Four Card Chowaha High/Low Eight-or-Better
Forced Money
The game is played with a button and blinds.
Dealing Procedure
Each player is dealt four cards face down, followed by a round of betting at the small bet limit.
Three flops are dealt one above the other forming a 3 × 3 square of cards. This is followed by a round of betting at the small bet limit.
Two turn cards are dealt vertically to the right of the flop cards from the dealer’s persepective. This is followed by a round of betting at the big bet limit.
One river card is placed to the right of the turn cards. This is followed by a round of betting at the big bet limit. This is followed by a showdown. At the showdown, the board will look like the following:
X X X
Y
X X X Z
Y
X X X
The cards labelled X are the flop cards, the cards indicated as Y are the turn cards, and Z is the river card.
Evaluating the Showdown
The best high hand and best California low hand of at least eight low or better splits the pot. Each hand consists of two cards from the player’s hole cards plus the cards from one flop, one turn, and the river. These may be played in any combination EXCEPT that board cards used CANNOT consist of the top row of the flop plus the bottom turn card or the bottom row of the flop plus the top turn card. That is, the flop, turn, and river must all be contiguous cards. Each player may create their best high hand and low hand using different hold cards and/or different board cards. Also, as in Omaha, each player must use exactly two hole cards plus three cards from the board to form each portion of their hand.
Notes
Chowaha was created by Mike Chow. See also the two-card variant.