I've previously discussed most of the house rules for card games on Gohere Bay. Guides were sometimes invited to play and, from time to time, would join in the games as their tolerance for the guests allowed. One of their favourite additions to the "once around" rule, whereby each player would set the rules and game for a round, was the addition of the locally favoured game - Lowball. The premise of lowball poker is oddly simple, yet so counter-intuitive as to befuddle the most seasoned card players. Simply put, in five cards, try to collect the lowest hand. This meant avoiding two of a kind, three of a kind, full house, straight, flush and aces. While simple in theory, the habit of collecting and holding paired cards and pulling and wishing for straights can be difficult to break.
The perfect lowball hand would be a 2,3,4,5,7 of a variety of suits. I can't begin to count the number of times I dealt or played or watched a hand of lowball where a slightly tipsy 'tourist' would nearly vibrate with nervous energy, trying to contain his excitement, raising and pushing, needling and teasing before slapping down a straight or flush, only to watch the pot slide across the table to a smirking guide with a 'handful of nothing'.
