Box Rules

Box is a variant of Forty-Three, a high-low game contributed to pagat.com by Bob Procter. It follows the rules of Forty-Three except that the three community cards are replaced by a box of six.

The game uses a standard 52-card deck with no jokers and no wild cards. High hands rank according to the standard poker hand rankings.

The source does not name a low ranking or a low qualifier. The dealer shall announce both before the deal; ace-to-five ranking, in which aces are low and straights and flushes are ignored, is the usual choice in high-low home games.

The number of players is not fixed. Each player needs four cards plus up to two replacements, and the box needs six, so the table should be small enough for the deck to supply every exchange.

The dealer shall announce any ante or other forced bet before the deal.

The dealer deals four cards face down to each player.

The dealer then deals six cards face down to the centre in two rows of three, one row directly below the other. This forms the box: two rows of three cards and three columns of two cards.

The exchange. After the first betting round, each active player in turn may discard up to two cards face down and receive the same number of replacements from the dealer. A player may also keep all four cards.

Betting on each round follows the usual order: players act in turn clockwise and may check, bet, call, raise or fold as the round allows.

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

Each player's hand is made from their own cards together with either one row of three box cards or one column of two box cards. Cards from different rows or columns may not be combined.

The source does not require a set number of the player's own cards to be used. The usual reading is that a player plays the best five cards from their own four and the chosen row or column. The dealer shall confirm this before the deal.

A player may use a different row or column for their high hand and their low hand.

Declaration. After the last betting round, the players declare at the same moment. Each holds a number of chips hidden in a closed fist, and all open their hands together: no chips for low, one chip for high, two chips for both ways.

The best high hand among players who declared high or both wins half the pot, and the best low hand among players who declared low or both wins the other half.

A player who declares both ways must win or tie both the high and the low. If they fail in either direction, they win nothing.

A column gives only two table cards but is available sooner: after the first column is exposed, a player already knows one complete column option.

The exchange comes before any box card is seen, so players must discard on the strength of their own cards alone.

Declaring both ways carries a heavy risk under rule 4.6. It is usually only worth doing with a hand that is very likely to win in both directions.