The Bluffs Rules

The Bluffs was contributed to pagat.com by David Migoya and is named after Council Bluffs, Iowa.

It is a high-low split game. High hands rank according to the standard poker hand rankings. Low hands use ace-to-six ranking: aces are low, and straights and flushes count against a low hand.

The game was designed for seven players, and up to eight may play with a standard 52-card deck. For nine players, one joker is added to the deck as a wild card. The source does not say how the joker is used in a low hand; the dealer shall announce this before the deal.

Each player's aim is to win the high half of the pot, the low half, or both, according to the way they declare (article 4).

The dealer deals four cards face down to each player, and eight cards face down to the centre of the table in two rows of four. The dealer may choose the order of dealing, for example one card to each player, then two to the layout, and so on.

High hand. A player's high hand shall consist of exactly three cards from their own hand and both cards of one column of the layout.

Low hand. A player's low hand shall consist of exactly two cards from their own hand and three of the four cards in one row of the layout.

The layout cards are exposed in pairs. Each pair contains one card from each row, in different columns. Numbering the columns 1 to 4 from the left, the pairs are:

2.4(a) pair A: the top card of column 1 and the bottom card of column 4;

2.4(b) pair B: the top card of column 3 and the bottom card of column 2;

2.4(c) pair C: the top card of column 2 and the bottom card of column 3;

2.4(d) pair D: the top card of column 4 and the bottom card of column 1.

The first betting round begins with a blind bet by the player to the dealer's left.

The exchange. After the third betting round, beginning with the player to the dealer's left, each active player in turn may buy one card: they discard one card face down, pay the exchange fee into the pot, and receive a replacement from the deck. A player may decline.

The fee in the original game is $1, set for a game with a $20 buy-in, bets of 25¢, 50¢ and $1, and a limit of three raises per round. With higher or lower stakes, the fee shall be scaled in proportion. The dealer shall announce it before the deal.

If all but one player fold at any stage, the remaining player wins the whole pot.

After the sixth betting round, each active player declares whether they are playing for high, for low, or for both ways. The source does not prescribe a method; a common home-game method is for players to hold chips hidden in a closed fist and reveal them together (for example, none for low, one for high, two for both).

The seventh and final betting round follows the declaration.

The surviving players then reveal their cards. The best high hand among players who declared high or both wins the high half of the pot, and the best low hand among players who declared low or both wins the low half.

The source does not state what happens to a player who declares both ways but does not win both. The usual practice is that such a player must win (or tie) both halves or forfeits any share of the pot; the dealer shall announce the rule before the deal.

If no one declares in one direction, the players who declared in the other direction share the whole pot as the dealer announced, usually with the best hand taking all of it.

The high and low hands draw on different parts of the layout: only two table cards count for high, but three count for low. A low hand therefore depends more on the layout than a high hand does.

Since the high hand needs three cards from the player's own hand and the low hand needs two, a player's own cards often favour one direction. The exchange (3.2) is the only chance to improve them.

Under ace-to-six ranking a low hand that forms a straight or flush is spoiled, so players should check a planned low for both before declaring.