Jersey Holdem Rules

Jersey Holdem, formerly called Cosmic Poker, was contributed to pagat.com by Mike Picollelli. It is a variation of Omaha hi-lo (eight or better) and follows those rules except as stated here.

The game uses a standard 52-card deck with no wild cards. High hands are ranked by the standard hand rankings; low hands are ranked ace-to-five, with straights and flushes ignored.

The pot is split between the best high hand and the best qualifying low hand. A low hand qualifies only if its five cards are all different and are eight or lower.

Blinds or antes, the button and the betting are the same as in Omaha hi-lo.

The number of hole cards depends on the version:

2.2(a) North Jersey: each player is dealt five cards face down.

2.2(b) South Jersey: each player is dealt four cards face down.

The flop, turn and river are dealt as in Omaha, with a betting round before the flop and after each stage.

For the high hand, a player shall use either two hole cards with three board cards, or three hole cards with two board cards.

The low hand is made the same way, and the player may choose a different combination of cards, and a different two-or-three split, for low than for high.

A player may not use four or more hole cards, or fewer than two, in either hand.

At showdown, the best high hand takes half the pot and the best qualifying low hand takes the other half.

If no low hand qualifies, the best high hand takes the whole pot. A single player may win both halves.

Ties in either half are split equally among the tied players, as in Omaha hi-lo.

With three hole cards available, full houses and four of a kind are much more common than in Omaha. A strong made hand on the flop is often beaten by the turn or river.

Because a low can be made with only two low board cards when three hole cards are used, low hands are made more often than in Omaha hi-lo.