LEVY'S
RULES
During
a particularly crazy cash game at Cheesey a few months ago we were all expected to
come up with ‘a twist’ to the games
that we selected. Some of the regulars such as Bondy and Jeff have a whole host
of experience of silly games from which to pick. Internet newbies like me are
not so lucky.
Fortunately,
I happened to have my copy of ‘Big Deal’ by Tony Holden by my side (Ali had borrowed
it some month’s earlier and was finally returning it, unread!) I remembered
that there was a section in there which sounded like a suitable game. I flicked
through the book and found the rules to “Levy’s Game”, apparently named after a
London
player who invented it.
The
rules are fairly simple, the game starts out as standard 5 card draw. 5 cards
are dealt to each player and a round of betting follows. After this, each player
can discard as many cards from their hands as they like (including the “Sheriff play”
of replacing all 5 cards) and receive replacements.
Each
player then arranges their 5 cards into the order in which they wish to reveal them
and places them face down on the table. All players still in the hand then reveal
their top card, a round of betting follows with ‘high hand speaking first’ as per
Stud rules. After this, each player reveals their second card and another round
of betting follows. This process continues until all players have 4 cards face
up on the table.
Now
here’s the twist! At this point each player has the option of replacing ONE
of their cards, either face up or face down. If a face up card is replaced the
new card is dealt face up, if the remaining hole card is replaced the new card is
dealt face down. After this process there is a final round of betting.
If
you thought that bit was good, wait for this one. The game is a hi-lo split
game, with declarations. This means that before revealing their hands, each
player must decide whether they are going ‘High’, ‘Low’ or ‘Both Ways’. This
is done by taking 2 chips under the table and putting the appropriate number in your
right hand (0 for Low, 1 for High, 2 for Both Ways). Each player then opens
their hand at the same time to show their declaration. The High pot is contested
between the High and Both Way declarers only. The Low pot is contested between
the Low and Both Way Declarers only. If you declare Both Ways then you must
scoop the entire pot. If you lose or share either end then you win nothing!!!
Low
hands are decided in the same way as
Omaha
or Stud Hi/Lo, but without the 8 qualifier. Consequently, straights and flushes
don’t count against you. The best hand possible for both ways is therefore an
A-2-3-4-5 straight flush (although you could still be really unlucky and split the
low pot with another wheel or lose the high end to a higher straight flush!)
If no-one declares for a particular direction, then the whole pot is awarded for the
direction in which eligible declarations have been made (e.g if everyone declares
low then there is no high hand award for that hand).
It
sounds much more complicated than it really is and we normally do a dry run for anyone
who hasn’t played it before. We’ve been playing it half-pot limit to date, although
pot-limit with a cap on the betting might be a simpler way in future as no-one ever
remembers that they can bet only half the pot!
There
is a rare possibility that you may get a pot (or half of the pot) at the end of the
day which no-one can win under the normal rules (e.g two players declare both ways,
one wins the high, one wins the low so neither is eligible for the pot). There
are various ways to deal with this so I propose the following House Rule. In
the event that there is an eligible second best hand, then this hand will win the
appropriate half of the pot, or the whole pot if no eligible declaration exists for
either the high or the low. In the event that 2 players declare both ways and
there are no eligible second best hands, then the hand will be treated as having been
played without declarations, and the pot will be awarded to the best high and low
hands regardless.
I
doubt very much that we’ll ever need the house rule but its better to have one, just
in case!
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