Cowboy, Cowgirl and Cowpattie Rules

These games were contributed to pagat.com by a reader. They are three versions of one game, which differ only in the draw. The dealer shall name the version before the deal.

Three to seven players may take part. The game is played with a standard 52-card deck. The source does not mention wild cards, so none are used unless the dealer announces otherwise.

The object is to win the high half or the low half of the pot, or both. High hands are ranked according to the standard poker hand rankings.

The source does not define the low ranking, although its own example treats the ace as a low card. The dealer shall announce the low scale before the deal; ace-to-five, in which the ace is low and straights and flushes do not count, is a common choice in home games.

Each player pays an agreed ante to start the pot.

The dealer deals five cards face down to each player, one at a time.

After the deal there is a single round of betting. Each player either stays in or folds. The source does not fix the betting limits; the dealer shall announce them before the deal.

A player who folds takes no further part in the deal and does not risk matching the pot.

The players who stayed in then draw, according to the version being played:

After the draw, each remaining player declares whether they are playing for high, low or both. The declaration is made at the same moment by all players, usually with chips hidden in a closed fist:

3.4(a) No chips means the player is going low.

3.4(b) One chip means the player is going high.

3.4(c) Two chips mean the player is going both ways.

Once every player has a fist on the table, all open their hands together. A declaration cannot be changed after it is shown.

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

A player who stayed in but won neither half must pay an amount equal to the whole pot. The source puts the test as failing to win at least half the pot. How a tie for one half is treated under this test is not stated, and shall be agreed before play.

The source does not say what happens if nobody declares one way, or what a player who declares both ways must achieve. In most declare games, the whole pot goes to the best hand if nobody declares the other way, and a player who declares both ways must win, or tie, in both directions to win anything. The dealer shall confirm these rules before play.

The payments made by losing players form the pot for the next deal. Players who folded must ante again to take part in the next deal, and may then compete for the new pot.

Play continues deal after deal until only two players stay in and split the pot between them, or only one player stays in and takes the whole pot.

The dummy hand. After the draw and the showdown, an extra hand is dealt. The players who folded during the betting decide together how to play it, with the aim of beating one of the winning hands.

In Cowboy and Cowgirl, the dummy hand may discard and draw under the same rules as the players. The draw is decided by the players who have no stake in the pot.

If the dummy hand beats a winning hand, the player it beats must match the pot as if they had lost to a player at the table. The share of the pot the dummy wins stays in the pot for the next deal.