Abyssinia Rules

The game is played with a standard 52-card deck without jokers. There are no wild cards.

Each player builds a five-card hand by buying one card in each of five rounds. The highest hand and the lowest hand split the pot.

High hands rank according to the standard poker hand rankings. The low ranking shall be agreed before play; ace-to-five low is the usual choice in home games.

A unit is a fixed amount agreed before play. Card prices are expressed in units.

Each player antes. No cards are dealt to the players.

The dealer places the deck face down in the centre and turns up two cards, one on each side of it.

The price of a card depends on its rank. The schedule shall be agreed before play. A typical schedule is:

Starting with the player to the dealer's left and going clockwise, each player buys one card: either one of the two face-up cards or the unseen top card of the deck.

A card bought from the deck is turned face up so that its price can be set, and the buyer pays for it according to its rank.

When a face-up card is bought, the dealer turns up the top card of the deck to take its place.

When every player has bought a card, there is a betting round, begun by the player to the dealer's left.

The buying and betting are repeated until each remaining player has five cards, making five betting rounds in all.

Since every card is bought in view of the table, the game may be played with all hands face up throughout.

Alternatively, players may pick up each card as they buy it and keep their hand concealed. In this form, the fifth betting round may be followed by a declaration of high, low or both before the showdown.

At the showdown, the highest hand and the lowest hand split the pot.

The price schedule varies. The dealer shall announce the prices for each rank before the deal.

Whether hands are played face up or concealed, and whether there is a declaration, shall also be announced before the deal.