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High Card Poker is a home game in which poker combinations do not count. Each player sorts their five cards from lowest to highest and bets on their chances of beating an extra five-card hand, position by position, starting with the lowest card. Players are knocked out as soon as one of their cards fails to beat the extra hand, and the last survivor wins the pot.
High Card Poker was devised by Andy Drew, as published on pagat.com. It is played by three to eight players with a standard 52-card deck.
Poker hand rankings are not used. Only the rank of each individual card matters. Aces are high, and suits have no value.
The object is to hold five cards that, when sorted from lowest to highest, each beat the card in the same position in the extra hand, and to outlast every other player.
The source does not specify the opening stake. The usual practice is for every player to ante an agreed amount before the deal.
The dealer deals three cards face down to each player, and a separate extra hand of five cards face down in the centre of the table.
Each player privately arranges their cards in order from lowest to highest.
| Stage | What happens |
|---|---|
| Deal | Three cards to each player, five to the extra hand |
| First betting round | Normal betting |
| Second deal | Two more cards to each active player, sorted into the hand |
| Second betting round | Normal betting |
| Reveal | The extra hand is turned up and compared position by position |
A betting round follows the deal.
Each active player is then dealt two more cards and sorts them into their hand, so that all five cards are in order from lowest to highest.
A second betting round follows.
The player who opened the betting rounds then turns the extra hand face up and arranges its five cards in order from lowest to highest.
The lowest card of each remaining player is compared with the lowest card of the extra hand. A player whose lowest card is not higher than it, that is, equal or lower, is eliminated.
If more than one player survives, each survivor's second-lowest card is compared with the extra hand's second-lowest card, and any player whose card is lower is knocked out. The comparison continues with the third, fourth and fifth cards as needed.
The source states the equal-card rule only for the first comparison. The dealer shall announce before the deal how an equal card is treated in later comparisons. Applying the same test throughout, so that a card must be strictly higher to survive, is the consistent reading.
As soon as only one player survives, that player wins the pot.
The pot is carried over to the next deal if:
4.5(a) the last two or more players are all knocked out by the same card of the extra hand; or
4.5(b) two or more players survive all five comparisons.
One survivor after two cards
The extra hand, sorted: 4♣7♦9♠J♥K♣
Player A: 5♥8♣10♦Q♠A♥. Player B: 2♦8♠10♥Q♦A♣. Player C: 5♠6♦J♣K♦A♦
First card: A's 5 and C's 5 beat the 4. B's 2 does not, so B is out.
Second card: A's 8 beats the 7, but C's 6 does not. C is out, A is the only survivor, and A wins the pot. The remaining cards are not compared.
The source lists these variations. The dealer shall announce any that apply before the deal.
A hand is only as strong as its lowest card, because the lowest card is tested first. A two can never beat any card, so a hand of four aces and a two is eliminated at the first comparison.
After the first three cards, a player's lowest card is the best their final lowest card can be. The two extra cards can only leave it in place or bring in something lower.
The source describes the game as a good one for bluffing: no one sees another player's cards until the reveal, and pairs and suits count for nothing.
No. Pairs, straights and flushes mean nothing. Each of your five cards is compared on its own against the card in the same position of the extra hand, lowest first.
For the lowest card, a tie knocks you out: your card must be higher. The source is less explicit for the later comparisons, so groups should agree before playing. Most apply the same rule throughout.
If the last players still in are all knocked out by the same card, or more than one player survives all five comparisons, no one wins and the pot carries over to the next deal.
Where any doubt remains in the application of this document, Rob is right.
Hand rankings, high to low: royal flush · straight flush · four of a kind · full house · flush · straight · three of a kind · two pair · one pair · high card. Suits never break ties.
High Card Poker Rules · OPR-638 · officialpokerrules.com/high-card-poker/