7
Card Stud Hi/Low
7 Card Stud Hi/Low is a modified version
of 7 Card Stud, in which there can be a winning high hand,
and a winning low hand. You will find that this page
is almost identical to the 7 Card Stud page. The
only signifigant difference is that you can make a high hand
or low hand.
Though not as popular as
Hold'Em or regular 7 Card Stud, it does see some casino
and cardroom coverage. We will cover the following
topics on this page.
 What
is a Low Hand?
Basic Game Play
Betting
Structures
Ante & Bring-In Bet
The
Hi/Low Showdown
Order of Action
All-In
Situations
Dealer
Rotation
WHAT IS A LOW HAND?
Rather than take up a lot of page space here, we created
a separate page to help you learn exactly what a low hand
is, how to calculate what you have, and some variations
of low hands. CLICK HERE to learn the details of
low hands.
BASIC GAME PLAY
This will tell you the very basics of game
play. Following these basics, we will briefly discuss
some other elementary topics of value.
7 Card Stud Hi/Low is played with 2 to 8
people at a table, and with a standard deck of cards (no
Joker
and
no Wild cards unless playing a variation of the game).
Play begins by putting in an "ante". The
ante is usually 10-20% of the lowest allowed bet. Will
will cover betting structures and antes in more detail
after
the basics.
Cards are dealt in order, starting with the first person
to the dealers left. Each player receives 2 cards,
face down, and 1 card face up. (The first face up card is
called the "door" card)
To start the first betting round, the person with the lowest
up card must make a "bring-in" bet. See
the next section for a more thorough explanation.
Each player then receives a second card face up, and the
second betting round takes place.
(This round is called "fourth street")
Each player then receives a third card face up, and the
third betting round takes place.
(This round is called "fifth street")
Each player then receives a fourth card face up, and the
fourth betting round takes place.
(This round is called "fifth street" - and is
the last card dealt face up)
The dealer then gives players a final card, face down, followed
by the fifth and final betting round.
A note on how cards are used. A poker
hand is generally made up of 5 cards. In 7 Card
Stud Hi/Low, you get 7 cards total. Out of these 7, you
pick the best
5 that will make your high or low hand (or both in some
cases). You
may use any combination of your down cards and up cards.
We have now covered the basic construct of
the game! When playing 7 Card Stud Hi/Low, you will
most always use this basic structure. We will now
dig in to some other elementary topics necessary to fully
understand
the game.
BETTING STRUCTURES
There are lots of ways to play 7 Card Stud
Hi/Low.
In home games, there is typically a set ante size, a stated
maximum bet size, and a maximum number of raises.
Though this is a perfectly acceptable way to play the game,
casino's and cardrooms typically run it in a slightly
differnt
manner.
Most games will be advertised as two amounts
(a low amount and a high amount), such as 2$/4$, or 5$/10$.
You may know that Texas Hold'Em Limit games are advertised
this way, and the concept is very similar.
The smaller of the two amounts represents
the betting increment that a bet or raise must be during
the first and second betting rounds.
The larger of the two amounts represents
the betting increment that a bet or raise must be during
the third, fourth, and fifth betting rounds.
EXCEPTION NOTE: If a player has an exposed
pair on the second betting round (both up cards form a pair),
then that player may opt to bet at the HIGHER amount during
the second betting round.
ANTE &
BRING-IN BET
The ante is made by all players prior to cards
being dealt. The ante is typically 10% of the low
bet amount.
The Bring-In bet is made at the start of the
first betting round. The player with the lowest value
door-card (up card) is required to make an initial bet.
The amount of this bet is less than the required bet increment
for the round. It is typically between 2 times the
ante, or half of the required betting increment.
For example, in a 1$/2$ 7-Stud Hi/Low game,
the ante would typically be 10 cents (10% of the low bet),
and the
bring-in bet would be 20 cents or 50 cents, depending on
the house rules.
After the Bring-In bet, the next player in
turn can call the bring-in amount, raise to the full bet
amount (1$), or fold.
THE HI/LOW SHOWDOWN
Most cardrooms and casino's use a simple way to determine
the high-hand and low-hand winners. The "cards talk"
method is simply looking at the hands and determining who
has the highest hand, and who has the lowest hand.
This may seem obvious, but you will find a different method
in some home games. The most common is the "declare",
usually accomplished by placing a number of chips in your
hand to reveal whether you want to pursue low or high. This
is usually only used when there is no qualifier for low. In
the event of a tie, the pot is plit in half, and the tying
hands split it in half again. For example, say there
is a high hand winner, and the two low hands are identical. The
high hand would win half the pot, and each of the low hands
would win a quarter of the pot each.
ORDER OF ACTION
The order of action in a 7-Stud game is determined
by the value of the upcards. This is in contrast to
Hold'Em, where the order of action is determined by position
in relation to the dealer.
In the first betting round,
action is started by the person with the LOWEST valued up
card. (2 is the lowest)
In all remaining rounds, the action is started
by the person with the HIGHEST valued upcards. In
the absence of a pair, the highest single value upcard is
used to determine start of action. Ace is the highest
value. In the event of a tie, next highest cards will be
compared. If all exposed cards still tie, then the
person closest to the dealer gets to start the action.
ALL-IN SITUATIONS
It
is important to describe what happens when a player does
not have enough money to cover a bet
that has been made.
First of all, a player is not
obligated to fold because they do not have sufficient funds. If
a bet has been made, and the player wishes to remain in
the hand, they simply put what they have into the pot. What happens next is a division of the pot,
based on the amounts that have been bet. The pot
is divided into a main pot and a "side" pot.
The "main"
amount includes the amount of money already in the pot,
the amount of money that the "all-in" player has bet,
and an equal amount of money from all remaining players. Any
money that is left over is the "side" pot. Consider
this example.
In a 10$/20$ 7-Stud game, player A and B each
have 100$ in front of them. Player C only has 25$.
During a hand, all three have wagered 10$ so far, giving
a pot of 30$. Player A then bets 20$. Player B calls
the bet, and player C wants to remain in so he puts in his
last 15$. The main pot would be the original 30$, and 15$
from all players, for a total of 75$. This is what
player C is eligible to win if he/she wins the pot.
The remaining 5$ from player A and B go into the side pot.
Player C has no stake in the side pot, only A and B are
eligible. Any additional money wagered by players
A and B will go directly to the side pot.
DEALER ROTATION
The dealers position in 7-Stud determines who gets cards
first. In order to be fair, the dealer position needs
to rotate around the table.
In home games, the deck of cards generally gets passed
around to each player in turn. This makes it
easy to determine who the dealer is, and provides an
easy
way to keep things equitable.
In casinos and cardrooms, the dealer is a fixed non-player
for the duration of the game. The rotation happens
via the use of a "button" (usually a small plastic chip). Each
hand, the button advances to the next player. The
position of the button indicates where the dealer "is",
and thus play progresses from that point.
Having read this section, you will be well armed to go
play some 7-Card Stud! though we did not discuss strategy,
these basics will enable you to feel comfortable with the
basic game play.
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