7 Card Stud Hi-Lo Poker Rules
| 7 Card Stud Hi-Lo Rules |
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For years--decades even--Seven-Card Stud has been the worst popular form of poker (until Texas Hold 'em took its spot thanks to its coverage on cable TV). But an intriguing variation of the game that's not as well known is 7-Card Stud Hi-Lo. The game play is exactly the same as the regular game, but instead of the entire pot going to the person with the highest hand, half of it goes to the high hand, and the other half goes to the person with the low hand. With a couple of qualifications. The winning low hand cannot contain anything higher than an eight, and no hand with a pair or anything better can qualify as the lowest hand. If, therefore, nobody qualifies as having a valid low-hand, the person with the high hand wins the entire pot. An important point to remember is that it's possible for a person to wi both the high hand and low hand, thus taking the entire pot; those who master this feat do quite well at the game. This is because you have seven cards from which to draw your hand, and you are allowed to present five cards for your low hand while selecting different cards to present your high hand. So with that preface, let's look at the game play. Before we start, you need to understand that there are two prominent variations. You can either have a set limit or pot limit. A limit game is one in which the players have determined how high a bet can go in any one round, whereas a pot limit means a player may bet as much money as there is within the pot at that moment. As many as eight people may play, although it's better with no more than 6. Select the person who will be the first dealer. After that, in subsequent hands, the dealer becomes the person to the immediate left of the previous dealer. The game starts with each player putting an "ante" into the pot (a pre-determined mini-bet). The dealer then gives each player two cards facing down and one card facing up. The person with the low card starts the betting. This first bet has to be at least the amount of the pre-determined minimum bet. Betting then moves to the left. The next player will announce "call," meaning he will put in the same amount as the first bid, "raise," meaning he will increase the bid, or "fold," meaning he will quit that hand. If anyone raises, everyone must then be given a chance to match that bid or fold. When it comes back to the person who first raised the bid, he has the option of raising, calling or checking (leaving it as it is). Generally a person raises either because he has an exceptional hand, or to bluff and make people think he has a better hand than he has. Once this round of bidding is finished, the dealer deals a fourth card face up to everyone left in the hand. The person with the highest hand (so far) starts another round of bidding, and bidding goes as before. Now a fifth card is dealt face up to everyone remaining in the hand, followed by bidding; then a sixth card and more bidding. Finally, the seventh card is given to everyone left in the game, but this time face down. Now the last bids are placed. The seventh face-down card adds extra challenge to this last round of bidding, since it's harder to know who has the best hand. Each player must now reveal which cards he is using for low hand and high hand. |
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| 5 Card Draw |
| 5 Card Stud |
| 7 Card Stud |
| 7 Card Stud Hi-Lo |
| Crazy Pineapple |
| HORSE |
| Omaha Hi |
| Omaha Hi-Lo |
| Razz |
| Texas Holdem |