How To Play Seven Card Stud Hi Lo
Written February 7, 2008 by Jack Jones
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7 card stud hi-lo poker is a variation of poker in which players have to make the best 5 card poker hand from the 7 cards they will be dealt during the game. For more details of how the game of stud poker is played please view the article on stud poker.Unlike normal 7 card stud poker, both the highest and the lowest hand split the pot. The high is the best overall hand based on the poker ranking of hands. For example a flush would beat three of a kind. The low hand is lowest possible hand with all of the cards being below an 8. Straights and flushes are ignored so the best possible low hand is A, 2, 3, 4, 5. The second best would be A, 2, 3, 4, 6. A low hand can only occur if the highest card in the hand is an 8. So for example you cannot win a low pot with A, 2, 4, 6, 9 because the 9 is higher then an 8.
The aim of Stud Hi/Lo is to attempt to win both the high and low hand in a pot. If you win both the high and low pot in a hand this is known as ‘scooping’. Your best chance of scooping the pot is make a flush or straight which includes the low winning hand. For example, you make the wheel (A, 2, 3, 4, 5) and this gives you the low pot and also had a good chance of winning the high pot.
Just to clarify, your hand is eligible for both the high and low pot but you can only organize 1 hand per round. For example, you can’t create a full house to win the high pot and then create an ace high straight to win the low pot as well. You can only choose one hand for the round so it is best to create a hand that can win both the high and low pot.
Unlike other forms of poker, there are no blinds in 7 card stud hi-lo poker, instead in each hand players put in a set amount of money into the pot before they receive their cards (this known as an ante). This amount is predetermined before hand and depends on what limit is being played.
Just like in other forms of poker, the round can end before all of the community cards are dealt if one person bets enough to force all of the remaining players to fold their hand. If this occurs, that person wins the pot and then game proceeds to the next hand.
7 card stud hi-lo is usually played with a limit betting structure which means the bids increase in increments and players can only bid the next amount in the sequence.
