How to Play Honky Tonk Draw Poker

Honky Tonk Poker is a variation of five card draw poker that involves a split pot. You can use your hand to try to win both the high and the low hand, though that can be very difficult. The thrill of Honky Tonk Poker is that you almost always feel you have a chance of winning at least either the high or low hand so you remain in the hand longer than you would in standard five card draw poker. Honky Tonk Poker is limited to 6 players in a game.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Playing cards

1. Deal 5 face down cards to each player. Once all the players have 5 face down cards in front of them, all the players can pick up their own hand and look at them.

2. Explain how the high and low hands work. When determining the high hand in Honky Tonk Poker, standard hand ranking is used and 3s are wild. When determining the low hand, the best low hand you can have is 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Straights and flushes are not counted in the low hand. When determining the low hand, kings are wild.

3. Conduct a betting round. The player to the left of the dealer starts the wagering in this first wagering round.

4. Evaluate your hand and discard up to 3 cards. Each player must determine how they want to play their hand. Will they go all out for the high hand, or for the low hand? Will they get greedy and try to arrange a hand that has a chance of winning both the high and low hands at the table?

5. Deal the same number of face down cards to each player as the number of cards they discarded. Once each player has received their replacement cards, each player may view their own cards.

6. Conduct a second wagering round. The player sitting two seats to the left of the dealer begins the second wagering round.

7. Reveal your hand. All players that have not folded reveal their hand. The player with the high and the low poker hands split the pot. There is a chance that one hand will win for both the high and the low poker hand. If this happens they win the entire pot.

Tips & Warnings

• Focus on winning either the high or the low poker hand. It is very hard to play to win both.
• Remember if you have 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 in your hand it's a guaranteed winner for the low hand, but would only be a straight for high hand.
• Don't forget that wild cards are different for the low and the high hand in Honky Tonk Poker when evaluating your poker hand for each.