The fifth card. After the fifth card, to justify playing on you should have a strong possibility for one direction or the other. You must now consider your strength in relation to that of the other players. In calculating your chances, it is often useful to use as a basis the number of working low cards that each player is likely to hold. Suppose that you had four to a seven after the fourth card; other players had good low cards exposed. On the fifth card you hit an open (low) pair while the other players "bust" hitting picture cards.

Although you do not now have the lowest hand (in fact, you probably have the highest!), your position for low has not been damaged to any great extent. In almost all cases the picture cards will not be used in making the best low hand for the other players. You are still competing for low on the basis of the first four cards. However, while maintaining your position for low, you now have a big edge in the high direction because of your chance to make three-of-a-kind or two pairs. In other words, you have a chance to win in each direction and probably have the best hand at the table. This is a most favorable situation, and you should bet strongly.

On the other hand, suppose that after five cards you have 2-5 (concealed) 7-4-10 (exposed) and other players have lower boards exposed. It is unlikely that all the other players have busted (that is, made a low pair on the fifth card). You are now in an inferior position in the fight for low because you are essentially one card behind. In fact, even if your opponents have made low pairs, they are in the strong position described in the previous paragraph. In this situation you should not call a bet. In high-low (especially at pot limit or table stakes) the most important factor for a winning player is the self-discipline to drop when he realizes that his position has suddenly become unfavorable.