Seven Card Stud High/Low

Seven Card Stud High/Low is always dealt as limit. Players start by paying an ante. After all antes are out each player is dealt three cards. The ante is usually 10% of the small bet. For example in $1/2 the ante would usually be $.10. The first card is dealt to the player to the left of the dealer and goes clockwise around the table. In Seven Card Stud High/Low the dealer button never moves. The first card will always be dealt to the player in seat 1. Out of the first three cards the first two are dealt down and the third card is dealt up.

Object

Seven Card Stud High/Low is a split pot game where the best high hand wins half and the best low hand, as long as they have five cards eight or lower that do not, wins half. Just as in Omaha High/Low straights and flushes can be both high and low. Aces can be used as low, high or both. The best low is determined by the lowest high card using the best five out of seven cards. In other words a hand that has 76432 would beat a hand that had 8432A as the seven is better then the eight. If no hand qualifies as a low hand the high hand takes the entire pot. The great thing about playing high/low as opposed to strictly high is that there is more action. More people are chasing draws as they can often at least back in to half the pot if they hit something. All of the betting is exactly the same as in high stud.

Fourth Street

After all of the remaining players have been dealt a second up card the player with the best two cards up, also known as showing, has the first action. If the two best hands showing are the same the player to the left of the dealer has first action. If the best hand showing is not a pair then the player has the option of making a small bet. In $1/2 that would be $1. If any player is showing a pair on fourth street then the players have the option of betting either $1 or $2. If the player bets $1 then a player wishing to raise may raise either $1 or $2. If a player has already bet $2 players that wish to raise may only raise $2. If that player checks the action goes clockwise around the table until all players have checked or all bets have been called.

Fifth and Sixth Street

The fifth and sixth cards are also dealt up. The player with the best hand showing starts the betting. In $1/2 the player could either check or bet $2. The action again goes around clockwise on each street until all players have called or checked.

Seventh Street

The last card is dealt down. The player with the best hand showing again starts the action by either checking or betting one big bet. As long as there are still at least two players in there is a showdown. The player that bet last shows their cards first. If nobody bet the first player in to the left of the dealer shows their cards. The player with the best five card high hand out of seven cards wins half of the pot and the player with the best five card low out of seven cards wins the other half. In the rare event that a player ties they will split the direction they tied. If nobody can make an eight or better low then the entire pot is awarded to the high.

Rake

Online poker rooms usually take 5% up to $3 from the pot. Live poker rooms usually take 10% up to $4 or $5. Your rakeback is based on the amount of rake the house takes out of the pot. The rake is usually seen to the dealer’s right. Online you can either hover over the pot or the rake box to see how much rake was taken during a hand.