Thom Forbes

Informed sources tell me that there was yet another contretemps over the "low card in your hand is wild for you" parameters that almost led to derringers being drawn after my departure last week. I figured I better clear the matter up. Again. But I couldn't be 100% sure of what the resolution was the last time we took this to arbitration so I did what any respected scholar would do in this day and age. I googled the term  "low card in your hand is wild for you." There were "about 571,000 results," the first among them being:

Talk about chasing your tail.  Of course, anything I've written that I'd actually want to come out at the top of a Google search would no doubt be buried on page 32.

So I did a did a search of my email box and was surprised to find that it was only three years — April 18, 2007 — since we last answered the question. Here's a relevant excerpt of correspondence I had with the Authority on the "Ask The Scribe" forum of homepoker.com, the upshot being that if something other than the Ace is low in your hand, you cannot use an Ace on the board as a low card.

Thom: I know that that the Ace can have a different value for the high hand and for the low hand, but in my example it had two different values in the low hand alone. It was played high in the hole to allow the two 10s to be wild, but it was played low on the board to complete the 64321 low. You're saying that's okay, correct? Thanks again.

Authority: So, the tens are Low and does that make your exposed Ace a High card, matching your High Ace in the hole?  That's a really good question, and I'm glad it's never come up for me in a hand.   :D   Your high hand is obviously four Aces by making the Tens low and wild.  Your low hand has to be a Nine-down for just the reason you gave - that a High Ace in the hole means your exposed Ace is also High.  Whichever card you call your Low card in the hole, you have two wild cards that have to match with the 4, 6, 9 for a Nine-down.

Hope that makes sense, and this was a great question.  It makes me want to play some dealer's choice. 

Then, just for kicks — because what useful information could possibly be contained in the "Our  Fakakta Games" section, right? — I checked the link that came up on Google and the answer was right there! 

Alas, we're still waiting for the definitive rules for a few games. If someone gets shot over Moosecock or A-Roid, don't blame me.