Declaration (poker) - Awarding The Pot

Awarding The Pot

After declaration and showdown, half of the pot is awarded to the highest hand among those players who declared high, and half to the lowest hand among those who declared low. If no one declared in one direction, the whole pot is awarded to the other (for example, if all players declared low, the lowest hand is awarded the whole pot).

If any player declared "swing", then that player must have both the high and low hands to take any part of the pot, though there are several rule variations covering the specifics. First, if the rules specify that ties are acceptable, then a player declaring swing must win or tie both directions to win anything, but if he does, he is entitled to his appropriate share. For example, if the swing player has the clearly highest hand but shares the lowest hand with another player, he wins three-fourths of the pot and the other low hand wins one-fourth. If the rules specify that ties are not acceptable, then a swing player must clearly win both directions: even a tie in one direction means he wins nothing. "No ties" is probably the more common rule, but this makes swing declarations so dangerous that they are rare, and therefore makes the game less interesting, so the ties-acceptable rule is preferred by some professionals.

Finally, if a swing player fails for half the pot, the half that he would have otherwise won can be awarded either to the second-best hand in that direction, or to the player who defeated him in the other. The latter rule is generally preferred, as it affords more strategic possibilities in declaration. For example, if a player declaring swing has the best high hand but loses for low (or ties for low with a no-ties rule), the whole pot is awarded to the low hand that defeated him.