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The Rules for High / Low Draw Poker with a Declare.

Standard Five-Card Draw Poker

Other Draw Poker Games

High/Low Draw Poker with Declare

High / Low draw poker with a declare is common in home poker games but is rarely found in casinos. Played like other versions of five-card draw poker but after the second betting round and before the showdown, there is a simultaneous declaration phase.

Each poker player takes two chips from his stack and takes them under the table, bringing up a closed fist that contains either no chips (indicating that the player intends to win the low half of the pot), one chip (indicating that the player intends to win the high half), or two chips (indicating that he intends to scoop or hog the pot).

When everyone has brought up the closed fist, the poker players all open their hands simultaneously to reveal their choices. If any player shows two chips, and his poker hand is the best low and the best high, he scoops the pot. Otherwise, half of the pot goes to the poker player with the highest poker hand who declared high, and the other half to the player with the lowest poker hand of those who declared low.

There is no qualifying hand to win either high or low, and if no one declares in one direction, the full pot is awarded to the player winning the other direction (for example, if all players declare low, the low poker hand wins the whole pot rather than half the pot). A player who declares for a scoop must win both ends outright, with no ties. For example, if a player declares scoop, and has the lowest poker hand but ties for high poker hand, he wins nothing. The other player with the same high poker hand wins the high half of the pot and the next-lowest poker hand wins low (assuming the player declared low - if no other player declared low, the high poker hand player who declared high wins the whole pot).

This game can be played with deuce-to-seven low or ace-to-six low poker hand values, but in that case it is nearly impossible to scoop the pot (though you can still win the whole pot if everyone declares the same direction).

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