Low Chicago Rules

The game is played with a standard 52-card deck without jokers. There are no wild cards.

The pot is split between two winners:

1.2(a) the player with the best five-card high hand, ranked by the standard poker hand rankings; and

1.2(b) the player with the lowest spade.

For the spade half, aces count high. The two of spades is therefore the lowest spade and the ace of spades the highest.

Low Chicago is not a lowball game. The low half of the pot goes to a single low spade, not to the lowest poker hand.

The deal, the betting and the declaration follow Chicago, which uses the seven-card stud deal: two cards down and one up, three more up, and a last card down.

As in Chicago, the spade shall be held face down to count. Spades dealt face up do not compete for the spade half. The dealer shall confirm this before the deal if the group plays otherwise.

After the final betting round, each remaining player declares for the high hand, the spade, or both, in the manner agreed before play.

A player must hold a qualifying spade to win the spade half. A player who declares both wins only if they hold both the best hand and the lowest spade.

Ace low. Some groups count the ace of spades as the lowest spade. The dealer shall announce this before the deal; the standard rule is aces high.

San Francisco. The same game is sometimes played with hearts instead of spades. In Low San Francisco, the high hand splits the pot with the lowest heart; in High San Francisco, with the highest heart.