How to Play Seven Card Stud Hi Low
Seven Card Stud Hi Low 8 or better is a poker game for 2 to 8 players using a standard 52 deck of cards.
This variation of Seven Card Stud is played in the same way where each player receives seven cards in total, three cards will be dealt face down and four cards face up.
The difference with Seven Card Stud Hi Low is that the pot is split into two pots, this means that two players can win on the same hand.
One pot is won by the player with the best five card high hand from the poker hand rankings and the other pot is won by the player who has the best qualifying low hand from the low poker hands ranking. If nobody qualifies for a low hand the player with the best high hand will win the whole pot.
This game can be played using any of the three betting limits (No limit, Pot limit and Limit) with the most popular being limit. The guide below will concentrate on how to play using limit as the betting type.
Limit has two betting values, a low value and a high value. If you sit at a $1/$2 table, $1 is the low value betting amount and $2 is the high value betting amount. The amount each player is allowed to bet at one time will depend on which betting round it is.
There are five betting rounds in Seven Card Stud Hi low. The first two rounds will only permit bets of the low value amount and the last three will only permit bets of the high value amount. Each betting round will have a maximum of four raises so the most each player will have to put in will be four times the betting value amount of that round.
High Hands
High hands are the standard five card hands used in games like Texas Holdem or Omaha. The best high hand is a royal straight flush with seven high being the lowest.
Low Hands
In Seven Card Stud Hi Low a player must qualify in order to win the low pot. To qualify each player must have five different cards all with a value of eight or lower. Ace counts as low so the best lowest hand possible is 5-4-3-2-A and the worst possible qualifying low hand is 8-7-6-5-4. Straights and flushes do not count against a low hand and are ignored.
Antes
Before any cards are dealt each player must put an ante into the pot which ensures there are chips to be won every hand. The ante amount is normally 1/10th of the low value bet amount so at a $1/$2 table the ante amount would be $0.10.
Bring In
Once the antes have been put forward each player will receive three cards, two cards face down which are called the hole cards and one card face up for all to see called the Door card.
The player with the lowest value Door card face up will “bring in” which means he has to put forward the first bet. This player has the choice to either put in the minimum bring in amount which is normally 1/5th of the low value bet or to raise. So on a $1/$2 table the bring in amount will be $0.20 or the raise amount will be $1.
The player to the immediate left will be next to act with a choice of:
- Folding his cards which means his cards are taken away and he will play no further part in the hand.
- He can call which means to match the amount of chips put into the pot by the previous player.
- Or he can raise which is to increase the amount of chips all other players must match to continue in the hand.
All raises in this round must be the same as the low value bet amount and no more. There can be only one bet and three raises permitted in total for each betting round. The action will go round the table in a clock wise rotation until all players who wish to continue in the hand has put equal amount of chips in the pot.
Fourth Street
The next card is dealt to all remaining players face up and this card is called the fourth street. The next round of betting will start from the player who has the best two cards on show. This player will have a choice whether to check or bet. All bets and raises in this round must be of increments of the low value betting amount. Once the betting has finished and all remaining have either checked or matched any bet, the game moves onto the next round.
Fifth Street
A fifth card is dealt to each remaining player face up and another round of betting will start. The bets from this round onwards will be of increments of the high betting value, so on a $1/$2 table each bet or raise will be from now on $2.
Sixth Street
The sixth card is then dealt to all players face up and another round of betting will commence.
Seventh Street
A seventh and final card will be dealt to all remaining players face down. From this point all players will know what their final hand will be and a final round of betting will start.
The Showdown
If two or more players are left in the hand after the final round of betting has finished we then move onto the showdown. All cards are revealed at this point to determine who wins the pot or each pot if there is a qualifying low hand.
Where to Play 7 Card Stud Hi Low Poker
Seven Card Stud Hi Low is not as popular online as it is as part of home games and not all online poker sites will offer Seven Card Stud Hi Low as a game. We recommend Full Tilt Poker which is one of the largest and most reputable online poker operators and there are always lots of Seven Card Stud tables available to play at during all hours of the day.
