highball

[Laurence Horn]

At 2:50 PM -0800 3/3/02, Dave Wilton wrote:
>-----Original Message-----
>From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU]On Behalf
>Of Laurence Horn
>Sent: Sunday, March 03, 2002 1:40 PM
>Subject: Re: highball
>
>>Curiously, there are no canonical poker games called "highball" that
>>I know of, but low poker (in which essentially* the "worst"
>>conventional hand wins) is often called "lo-ball" (i.e. straight low,
>>as distinct from hi-lo split).   I think I've usually seen it with
>>the "lo-ball" spelling, but it's not listed with either spelling in
>
>I've usually seen it spelled "lowball." Googling on "lowball poker" yields
>about 3,200 hits. "Loball poker" and "lo-ball poker" yield only around 40-55
>hits. "Highball poker" yields about 500 hits. "Hi lo poker" yields 9,800
>hits.
>
>The printed manual accompanying the "Hoyle Casino" computer game by Sierra
>On-Line spells it "loball," but the electronic help in the game itself
>spells it "lowball."
>
>>*"essentially" because in the dialects I'm familiar with, straights
>>and flushes don't count against the low hand in either lo-ball or
>>hi-lo poker; the best hand is 5-4-3-2-A, called a wheel.
>
>There are different variants. Some invariably count straights and flushes
>and aces against the low hand, making a 7-5-4-3-2 combination the best
>possible low. Others allow aces, making a 6-4-3-2-A the best low. In others,
>straights don't count against the low, 5-4-3-2-A being the best. House rules
>govern.

and at 7:46 PM -0500 3/3/02, sagehen wrote:
>  >.... the best hand is 5-4-3-2-A, called a wheel.
>~~~~~~~~
>My Hoyle gives the variant "Lowball" (so-spelled) and calls the  5-4-3-2-A
>hand a "bicycle."
>A. Murie

Right, I've seen that in reference works too, but the observation
about it being called the wheel was intended to fall in the scope of
my earlier reference to "the dialects I'm familiar with".  Same for
Dave Wilton's observations about the variants in which straights and
flushes and/or aces count against the low.  I agree (how I could I
not?) that house rules govern, but I prefer the 5-4-3-2-A variant
because that's what I grew up with, because it makes "swinging" (i.e.
declaring both ways) more likely, and because it allows us to argue
about whether it's a wheel or a bicycle.  In any case, I think we've
already demonstrated the need to have and entry for "lo(w)ball
(poker)" in any dictionary worthy of its salt.

larry