How to get MAX int but exclude specific int?

Question

I'd like to get the max integer from a specific column excluding a value that will always be the max if present. Data may look like the following:

score, empid
 1       3
 3       3
 10      3
 1       5 
 2       5
 1       8
 2       8
 3       8
 10      8

In the above, I'd like MAX score less than 10. MAX(score) doesn't work in this case since it will bring back 10. Results should look like this:

score, empid
 3       3
 2       5
 3       8

Any suggestions?

Answer 1

Here's an alternative method:

SELECT
   MAX(CASE WHEN score = 10 THEN NULL ELSE score END) AS [max_score],
   empid
FROM
   table
GROUP BY
   empid

This may be preferable if you prefer to avoid the sub-select.