A, 2, 2, 7, 7). The player on the right
ties the low of (A, 2, 4, 6, 7) by using his own Ace and 4 but
he can also beat the others player's high by using both his Aces,
the two 7's on the table and the 9 on the table. (A, A, 7, 7,
9). So first the way pot is divided up is as follows: First the
whole pot is split in half with the player on the right taking
one half for having the high but the remaining half which represents
the low is ALSO split in half because their are two low's, so
1/4 of the total goes to each low. So the right player receives
1/4 for his low PLUS he already took half the pot for his high
making his total win was 75% of the pot. The other player with
only a low which tied and a losing high receives 25% appropriately.
Next most common is Two Low's and One High.
This happens all the time when you play Omaha
Hi/Low because players often play hands with an Ace and a two
in order to get the perfect low hand. When I watched this hand
a in $4-$8 limit game the pot was over $400 easily since all three
players had great hands. The player on the left started out with
the high on the Flop with two pair Kings and Sevens, then on the
Turn card the player on the right had three Jacks. From here all
the players made the maximum raises and re-raises allowed for
that round and this is why. The player on the left was one heart
away from a and Ace High Flush with his Ace and King of hearts
and the 8 and Jack of hearts on the table plus he was one low
card away from the best possible low with a 7 and an 8 on the
table (A, 2, 7, 8), AND he STILL had two pair! The right player
had the three Jacks but also had the same exact low. The center
player was trying to get a straight and also had a low but it
was notch lower with his (A, 3). The center player was a HUGE
under dog since he need a 2 on the river to counterfeit the other
better lows or a five which wasn't a heart to get his straight
and take the high. A non-heart 5 WAS the river in this case and
the center player took half the pot while the others split the
other half. This player was extremely lucky.
At times you will also see Two High's and One Low.
This
occurs much less than two low's and one high, however you may
be involved in a hand like this now and again. By examining this
board you should notice that the best cards you could be holding
on the flop would be a Jack and a Ten for a top straight of A,
K, Q, J, 10. Since by the River there was no pair on the board
or three cards of the same suite the possibility of a full house
or a flush had been ruled out. Now we are just left with ANYONE
holding a Jack and a 10 has the Maximum possible high. The center
player did not fold because he had top two pair, Aces and Kings
AND four spades. On the Turn the other two players hands did not
improve however the center player now also had four good low cards
plus he could get a straight of (A, 2, 3, 4, 5). His small straight
could not win of course but he had no way of knowing what the
other players had and so he continued through the betting and
the raising. Plus if the center player got and Ace, King, or spade
on the river he would have won the whole pot since the others
players had either a counterfeited low or no low. As it turned
out the center player got another low but no spade for half the
pot to make (A, 3, 4, 5, 6) with the 3 and 4 in his hand. The
players to the left and right split the other half with their
Jack 10's for 25%.
You may see this once and hour or two. Three Low's and One High
from three hands.
Sometimes
in omaha Hi/Low every player involved will have the same low then
the sole player who also has the high receives a much larger portion
of the pot. In this hand ALL three players had an Ace and a Deuce.
The left player also flopped two pair with his Ace-7, the center
player also had four to a perfect flush while the right player
had what's called an Un-counterfeit-able Low. This means that
ANY low card that comes next makes him the perfect low. On the
Turn the center player becomes the leader with his two pair of
queens and sixes. By the River the center player remained ahead
with his two pair even though he misses his flush. From here the
deal must split the pot giving half to the center player and split
the remaining half into 3 equal block, one for each player's low.
These 3 blocks are 1/6 of the Total pot each so the center player
ended up with 1/2 plus 1/6 for a total of 4/6 or 2/3.
A different version of the above also occurs sometimes. Three
Low's and One High from four hands.
When
three out of four players have the same low they still each receive
a sixth of the pot just like the above example, however this time
the player with the high didn't also have a perfect low so he
received the 50% instead of 50% plus 1/6. The player on the bottom
right has a Full House by the fourth card none of the other players
could get ANY card on the River to win the high. Notice that even
of the player with the Queen in his hand got a 3rd Queen on the
River he would only have 3 queens NOT a full house. He would have
the Ace and Queen in his hand with the other two queens on the
table and the 8 on the flop for a hand of (Q, Q, Q, A, 8). In
fact if the Queen had hit on the last card the player that took
50% of the pot would have taken 100% with his Full House of (8,
8, 8, 7, 7,). The two 8's in his hand and the 8 and 7,7 on the
table.
Believe
it or not this happens more than once a day when you play Hi/Low.
Four low's and One High.
Here the player on the
bottom right was dealt the best possible perfect low hand, (A,
2, 3, 4). I was hoping this hand would pay off bid when I was
watching the players so I could write about it positively. As
you may have deduced the best two low cards you could have in
this scenario after the River card hit the table was a 2 & a 4.
Since an Ace and 3 hit the flop and and 8 hit the river, the best
low becomes (A, 2, 3, 4, 8). Notice everyone has a 2 & a 4 but
the bottom right player ALSO used his Ace and his 3 to have a
Full House with the table, (A, A, 3, 3, 3). The left player DOESN'T
have a Full House but instead has three 3's and an Ace and a five,
(the 5 & 3 in his hand and the two 3's and the Ace on the table).
The bottom left player only had two pair Aces and Kings with the
8 on the River while the right player had Aces and 3's with the
Jack in his hand. So the bottom left player received 50% of the
pot for his high and the remaining half was split into 4 sections.
One for each person with a 2 & a 4, which was all 4 players. So
one half into four parts is one eighth and accordingly everyone
gets 1/8. So the Full House and the perfect low receives 1/8 plus
50% or 1/8 + 4/8 =5/8, and everyone else just squeeze by with
only 1/8.
