Hi/lo declare rules question

[cmburns]

Here is the situation that came up in a recent home game. Four people left at the declare. One player declared "both" the other three all declared "hi". The player who declared "both" did have the highest hand.

However, one of the other players, who had declared "hi", actually could have made a hand that would have won the low.

So who should have won the pot? Some people felt that since no one declared "low", it was irrelevant who had the lowest hand. Others felt that if you declare "both", you should have to have both the lowest and highest hands showing, regardless of what the other players have done.

I realize that there is no official answer to this, and we can make our house rule whatever we want, but is there a common consensus or common practice for this situation?

Thank you!