Z
An Iron Cross-family game where five hole cards and four community cards laid out in a 'Z' shape combine, played hi-lo with a fixed combination rule.
Coming soon — not yet playable
Rules
Z deals five hole cards face down to each player. Separately, four community cards are dealt face down to the center of the table, arranged in the shape of the letter "Z" — a top row, a diagonal connector, and a bottom row.
Betting typically follows each stage of the community cards being revealed, similar in pacing to other Iron Cross-family games (Iron Cross, Cincinnati, Pyramid — all also in this library).
Showdown: each player uses exactly three of their five hole cards combined with two adjacent community cards from a specific position along the Z shape (per house rule) to make their best hand, played hi-lo without a declaration — the pot automatically splits between the best qualifying high and low hands.
Strategy notes: The five-hole-card, fixed-combination structure produces high average hand strength similar to other Iron Cross-family games; because the exact "which two Z-cards may be paired with your three hole cards" rule varies by table, confirming this before the deal is essential to avoid disputes at showdown.
Common house rules
Confirm the Z-position combination rule
Because which two community cards may be paired with your three hole cards depends on their position along the Z shape, and conventions vary by table, always confirm this rule before dealing.
No declaration, automatic split
Standard rule: the pot splits automatically between the best qualifying high and low hands without a simultaneous declare phase, unlike some other hi-lo variants in this library.
Part of the Iron Cross family
If your table already knows Iron Cross or Cincinnati (both also in this library), Z will feel structurally familiar — it's part of the same broader family of shaped-community-card stud/draw hybrids.
Related games
Based on shared category, origin, and rules that reference each other.
Cincinnati
A stud-and-community hybrid: every player gets five private down cards, and a shared row of community cards is revealed one at a time to build the best hand.
Learn the rules →Iron Cross
A five-card draw hybrid where each player's private hand can be combined with a shared cross-shaped layout of community cards on the table.
Learn the rules →Pyramid
An Iron Cross-family community game where four hole cards combine with six community cards arranged in triangular rows, usually played hi-lo with a declaration.
Learn the rules →5-Card Omaha
Omaha with five hole cards instead of four, played high-only — the high-hand-only counterpart to Big O, which adds a low split to the same five-card format.
Learn the rules →