Game
play by play:
First
all players must put in an ante before the cards are dealt. If a
player does not put in an ante, that person will not receive cards
and must wait until the next game to enter play.
Deal:
Each
player is dealt three cards, the first two down (hole cards) and
the third one face up (door card), just as in standard seven card
stud. The player with the lowest door card (first up-card) must
bring in the forced bet to start the betting round. Each player
can then either fold, call, or raise the bet. (The betting is
capped at one bet and three raises per player.) Once the round of
betting is down, if a raise was made, the person with the low card
forced bet must either match the bet, re-raise, or fold.
Second
round:
Each
player remaining is dealt one card face-up (called fourth street).
A second round of betting then ensues. In this round and all the
following betting rounds, the high hand on board (the face up
cards) initiates the action. (A tie is broken by position, with
the player who received cards first acting first.) In all fixed
limit games, the smaller bet is enforced on this round of betting.
With Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo, if the door card is paired, there is no
option to any players to bet the higher limit bet as in Seven
Card Stud. Only the smaller limit can be wagered.
Folded
hand without a wager made:
If
a hand is folded even though there is no wager (everyone checked),
that seat continues to receive cards until the hand is
“killed” as a result of a monetary bet.
Third
round:
Each
player remaining is dealt another card face up (fifth street). A
round of betting ensues. The bet amounts are now raised to the
higher limit in all fixed-limit games, which are generally $5-10
limit and up.
Fourth
round:
Each
player remaining is dealt another card face up. (sixth street). A
round of betting ensues.
Fifth
and final round:
Each
player remaining is dealt a final card face down, called the
“river”. If more than five players are remaining, it may be
necessary for the dealer to deal a community card since there may
not be enough cards remaining to deal each player their own card.
If this occurs the community card is used by each player to make
their five-card poker hands, but it is not necessary to use the
card if it does not help your five-card hand. One last round
of betting occurs and then the players remaining in the pot,
expose their hands to determine the winner. This is called
the showdown.
The
“showdown”:
All
players show their best five-card high poker hand and/or best
low-card poker hand (with the first bettor or last raiser showing
first). The players with the best five-card high and five-card low
poker hands will split the pot.
Scoop
pot:
It
is possible to win the entire pot and this can be done in two
ways.
- A
player can have both the five-card highest and lowest hands to
win.
- It
is not always possible for players to create both a high and a
low hand. Sometimes the players will play with only the high
hand or the low hand. Therefore, if no low hand was created,
or eligible, then the player with the highest hand will win
the entire pot. (See Important Note Regarding the Low a
the end of this article)
Ties:
If
more than one player ties for the low or high hand then each will
receive an equal portion of the pot, and hence the pot will be
split by half and half again or “quartered”. This more
frequently happens to players contesting the Low half of the pot
and is much more common in Omaha
Hi/Lo due to the community cards that are shared among the
players.
Example
Tie Hand:
Player
1 has the lowest five-card hand and players 2 and 3 have tied with
the best high five-card hand; Hence player 1 will receive half the
pot and players 2 and 3 will each receive a quarter of the pot.
(The half of the pot set aside for the high hand is further split
in half for the two that have tie hands, so that each player who
has tied receives a quarter of the original pot.)
So
a player must keep in mind that if there are less than 4 players
in a hand, it is still possible to LOSE money any time the
pot is quartered. Therefore, players must decide quickly if they
are eligible to play for the low hand and must adjust their bets
accordingly to limit the amount of their loss should there be a
tie. If it is apparent that any player has the only, or best, low
hand and others clearly have only high cards, raising the bet is a
good choice since the low player can be almost assured of winning
at least half the pot.
Important
Note Regarding the Low:
The
rules for Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo are very similar to that of Omaha
Hi/Lo. A qualifying low hand is made with five cards that are all
8 or lower, an ace counting as the lowest. No pairs can exist in a
low hand, but a straight and/or a flush may. The lowest possible
hand is A 2 3 4 5, which is known as the wheel. This hand
can not be beaten, for low, only tied. The highest possible
qualifying low hand is 8 7 6 5 4. Any qualifying low hands
that also consist of a straight or flush are very strong hands in
Seven Card Stud Eight or better because they have the potential to
scoop the pot by winning, both, the high and low portion of the
pot. The types of hands should be played aggressively.
