7 Card Stud Hi-Lo

It's probably best to become familiar with the game of 7 Card Stud before playing 7 Card Hi/Lo as this is a technically demanding poker game where the best poker hands for the high and low split the pot at showdown.

Players are dealt 7 cards throughout the course of the hand (in the same way as 7 Card Stud), but only the best five-card hand possible for each player is used to determine the winner.

So what's a "Low" hand?

For a hand to qualify as low it must have five denominations no higher than an eight and no pairs, 8 7 6 5 4 or lower. Straights and flushes do not disqualify a hand from being considered as low and have the same ranking as an unsuited 5 card hand of the same denominations.

Aces can be played both high or low so a player ending with 5 4 3 2 Ace, would have an unbeatable low hand and also a 5 high straight to play for the high hand. This hand is known as "The Wheel", and is a very powerful hand in Hi/Lo games.

If two or more players have the same high card in their low hand, then the next lowest high card wins. The lowest hand is determined by the high cards first.

Starting the game

The game is identical to 7 Card Stud in respect to the ante, dealing the starting hand and the bring-in bet. The cap or the rounds of betting are also the same.

Betting rounds, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh street

The betting rounds and the dealing of the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh street are identical to that of 7 Card Stud.

The Winner

The player with the best five card high card hand wins the pot or if there is a qualifying low hand, splits the pot with the player that has the best lowest qualifying low hand. In the event that no hand qualifies for low, the best high hand wins the pot.