The Rules of “Split Poker”

This game was devised with one specific goal in mind: to fuse Stud and Draw Poker into a single, exciting game. There are two versions of Split Poker, the simpler multi-player version described below and a two player ‘head-to-head’ version – rules for the head-to-head version will be provided in a subsequent post if there is sufficient interest.
The standard rules & etiquette of Poker apply. Split Poker is limited to five players unless additional decks are introduced although this is not recommended. A standard 52 card deck is used without jokers. Aces may be high or low. Play proceeds clockwise.

A cut of the cards determines who will deal and the order of seating – the player with the high card deals, the player with the next highest (known as the “starter”) sits to the dealer’s immediate left, next highest yet further left, and so on. The deal passes clockwise with each game thereafter.
5 cards are dealt to each player face-down then the deck is placed face-down in the center of the playing surface.
Play proceeds from the starter at the dealer’s left around the table and back to the dealer, who plays last. Play consists of three rounds, in each of which players place cards from their draw hand face-up on the table in front of them. After each round the full complement of 5 cards is restored to each player’s draw hand by the dealer.
The face-up hand formed in front of each player is referred to as a “stud” hand and is a second hand played by each player bearing the same value as the “draw” hand each player holds concealed (as in Draw Poker) – it is governed by the same rules and principles as apply to the draw hand. Each player’s stud hand may grow to as many as 5 cards in the 3 rounds of play – it may never exceed 5 cards but a game may conclude without it reaching that number. Under no circumstances may 5 cards be played to a stud hand in a single round.
Players may not elect to pass in any round but must play at least one card to their stud hand. If a player wants keep the draw hand ‘as is’ then they may – although not in the first round – elect to have the remainder of their stud hand filled out using cards from the top of the deck (called “taking them up”). Having announced this to the dealer, the dealer flips the necessary number of cards from the top of the deck to fill out the hand. A player who elects to “take them up” waits out the rest of the game until the showdowns or folds when appropriate.
At the conclusion of the first round, after all players have had one opportunity to play cards to their stud hands, each player is dealt the number of cards necessary to restore their draw hand to 5 (there is no reshuffling of the deck at any point after the first deal). The deck is then placed again in the center of the playing surface and the starter flips the top card, placing it next to the deck. Although this ‘wild’ card is not in play the other three like cards residing in the deck, held by players, or already played in a stud hand now become wild.
At the conclusion of the second round, after all players have had a turn to play cards to their stud hands but before the dealer once again replenishes their draw hands, each player – beginning with the starter and ending with the dealer – announces whether they will stay in the game or fold. The fold option having been settled those who remain in the game finish out the final round, playing any remaining cards to their stud hands that they wish or, if they have already played five, awaiting the showdowns.
At the conclusion of the third and final round all remaining players have their draw hands replenished by the dealer before the showdowns commence.

Showdowns

The first showdown takes place when, one by one around the table from starter to dealer, draw hands are shown – highest hand wins. The second showdown requires only that, in proper order, any player with a face-down card in their stud hand turn it face-up, determining the highest hand and the winner.

Scoring in the Multi-player version

For chips

Suppose the ante to be x. At the end of each round the dealer asks players, beginning with the starter and continuing around the table, who would like to “buy” cards. Any player who does not choose to fold pays to have their draw hand replenished; any player who folds forfeits their share of the pot. The price of cards doubles with each successive round – 2x at the end of the first round, 4x at the end of the second, and 8x at the end of the third. The pot is split between the respective winners of the draw and stud hand showdowns or awarded in its entirety to a player who wins both the draw and stud (“sweeps”).

For points

Those who fold are entitled to a single fold point – that is, provided that no player who stays in the game “sweeps.”
A “sweep” earns 3 points to a player who wins the showdowns of both the draw and the stud hands. When a player sweeps no other players may score and anybody who previously folded forfeits their fold point. Two consecutive sweeps by the same player wins the match.
When there is no sweep the winners of each showdown receive 2 points (a “split”) and any players who folded receive 1 point.
Play is to 25 points but must continue until there is an outright winner. Players not at 25 points when a tie-breaking game becomes necessary are not eliminated (for example, two players tied at 25 points could be defeated by a player with 23 points who sweeps).

Irregularities

1. If a player chooses they may play once, in any round, a single card face-down in the stud hand, alone or in addition to face-up cards simultaneously played. A face-down card may not be looked at again once it has been played. If a player elects to “take them up“ then any card previously played face-down is turned face-up before the hand is filled out by the dealer.
2. In 5-card Draw Poker a player may discard 4 cards only when the card withheld is an ace. The same rule applies to Split Poker – A player may elect to play 4 cards face-up in the stud hand if an ace is first shown. A player may not choose to take the remainder of their stud hand “up” (that is, from the top of the deck) if only one card has been played previously unless that card is an ace or a wild.
3. If a stud hand is not completely filled out by the end of a game then certain Poker hands are unachievable (for example, there cannot be a straight or flush in a 4-card hand).
4. The rank of Poker hands is well known. In Split Poker, as in any form of Poker that employs wilds, 5-of-a-kind is the highest possible hand.
5. If, before the second (stud hand) showdown a clear winner is already evident, then any face-down card in the winning player’s stud hand may remain concealed.