I played an interesting game called Archie. It's a 6player max game that is 5 card triple draw. It's a split pot game but with a qualifier. 99 or better for high and 8 or better for low(A-5). So A2345 is the nut low and royal flush is nut high.

Does anybody know any simple stat for this game?
Kinda tough to scoop...
Obv low open Enders are great as well as 4 low cards that are the same suit.

I had a hand in the BB vs a SB limp. I raised and he called and drew 3.

I had Ah6h5hKhQx

I dropped the two pictures and went for the scoop

I hate Archie more than any game. We play a lot of it in our mix games here in AZ. I think most people play it awfully but I am also not good. One of the things I think people do very poorly is to isolate other players pre draw. There are some hands with which this is appropriate but people put in way too much action with good low draws that can't scoop. I think there are a lot of hands that you should limp reraise in

It is a very high variance game.

Sounds like a fun and interesting game. Have only played the variant without the hi qualifier, which itself is really interesting.

Obvious Question: what happens if no remaining players qualify for the hi or lo?


My thoughts on strat for full ring: If going for the low, I'd want 3 cards under 6 with a 1 gap. 356 is the worst hand I'd play for the low. Even a hand like A26 isn't that good since it can't make a straight, and will only scoop if no one qualifies for high. For high, 3 cards 9+ suited with strfl potential looks playable. two pair/trips is playable. 4 suited is playable.

In the scenario you presented, I'd keep the Kh all day long and think its much more likely to lead to a scoop. His draw 3 will not often materialize into a lo.

If no player has a qualifier the pot is split among players who have hands at show down.

So far it's hard for me to figure out which way ppl are drawing

if they take 3-3-3 they are usually going hi.

curious where you played this, must have been AZ people in game based on name alone.

yup, seems like the play is to definitely keep the King

But his draw 3 is probably a high pair which will never develop into a low.

Hope his big pair is 99-QQ so you also have pair outs in addition to the flush.

I can just tell that I would not be playing many low hands in this game. Yeah of course you would play 4 lows with a straight draw or four low suited. But those hands don't come around often. Unless you are playing 5 card Omaha High of course.

just want to point out (often unclear) if you make like A2357 vs A4567 you scoop whole pot, so lows can be quite valuable.

and i would draw 2 as well mitch

What you putting the SB on? A2s?

I have no idea why the SB limp/called. Seems like a bad play. But I think he is going high and may have already qualified.

But their value goes way down when it looks like there is a qualified high in there with you.

If you don't have any high prospects you may just be battling another low for half. So you need a low with straight and/or flush prospects and they don't come around as often as the playable high hands would.

Think the game would be a little more balanced if the qualifier for high was 9s up or better.

SB told me later that he started with 99 and drew three, picked up A23 so switched to draw at the low.

Jon this was in LA and they said the game came from AZ. No AZ players in the game

Played a game like this at the arias mix game. With your opponent drawing three he is almost always trying to improve a pair plus when you draw one it looks like you are drawing for a low. If he does happen to be drawing with A2 suited you have some blockers and you will make your hi more than he makes his low.

Most of the time, he's overvaluing a strong(probably suited) two card. However, I actually like his play if he indeed has 9's or better in a game where there's a qualifier on both sides.

And when the dust settles and you don't catch perfect/perfect, your odds of ending up with a goose egg(on both sides) are quite high; seeing that you need 9's or better to qualify for high and you have two cards that are under that(5,6), it will be a long shot for you.

ahh, you mean he suckered the guy to come after him with A65?

should have been a limp raisy daisy imo

Why do you say that limping 2 suited wheel cards in the sb is overvaluing? Seems a pretty reasonable play to me.

And why do you like his limp if he has a high(ish) pair? Why would you just limp there rather than raise if you had just something like Jacks-Kings there? You saying "there's a qualifier for both sides" seems to me like even more of a reason to raise there and not limp.

I'm new to this (and all mixed cash game) and hate this game. I played for two days way out of my league (40-80; I'm not rich, used to the low no limit holdem games). Got my you-know-what handed to me in all games (our rotation had this archie game, 2-7 triple draw, A-5 triple draw, Badugi, and Omaha hi/lo). And I played well, just got incredibly coolered over and over (#2 losing to #1 in A-5, #4 losing to #2 in triple draw, and probably the worst was in this game, holding 23456. Yeah, not only did I get beat one way, but both, to an A3456 for low and a bigger straight for high. Yeah, sick, I know. What a way to introduce the newbie to a high limit game that, really, I shouldn't be playing in financially. Oh, and there was the pat 9 badugi that I lost a ton on too. But, I digress. The internet has nothing on this game. Any sound strategy out there? I think next time I'm better off folding most hands and waiting for the next game, but I can't COMPLETELY dodge it. Thanks.

Fwiw. In vegas it was high hand got pot if no qualifier. Also had different qualifiers iirc.


Game is straight tilt. It's awesome.

I've been playing this game a lot in a mix, except 66 is the qualifier for high instead of 99.

Like mentioned, if there's no hand that qualifies for high or low the best high gets the pot.

I had a hand come up where I had A246 and was betting whole way. On the end it goes draw 1/1. I catch a J and check. My opponent bets. I fold and he showed J6543. Is there anything I could have done here? It feels like a call in retrospect.

It's def a fun and very swingy game that people play very bad.

I only played this one time. I felt like having big pairs/2 pair/trips was really valuable because you were guaranteed to qualify and it was just hard for people to make low straights or whatever to scoop you. Because it's triple draw, people are trying to draw to nutted-type low hands and will sometimes break bad lows that would have won half the pot.

E.G. if you have a pair of kings and are up against A236x I feel like you're in great shape because you only lose if they catch an ace and you don't improve. But you scoop all the times they brick off and chop the rest of the time. Unless you fold.

Overall, it's a really weird game though because hand equities are not linear. Depending which player folds can have a dramatic effect on where the equity shifts. And a particular catch for one guy can ruin one other player's equity while having no effect on another player's equity in the same hand. So I found multiway spots really tricky to navigate.

I like your hand here. I like the fact it's blind vs blind. You don't need that strong of a hand for a potential scoop here. If I am reading it correctly you have a four flush already. It is fairly obvious that he has a pair. I would be drawing 1 card for the flush. I am not so concerned about making a low here. Plus my hand is much more disguised being a 1 card draw. I feel if I make my flush I have a great chance of scooping without a low. Especially if he switches directions on the 2nd draw going from a high hand to a low hand. If there were more players in the pot it would be a different story obviously. However with only one opponent and blind vs blind I am keeping the hearts and drawing one.

If people draw 3 in this game, they either already have a qualifying pair, or they are a really big fish drawing 3 with two suited wheel cards (yes you should just fold A2 suited with nothing else).

With your opponent drawing 3, I give him a pair. He didn't raise, and you have an A and K in your hand, so I don't give him a pair of A's or K's. You should keep the K of hearts. Just draw 1. You have 3 shots at hitting a heart or A or K to likely scoop the pot. 15 outs 3 times (of course he could make 2 pair or even full house, etc), but basically I like your hand vs. a pair of 9's through Q's. If you draw 2, you've significantly increased your chances of not qualifying. Keep the King of hearts.

Yup