How to play
Stud Hi-Lo, also called Seven Card Stud Eight or Better, is Seven Card Stud with a split pot: the best high hand wins half and the best qualifying low hand wins the other half. Here you sit at a fixed-limit cash table with one to five computer opponents. Everyone starts with 1,000 chips and a fresh 52-card deck is shuffled for every hand.
- Antes and the bring-in. Everyone antes 5. You get two cards face down and one face up, and the player with the lowest up card brings in for 10 or completes to 20 (aces count high for the bring-in; on equal ranks, clubs are lowest, then diamonds, hearts and spades). Others fold, call the 10, or complete to 20.
- More cards. Fourth, fifth and sixth street are dealt face up, seventh street face down, with a betting round after each. From fourth street on, the player with the best up cards (pairs and high cards only) acts first.
- Fixed limit. Bets and raises are 20 on third and fourth street and 40 from fifth street on, with at most four bets per round.
- Showdown: two hands from seven cards. Each player makes a high hand (the best five-card poker hand) and, separately, a low hand if they can. The two hands can use different cards.
The low hand. A low is five cards of different ranks, all 8 or lower. Aces count as low, and straights and flushes don’t spoil a low: A-2-3-4-5 is the best possible low (a “wheel”). Lows are compared from the highest card down, so 7-5-4-3-2 beats 8-4-3-2-A, and 7-6-4-3-2 loses to 7-5-4-3-2.
Splitting the pot.
- If at least one player has a qualifying low, the pot is split in half: the best high hand takes one half, the best low the other. An odd chip goes to the high half.
- If nobody has a low, the best high hand wins the whole pot.
- One player can win both halves (“scoop”), for example with a wheel, which is both a straight and the best low.
- Ties split their half.
All-ins and side pots work as usual: each side pot is split high and low on its own. When an opponent folds, their up cards stay visible, faded, until the hand ends. When an opponent runs out of chips, a new player sits down with 1,000 chips; if you run out, you can get 1,000 free credits at a new table. Your table is saved between visits.
Strategy
Play hands that can go both ways. The best starting hands are three low cards to a straight or flush, especially with an ace (A-2-3 of one suit is excellent). They can make a low, a high hand, or both, and scoop the pot.
Big pairs need care. A pair of kings is strong for high but has no low chance. Against several low cards showing, you’ll often win only half the pot even when your hand holds up.
Count the low cards. If many small cards are showing in other hands, there are fewer left for your low draw. If an opponent shows four low cards, they are likely to make a low.
Avoid getting quartered. If you share the low half with another player, you only get a quarter of the pot back. Calling big bets with a low draw that others are also chasing often loses chips even when you win.
Watch for scoops. A hand that can win both halves is worth betting hard; a hand that can only win half is worth less than it looks.
More poker. For the classic high-only game, play Seven Card Stud. For community-card poker, try Texas Hold’em.
If you enjoy Stud Hi-Lo, try Stud Showdown or Stud Sit & Go next.
