7-Card Stud Hi/Lo (Eight or Better)

7-Card Stud Hi/Lo is a 7-Card Stud variant where the best ‘high’ poker hand and the best Eight or Better hand split the pot at showdown. Unlike Texas Hold'em and Omaha, there are no shared community cards in this game.

In 7-Card Stud Hi/Lo, players are dealt seven cards throughout the hand - three faced down and 4 faced up – and players use those cards to create their best five-card hand and, if applicable, their best “Eight or Better” hand. Straights and flushes do not count against you when determining the low.

The “Lo” or Low Hand:
In Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo, the low hand is played with an “Eight or Better” qualifier, which means that a low hand must be, at worst, an eight-low to be eligible to win the low portion of the pot. (Low hands in Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo are determined in the same way as in Omaha Hi/Lo). If there is no qualifying low hand, the high hand wins the entire pot.

Stud Hi/Lo uses the ‘Ace to Five’ ranking for Low hands. Straights and flushes do not count against the hand, and Aces are always low. The best possible hand is a "wheel": 5, 4, 3, 2, A. To help understand the ranks of low hands, the following sample qualifying low hands are ranked from most powerful (#1, the best possible hand) to least powerful (#10, worst possible Low hand):

1. 5 4 3 2 A

2. 6 4 3 2 A

3. 6 5 4 3 2

4. 7 5 4 3 2

5. 7 6 5 2 A

6. 8 6 4 2 A

7. 8 7 6 5 4

Note that a low hand is always ranked from its highest card downwards. So for example, hand #2 is known as a ‘Six-low’ because its highest card is a Six. Hand #5 is a ‘Seven-low’. In poker slang, you distinguish between close low hands by going further down the ranks, so hand #2 would be called a ‘Six-Four low’, which beats hand #3 a “Six-Five low”.

Also remember that straights and flushes do not count against your low hand, so making a qualifying low that is also a straight or a flush is a very powerful hand which could win both the High and Low halves of the pot. This is called a ‘Scoop’.

The Deal and Betting Rounds:
Before a hand of 7-Card Stud begins, all players must post an Ante – a forced bet to ensure all players are incentivized to win the hand. Once the dealer has collected all the antes into the pot, gameplay will proceed as follows:
Third Street: Each player is dealt two (Hole) cards face-down and one face-up, the “Door Card”. The player with the lowest door card starts the betting with either a "bring-in" – a small, forced bet for an amount specified by the tournament structure, or they may “Complete” the bet by betting the Limit – also specified by the tournament structure. If the player with the lowest door card opts to post the bring-in, a player wanting to raise may “Complete” to the limit, which will be considered the first bet.
• For the purpose of determining the bring-in in 7-Card Stud, ties in card rank are broken by suit. The suits are ranked in alphabetical order – clubs (lowest), diamonds, hearts and spades (highest). The lowest suit breaks a tie, so if the 3 of hearts and 3 of clubs are visible at the beginning of the hand, then the 3 of clubs would be the bring-in.

Fourth Street: Once action is complete on Third Street, each remaining player will receive a fourth card dealt face-up. Now, it’s the player with the best hand showing on the table begins this round of betting. If two or more players’ two up cards are of identical rank, the player with the highest high card by suit will be begin the round of betting.

Fifth Street: A fifth card is dealt face-up to each player still in the hand. The player with the highest hand showing on the table starts the betting. However, now the betting limit double.

Sixth Street: A sixth card is dealt face-up. Again, the player with the best hand showing begins the betting.

Seventh Street (The River): The final card is dealt face-down to each player. This is followed by one last round of betting, which is also started by the player with the best hand showing.

The Showdown - Determining the Hi and Lo Winners:
If there is more than one remaining player when the final betting round is complete the last bettor or raiser shows his or her cards first. If there was no bet on the final round, the player whose exposed cards have the highest ranking value shows their cards first. Further hands involved in the Showdown are exposed or mucked clockwise around the table.

The player with the best five-card high (‘Hi’) hand wins half the pot. The player with the best five-card hand for low (‘Lo’) wins the other half of the pot. If no hand qualifies for low, the best hand for high wins the entire pot.

Remember that in Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo, there is an ‘eight or better’ requirement to win the low, so a player must have an unpaired five-card hand that consists of all cards Eight or lower. If no player can meet this requirement, there is no qualifier for low.

Additional Stud Rules:
• If there is an odd chip when the pot is split amongst the High and Low hands, odd chip will be awarded to the High hand. If two or more players tie for the High hand and there is an odd chip in their half of the pot, odd chip will be awarded to the highest high card in their winning five-card hand. Likewise, if two or more players tie for the Low hand and there in an odd chip in their half of the pot, odd chip will be awarded to the highest high card in their five-card Low hand
• Because Stud games are played with 8 players but there are only 52 cards in the deck, it is possible to run out of cards before Seventh Street can be dealt. In this extremely rare instance, a single ‘community card’ will be dealt face-up on the table, which will be shared by the remaining players.