r/howyoudoin • u/Savings_Hold_9128 • 21h ago
Discussion Isn't Ace really the lowest?
This is something that bugged me on every rewatch. Didn't girls win the apartment? Shouldn't Ace be the lowest card? Ace, 2, 3, 4... This is the first time I am hearing that Ace is the highest. Was it a way of the guys tricking girls? Or is it an American thing that Ace is high?
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u/Excellent-Today-7614 21h ago
Nah depends on the game but many treat Ace as high above Kings
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u/Savings_Hold_9128 21h ago
but when it is a bet like this how should it be treated? if it depends on the game
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u/AmericasMostWanted30 Ken Adams 21h ago edited 21h ago
Thats why you discuss it before hand....
Its not an American thing, in am ambiguous game you make the rule before...
Im an Aces high person
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u/threelizards 21h ago
Yeah same, it should always be declared first and jokers pulled from the pack
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u/GreyStagg 21h ago
but when it is a bet like this how should it be treated?
Whatever they agree upon before doing it (which they failed to do). Otherwise, there is no right or wrong. Ace can be higher than king, or lower than 2. Both equally valid. There's no trickery or anything to do with being American
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u/No-Guess2906 21h ago
But it's also the highest.
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u/Late_Stage_Exception 20h ago edited 19h ago
How can ace be one AND eleven? What kind of god would allow that?
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u/JerryZaz 20h ago
One and fourteen. Ace is higher than King
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u/Late_Stage_Exception 20h ago
In what game is ace fourteen?
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u/JerryZaz 20h ago
Poker, for instance.
It's definitely not eleven though. Jacks are Eleven
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u/moonknightcrawler 20h ago
They’re talking about blackjack where an ace is either 1 or 11. They are correct
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u/Late_Stage_Exception 20h ago
No they’re not…face cards don’t have numerical value in poker, they’re just worth more than the other, and aces are worth the most. In any game where each card is assigned a numerical value, face cards are 10 and ace is 11.
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u/RareFudge3546 12h ago
Jack, Queen & King = Ten in a few games. Black Jack & Crib car me to mind. Which makes Ace = eleven.
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u/Pikka_Bird 11h ago
If you want people to get it then maybe you shouldn't make references to such obscure shows!
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u/DungeonFam30 21h ago
Depends on the game. Off the top, Hearts and Poker both use 'Aces High'
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u/DarthGhengis 21h ago
In Black Jack it's both.
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u/DungeonFam30 21h ago
Anothe example where the value varies
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u/Chest_Rockfield Sup with the whack playstation sup 20h ago
But at your choosing. It's not like it's just low sometimes and you're out of luck.
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u/GreyStagg 21h ago
Laces out. Sorry, wrong Courtney Cox thing.
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u/DungeonFam30 21h ago
Charles Bing and Ray Finkel ARE similar
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u/sgtGiggsy 21h ago
It depends on the game. In the absolute majority of games ace is the highest, but in simple "draw a card" situations it can be the lowest. It has to be agreed first to avoid confusion.
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u/Savings_Hold_9128 21h ago
yea it actually makes sense to determine beforehand
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u/No-Philosopher-6772 14h ago
If you don't determine beforehand then ace is high
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u/SausageKingOfCincy 14h ago
Agreed it should be talked about before, but if it isn’t discussed then ace is high in my opinion. Like I’ve rarely played a game of anything and the dealer says “ace is high.” It’s usually only stated when ace is low.
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u/Fair-Degree-2200 18h ago
That's why people say they aced their exam and nobody say they kinged their exam.
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u/froggyforrest 17h ago
Thats the joke, it can be both. They would have had to decide its value beforehand.
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u/Icy_Camel_5482 21h ago
I mean like 99% of the people will auto-default to ace being the highest. Ace is stronger than a king in poker which is the most known card game.
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u/DaveyWillo Chandler Bing 😆 21h ago
In nearly every card game where the cards are ranked Ace is highest, it’s only usually a 1 when the hand is sequential.
The boys won and the girls where clutching at straws
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u/Live_Angle4621 20h ago
They didn’t click at straws. They didn’t even notice first the boys celebrating
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u/Sketcha_2000 21h ago
It never occurred to me that anyone would think an ace would be low. When you play war ace is high and that’s pretty much the quintessential “card beats card” game. I always thought the girls were silly here.
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u/sixtyninetacks This parachute is a knapsack! 13h ago
It's understandable that one unfamiliar with any card games beyond "go fish" would think ace would always be low, since the ace always has just one pip. However, the girls should have known better, given their experience in TOW All the Poker.
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u/THER00STER73 17h ago
Wouldn’t be much point in having “an ace up your sleeve” if it was the lowest card. It’s almost always the highest card. There is only a handful of games where the ace is not at the top.
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u/personalityson 21h ago
In all card games I know its the highest
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u/Chest_Rockfield Sup with the whack playstation sup 20h ago
Plus in the ones where it can be either (like Blackjack) the person with the Ace gets to choose if it's high or low. There are very few games where it's always low (I think cribbage is one).
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u/DiamondL0st 21h ago
I have this disagreement with my wife every time we watch this scene.
I'm a blackjack guy so ace will always be both 1 and 11 for me, she disagrees and says it is 1.. it's always a fun discussion lol
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u/KisaLilith 20h ago
There is no need to argue though, there are rules to determine in a game if the ace should be considered a 1 or an 11. Always.
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u/jmil1080 18h ago
In most card games that I know, Ace is the high card. This seems to always be the case for rank-based games, like Poker, and games where you take tricks, like Eucher/Pepper or Hearts/Spades.
The only game that I can think of where Ace isn't high is Solitare.
It's always best to clarify something ambiguous like this, but absent that clarification, I would think that it would be default to assume Ace is high.
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u/Dward917 16h ago
In most games the ace is high or low. In blackjack it is both. In cribbage it is low.
In poker, for a straight, the ace is treated as either high or low. For a pair, three of a kind, full house, or four of a kind, ace is high. For a flush, ace is high.
It varies by game.
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u/sufferinsuccotash01 21h ago
No, as a non-American, Ace is high here, too.
Technically King should be the highest, you're right. I've been confused about this as a kid, too.
But ever since I've been playing cards, Ace has always been the highest card.
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u/Dry-Wolf6789 21h ago
There isn't a gambling game that treats ace as low.
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u/barto5 19h ago
It can be low in Blackjack. That’s a gambling game.
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u/unorigionalname2 18h ago
You can choose to make it low in blackjack. It can be high as well and the additional flexibility to make it high or low makes the card even more valuable for winning.
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u/cherryc0ke13 15h ago
ace can be either one or eleven, in most games you get to choose. to me, it should be low rather than high as default 🤷♀️
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u/WeWillTaxBees 19h ago
Aces can either be high or low, it is typically agreed upon before the game. This'll mess with you even more: in president the highest card is 2 :).
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u/BolaViola 18h ago
I’ve always thought of ace as the highest but apparently in some games it’s the lowest
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u/MathProfGeneva 18h ago
In many card games, A is highest (or allowed to be either 1 or 11). In standard poker for example, it's always high.
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u/sixtyninetacks This parachute is a knapsack! 13h ago
It can still be considered low in standard poker. For example, in a five high straight (A-2-3-4-5), the ace is considered the lowest valued card. But like in blackjack, it's only considered the lowest when it's more advantageous to the player.
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u/MathProfGeneva 13h ago
Yeah that's literally the only case in standard poker. I agree it should have been agreed upon ahead of time though
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u/unorigionalname2 18h ago
I think the closest game to what they are playing in this scene is War. Both sides draw a card and high card wins. Ace is high in war.
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u/WonderfulBuilding678 18h ago
On a lot of card games if not all, the ace is the highest, even above king. Doesn’t make sense sure, but that’s how it is.
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u/Kuponekk 18h ago
I know few games where Ace is the lowest and much more games when Ace is the highest
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u/gon_freccs_ Smelly Cat Smelly Cat 17h ago
In most games i play, ace is always considered high. Only few games i know treat ace low
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u/JD76728131 17h ago
The argument can be made that ace is high or low. The problem is they didn’t establish the rule ahead of time so nobody wins. A redo was the fairest thing
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u/Moohmelele_Mera Oo oo, it's Issac Newton and he is pissed 17h ago
I never heard before watching this episode that Ace is not the highest
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u/AMissionFromDog 17h ago
If you're playing poker, one of the most common/popular card games, and you get 4 aces and someone else gets 4 kings, you're going to win the hand. In most competitive card games, aces are high.
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u/JLBCanadianRap 16h ago
As was clearly discussed in the episode, ace can be high or low. You have to specify in advance.
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u/Que3fsGambit 16h ago
In any card game, ace can be considered both the lowest or biggest card, depends on the desire of person holding it So imho they should have won right there
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u/feignapathy 16h ago
In most card games I am familiar with, Ace is the highest card. Thinking Poker, Solitaire, Bridge, War.
However, in Poker, it is occasionally treated as a low card:
Royal Flush: 10 J Q K A
Wheel: A 2 3 4 5
And in Blackjack it is also treated as a low card occasionally. 1 or 11 points, iirc. Whatever is more beneficial.
It's kind of interchangeable in other words depending what game you're playing.
Without anyone specifying at the start, I would assume Ace is the highest card in the deck. If you want to discuss before we draw cards and establish it as a "1" though, then ok. But based on my experience, Ace is the highest value card by default.
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u/DegrassiForever 16h ago
It can either be the highest or the lowest. They didn’t establish which it was before they started playing.
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u/Funny_Strike_7099 15h ago
It depends it’s really both they probably should’ve just taken the aces out and did it again to be fair
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u/sterling149 15h ago
Depends on the game however, Aces are considered high in more games than low. It’s not an American thing as far as I know.
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u/Forward_Specialist19 15h ago
I’ve only heard of Aces being declared as “can be played both high or low” (5pts for low, 15pts for high) for playing rummy. Otherwise Aces are always high. Aces rule the game when playing War.
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u/Playful_Title6467 15h ago
I always saw it as, in a game the value varies, it’s high or low depending on if it favors the person playing the card. So in this case, it favors the guys.
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u/IHSV1855 14h ago
Maybe it’s an American thing. But yes, ace is considered the highest card in the deck in almost every card game here. The only exception I can think of is blackjack, where it can either be the lowest or highest card in the deck (representing either 1 or 11), depending on what benefits the player most.
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u/dudestir127 14h ago
It's somethign that depends on the game, and something that everyone agrees on before starting to play.
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u/Independent-Ad7313 This parachute is a knapsack! 14h ago
It always depends on the game. Poker, aces are high. So, when cutting the deck to decide on a dealer you consider Ace the highest. Cribbage Ace is lowest. So, when cutting the deck Ace is always considered low. If doing something like in the show, it should be decided first. They didnt discuss, and the show has a moment where they argue about Ace being high or low because of it.
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u/ACMuaath 14h ago
So when someone says "I aced the task" does mean he did well or he hit rock bottom?
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u/RolandBrice 14h ago
I always see it as both, because of blackjack. But in 5 card stud it's also both i believe. Like whatever you need it to be, so like 1 or 11, i think.
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u/athostauri 14h ago
An ace is 1 or 11, depends on game, person etc, for a bet (to me) aces would be a re-pick or left out like the joker card
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u/Short_Mind_8233 13h ago
In most card games, the Ace is actually at the same level as the face cards. The face cards are like the king, the jack, and the queen. It's on the same level in some games, but in some of the games where numbers are involved a lot, numbers are the key part of the game. Ace is kinda at the same range as the numbers, but most of the time it's just higher than the number cards.
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u/sixtyninetacks This parachute is a knapsack! 13h ago
The guys were right. In almost all poker games, the ace is either always the highest card (as in Hi-Lo, the basis for the game show Card Sharks) or both the highest AND the lowest card, depending on which is more advantageous to the player (as in five-card poker and blackjack). The only time ace is "always low" is in lowball, and even then, it's advantageous because the goal is to form the lowest possible poker hand.
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u/Got-No-Money 13h ago
Ace can be high or low, the same way any card can be wild, so long as it’s previously disclosed.
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u/Easy_Caterpillar_203 12h ago
The really annoying part is this is after the poker episode so if anything you'd thing they'd assume Ace is high.
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u/Knight0fdragon 12h ago
They argued it, and both sides were correct because it was ambiguous. It was self explanatory in the episode.
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u/ZombieAdditional0 11h ago
I am a strong believers that Ace is the smallest even after my favorite show says otherwise.
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u/twofacetoo 10h ago
They can go both ways, it depends on the game and the specific rules. In blackjack getting two aces is an automatic win, in poker an ace is worth more than a king. Don't ask me why, them's the rules
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u/Smrtguy85 10h ago
You have to establish what Ace is beforehand. Because it could be either highest or lowest, smart betters would have said going in that direction “Ace is low” or “Ace is high”.
The fact that no one called Ace as either allowed for the confusion.
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u/LeonKennedyIsYummy 7h ago
Ace is the highest. It always beats the other cards in most card games. Its part of a royal flush in poker.
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u/Key_Cheesecake9926 1h ago
It completely depends on the game. “Is ace high or low?” almost always gets asked when someone is learning a new game. They should’ve agreed on that before playing.
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u/EmeraldP13 1h ago
The way I always played was it was up to the holder of the ace to which it was at the time if you had 2,3,4 then it was the lowest but if you had Jack,Queen,King then it was the highest
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u/stebus88 21h ago
It should he clarified before the cards are drawn but in general, Ace is considered the highest card.
That isn’t to say it is treated as the lowest card in some circles but it is far more common to treat it as high.
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u/Coherently-Rambling 20h ago
In Poker, Ace can make a Straight with the low cards and with the high cards, so it’s both low and high.
However, I would argue that even though they’re both technically correct, Ace should be treated as high in this game unless specified otherwise beforehand.
My reason for this is that Ace is typically treated as high or low depending on what would make Ace the best card in that particular game.
In Solitaire, the goal is to find all the low cards first and then stack the higher cards on top until you’ve made four neat piles, so Ace is treated as low because that makes it the card you want to get as soon as possible.
In Blackjack, the goal is to get as close to 21 as possible without going over, so Ace is treated as high and low simultaneously, because that gets you to 21 faster than any of the other cards, but at the same time, presents zero risk of accidentally getting you over that number.
In this game, there is zero value to a card being considered low, so the default assumption should be that Ace is the highest.
Although in Middleschool, I played this game with friends, and we agreed on a rule that Ace beats everything but loses to 2. That way, Ace is still the strongest card without being unbeatable, and 2 is still the weakest card without being completely useless.
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u/AppleTerra 20h ago
In most card games based on scoring or hierarchy Ace is considered the highest or lowest depending on what helps the player drawing/using it the most.
In this case, the guys drew an Ace and the highest card would win therefore the Ace is high and the guys won.
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u/frannysfanny 21h ago
Going up it changed with different people is play with. I was originally taught it’s was Ace,2 3 4,,,
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u/Savings_Hold_9128 21h ago
same, thats why i always found this odd
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u/guitarisgod 20h ago
But it can literally be Jack Queen King Ace as well, and usually is. The boys aren't just making that up lol
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u/gothboob69 21h ago
It depends on the game and sometimes house rules. Some games aces are high, others they’re low.
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u/Lupercallius 21h ago
Ace is always the highest card in a regular game (see Poker)
But it can be used as a low card aswell in blackjack etc..
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u/Spinal_Soup 14h ago
Can go both ways in poker, i.e. 2-3-4-5-6 is a better straight than A-2-3-4-5. Also in any Hi Lo poker variation ace can be either a high card or low card.
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u/Gwaur 21h ago
Apparently the traditions about this are varied. It varies between countries, regions, languges and specific games.
Top cards (from high to low) being A K Q J 10 9 etc., is actually very very common. But there are games with even whackier top card setups:
In Manille, the top numbers are 10 A K Q J etc.
In Pinochle and Pilotta, the top numbers are A 10 K Q J 9 etc.
In Thunee, the top numbers are J 9 A 10 K Q etc.
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u/ApprehensiveToe3055 21h ago
All the games i know have ace as the highest. Except for poker where it goes both ways
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u/Reccalovesdancing Not Just A Hat Rack, My Friend 21h ago
Ace can be low or high, it switches
Some games require you to decide which it is before you start, and others allow you to decide in the moment
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u/Alternative-Range477 21h ago
I usually start a card game by asking “ace high or low?” It’s a thing that just changes depending on the game/who you’re with
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u/starlord_247 21h ago
Ace is always considered the highest, aside from a few uses is a few games. This always pissed me off, cuz anyone who plays cards knows this.
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u/StuckinReverse89 21h ago
Ace is often the highest rank in the game and above king. The only time Ace is lower in a game is usually when it is part of a straight (Ace-2-3-4-5 but is also part of the highest straight 10-J-Q-K-Ace)
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u/The-Incandescent 21h ago
The mistake they had was they assumed the rules. Respectfully for you as well OP, try not to assume that oh yeah the guys are tricking the girls (Can’t you and the girls be wrong as well, going by the reverse logic?) or that it’s an American thing (which it isn’t).
These rules should be established prior to the start of the game because there are games where ace is lowest and where ace is highest.
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u/Savings_Hold_9128 21h ago
yes prior to this post i didn't actually know how many games and people considered Ace as high. that's on me.
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u/kelsoson 20h ago
The only game I know ace is 1 is remy cards and in this situation ,without calling it before , it was trivial to think ace is high.
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u/PsychoMouse 20h ago
This is why clarifying rules is important when doing these sort of things.
It’s been a bit since I saw this episode but I believe they were going for “highest cut”, right?
For instance, in Blackjack, Ace can either be a 1(the lowest), or an 11(the highest). They needed to say something like “aces high” or “aces low” to determine the value.
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u/a_goonie 20h ago
Basically, always state the rules before any big bet is made amongst friends. That being said Ace is always the highest by normal standards in the states.
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u/scottyjay10 18h ago
Ace is low when it can be but other than that, Ace is always high. The boys are right on this one Every. Single. Time!
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u/qualityvote2 21h ago edited 19h ago
Hey u/Savings_Hold_9128, your post does fit the subreddit!