Murder
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. Two columns of three cards each (X) are placed in the center of the table as the flop. There is a round of betting at the lower limit.
A third column of three community cards (Y) are placed face up. This is followed by a round of betting at the big bet limit.
A fourth column of three community cards (Z) are placed face up. This is followed by a round of betting at the big bet limit. This is followed by a showdown. The final board will look like this:
X X Y Z
X X Y Z
X X Y Z
All the X cards are placed on the board on the flop, the Y cards on the turn, and the Z cards on the river.
Evaluating the Showdown
The best high hand and the best California low hand with an 8-or-better qualifier split the pot. As in Omaha, hands are made using exactly two cards from each player’s hand and exactly three cards from the board to form each portion of their hand. When forming a hand (high or low), each player may use only one card from each row on the board! Separate hand and board cards may be used by each player to create their high and low hands.
Notes
Warning! Given the number of cards in a player’s hand, the number of possible combinations of cards that may be used from the board, the fact that the game is split pot, and the fact that each hand must be formed using only one card present in each row of the board cards, evaluating hands can be especially tricky.