Psycho Rules

Psycho begins like five-card draw: each player is dealt five cards and exchanges some of them. Everyone then turns up three of their five cards at once, and the hand finishes like seven-card stud, with a sixth card face up and a seventh face down. Players declare high, low or both, and the pot is split.

Players: 2 or more
Type: Draw, then stud
Wild cards: None
Pot: High-low split, with declaration
Betting rounds: 3

Article 1Players, deck and objective

1.1

The game is played with a standard 52-card deck with no jokers and no wild cards.

1.2

Each player finishes with seven cards and makes the best five-card high hand and the best five-card low hand from them. The pot is split between the best high and best low hands.

1.3

High hands follow the standard hand rankings. The sources do not fix the low ranking; the usual home-game practice is ace-to-five (aces low, straights and flushes ignored). The dealer shall announce the low ranking before the deal.

1.4

Because of the draw, a player may see up to ten different cards over the course of a hand. With five or more players the deck may run out during the draw or the later deal; if so, the discards are shuffled and used.

Article 2Antes, the deal and the draw

2.1

Each player pays an agreed ante. The dealer deals five cards face down to each player.

2.2

Starting with the player to the dealer's left and continuing clockwise, each player discards any cards they wish to replace and receives the same number from the deck, as in five-card draw.

2.3

The sources do not set a limit on how many cards may be exchanged, or state a betting round before the draw. The dealer shall announce any draw limit before the deal.

Article 3Exposing and betting

Stage	What happens	Cards held
Draw	Players exchange cards in turn; no betting	5 down
Expose	All players choose three cards and turn them up together; first betting round	3 up, 2 down
Sixth card	One card dealt face up to each player; second betting round	4 up, 2 down
Seventh card	One card dealt face down to each player; final betting round	4 up, 3 down

3.1

After the draw, every player selects three of their five cards and, on the dealer's signal, all players expose their chosen cards at the same time.

3.2

From this point the game follows seven-card stud: a betting round, a sixth card face up and a betting round, then a seventh card face down and a final betting round. The usual practice is that the best exposed hand acts first on each round.

Article 4Declaration and showdown

4.1

After the final betting round, each remaining player declares high, low or both. The dealer shall announce whether declarations are simultaneous, usually with chips hidden in the hand, or in turn.

4.2

The best high hand among the high declarers wins half the pot, and the best low hand among the low declarers wins the other half. If everyone declares the same way, the best hand of that kind takes the whole pot.

4.3

By the usual convention, a player who declares both ways must win, or tie, both halves, or they win nothing.

Example

Going both ways

After the draw a player holds 2♣3♦4♥6♠6♦ and exposes 2♣3♦6♠. Their sixth card is 7♥ face up and their seventh is 5♣ face down.

For high, 3-4-5-6-7 is a seven-high straight. For low, using ace-to-five, 6-5-4-3-2 is a six-low. With strong hands both ways, the player may declare both.

Article 5Related games and notes

The first stage is plain five-card draw, but with no betting until the cards are exposed.
Choosing which three cards to show is a form of rolling, as in Roll Your Own and Mississippi Mud.
Draw with a view to both halves: cards that build a low straight can win high and low at once.

Article 6Frequently asked questions

How many cards do you use in Psycho poker?

Five. You finish with seven cards, four up and three down, and make your best five-card high and low hands from them, as in seven-card stud.

Is there betting before the draw in Psycho?

Not in the version on pagat.com. The first betting round comes after everyone has drawn and exposed three cards.

Final authority

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.

Psycho Rules · OPR-702 · officialpokerrules.com/psycho/

OPR-702Uncontrolled when printed