Howdy Doody Rules

Howdy Doody is played with a standard 52-card deck with no jokers, by up to seven players. The deal, passing and betting are exactly as in Anaconda (Pass the Trash).

The pot is always split between the best high hand and the best low hand, and players declare which half they are playing for before the showdown.

Wild cards depend on the player's declaration:

1.3(a) For a player going for high, the threes are wild. Kings count at their natural rank.

1.3(b) For a player going for low, the kings are wild. Threes count at their natural rank.

A wild card may stand for any card the player chooses. High hands are ranked by the standard poker hand rankings. With four threes available, five of a kind is possible; it is usually ranked above a straight flush. The dealer shall confirm this before the deal.

The ranking of low hands shall be agreed before play. It is usually ace-to-five, in which aces are low, straights and flushes do not count, and 5-4-3-2-A is the best low. A wild king may be counted as an ace in a low hand.

Each player antes and is dealt seven cards face down. After a betting round begun by the player to the dealer's left, each active player passes three unwanted cards face down to the next active player to the left.

After a second betting round, each player discards two cards, arranges the remaining five in a face-down stack in any order, and turns them up one at a time as set out below.

Players turn their top cards face up at the same time, and there is a betting round after each card, until each player has four cards showing and one face down.

Because wild cards depend on a declaration that has not yet been made, the dealer shall announce before the deal how the best hand showing is judged for the purpose of starting the betting.

After the final betting round, each remaining player declares high, low or both. Declarations are usually made simultaneously, for example with chips held in a closed hand; the method shall be agreed before play.

Players who declared high compare their hands with threes wild. Players who declared low compare their hands with kings wild. The best hand on each side takes half the pot.

A player who declares both must win high with threes wild and low with kings wild. Under the usual declaration rule, a player who declares both and fails to win or tie either side wins nothing.

If no player declares one side, the players on the other side compete for the whole pot.

All the passing variations of Anaconda may be used, such as passing three cards, then two, then one, with a betting round after each pass. The dealer shall announce the pattern before the deal.

A three is a useful card to receive only if you are going high, and a king only if you are going low. When choosing cards to pass, remember that your neighbour may be playing the other way.

Because the cards you show are rolled one at a time, the order in which you stack your five cards can conceal which way you intend to declare.