How to Play Seven-Card Stud Hi Lo
Seven Card Stud Hi Lo is one of the most popular card
games around. It is also fairly easy to learn
how to play. The pot is split between the
highest hand and the lowest hand. In Seven
Card Stud Hi Lo you receive a total of
seven cards and use any five of the seven cards
to create your best five card poker hand or your
low five card hand. The low hand cannot have a
card higher than 8 in it.
In the following example of how
to play Seven Card
Stud Hi Lo I am going to use a $2/$4 limit
structure with a $.25 ante. Don't
worry, if you are new to the game you can find
betting limits that are much less
- as low as a penny
ante and $.04/$.08 limit betting structure.
Before any cards are dealt all of
the players in the game put in an ante. As I
said above, all players will put in an ante of
$.25.
Starting to the dealers left, two
cards are dealt face down to each player and one
card is dealt face up to each player. These are
referred to as hole cards.
After the players take a look at
their hole cards, the player with the lowest
card must place a small bet to stay in the game.
The bet is referred to as "bring
in". The bring-in is
usually half of the small bet. In this example
it would be $1 (half of the $2 small bet). Then
betting continues to that low card player's left. Each player can call,
raise, or fold their cards.
Once the round of betting has
been completed each player then receives another
card which is dealt face up. This card is
referred to as Fourth Street or as the turn
card. The bets on Fourth Street are still $2.
This time the player with the
highest cards showing begins the round of
betting.
Once the round of betting has
been completed each player then receives another
card which is dealt face up. This card is
referred to as Fifth Street or as the river
card. Again, the player with the highest cards
showing begins the round of betting. This time
the bets are increased to $4 on this and on all
of the remaining rounds of betting.
Once the round of betting has
been completed each player then receives another
card which is dealt face up. This is the sixth
card that has been dealt and will also be the
final card that is dealt face up. Again, the
player with the highest cards showing begins the
round of betting.
Then the seventh and final card
is dealt face down. The final round of betting
begins with the player who has the highest cards
showing.
When the betting is finished it
is time for the showdown. The player who can
make the best high five-card hand from the seven
they were dealt wins one half of the pot, and
the player with the best low five card poker hand wins the other half.
There may not be a qualifying low
hand, in which case the high hand
"scoops" or wins the whole pot. This is how huge pots
are won in Seven Card Stud Hi Lo.
Remember that you receive 7 cards
and choose 5 to make your final hand with. You
can use two different sets of five cards to make
a high hand and a low hand. If your final seven
cards are Ace-Ace-2-3-4-6-6, you would have a
high hand of two pair: Aces and 6s, and a low hand
of Ace-2-3-4-6. Also, remember that your low
hand cannot have a card higher than 8 in it.
One very important note about the
low hand is Seven Card Stud Hi Lo is that if you
hit a flush or a straight you won't be penalized
for it. In other words, if you have been dealt
an Ace-2-3-4-5 of diamonds, even though it is a
straight flush, it is also called a wheel and
this is the lowest possible hand. |
