Key points
- You split your seven cards into a five-card High hand and a two-card Low hand, and each is compared with the dealer’s High and Low.
- Your High must be stronger than your Low (a split that is not is a foul).
- It is played with 53 cards, and the joker is an ace or completes a straight or flush. The dealer splits by the house way.
- Winning both hands pays 1 to 1 less a 5% commission, and winning one and losing one is a push.
- The house edge is about 2.72% with the house way and about 2.51% with the best splits. About 4 in 10 hands are pushes.
How a hand goes
- Put chips on BET
- From 53 cards with one joker, you and the dealer get seven each
- Decision: split the seven into High (5) and Low (2). The High must beat the Low
- The dealer opens seven cards and splits them by the house way (the casino’s fixed way)
- High is compared with High, Low with Low, and the bet settles
Example. You hold A♠ K♦ Q♣ 9♥ 9♠ 6♦ 3♣. Keep the 9s in the High and put A K in the Low. The dealer has a High pair of Jacks and a Low of K 8. You lose the High and win the Low: one each is a push, and the bet comes back.
Hand ranks
The High hand uses the usual five-card poker ranks (Texas Hold’em). From strongest: royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair, high card. There are three differences.
- Five Aces (four aces and the joker) is the best hand
- A-2-3-4-5 is the second-best straight, right after A-K-Q-J-T
- The joker is an ace, or completes a straight, flush or straight flush. It stands for nothing else
The Low hand is two cards: a pair or two high cards. A pair is the strongest. Without a pair, compare the highest card first: A K is the best, then A Q, then A J, and so on. In the Low, the joker is an ace.
Example. Joker 8♥ 9♦ T♣ J♠ is a straight (the joker is a Q: an 8-to-Q straight). Joker 7♥ 7♦ 5♣ 3♠ is a pair of 7s (the joker is an ace, not a 7).
Settlement
High is compared with High and Low with Low. An identical hand (a copy) goes to the dealer.
| Result | Net |
|---|---|
| Both High and Low win | Even money less 5% commission (+0.95) |
| One wins, one loses | Push. The bet comes back |
| Both lose | Loss (−1) |
A split with the High weaker than the Low (a foul) is not allowed.
Payouts
A win pays even money less the 5% commission, and nothing more (see the table above). There is no extra pay for strong hands (only the side bet Fortune pays by hand).
The side that takes the bets is called the banker. About four hands in ten push.