HIGH-FIVE-DUGI SPLIT

Overview

High-Five-Dugi Split is a 5-card triple-draw game that splits the pot between the best standard poker hand and the best Hi-dugi hand. Each player holds 5 cards, and from those 5 selects the best possible 4-card Hi-dugi holding (highest 4 cards covering all 4 suits, no rank-pair penalty). A strong poker hand can be terrible for Hi-dugi — and vice versa — making the split mechanic richly strategic.

Split Pot Evaluation

Hi-dugi from 5 Cards

Each player picks their best 4-card Hi-dugi subset from their 5 cards: the highest-ranking 4 cards such that no two share a suit. Rank pairs are fine. Example: A♠ A♦ A♣ A♥ K♣ → Hi-dugi = A♠A♦A♣A♥ (discard K♣) = AAAA.

The Tension

• A flush (great poker) requires 5 cards of the same suit — terrible for Hi-dugi (only 1 suit covered)
• A straight flush is the best poker hand but the worst Hi-dugi hand (all one suit)
• Four of a kind is excellent for both: four different suits = XXXX Hi-dugi + four-of-a-kind poker
• Full houses and straights are solid poker but only average Hi-dugi

Betting Structure

SB + BB → 5 cards face-down → Bet (SB first) → Draw #1 → Bet (SB first) → Draw #2 → Bet (BB first) → Draw #3 → Bet (BB first) → Showdown