Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo is also sometimes called "Eights or Better," as it is the "E" game in the mixed game of HORSE. Note: Omaha Hi-Lo also plays with a split pot and requires a qualifying low hand, so sometimes it is also referred to as "Eights-or-Better." Casinos generally use the precise name of the game, to avoid confusion. The word "better" in the phrase "Eights or Better" means "lower."

Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo is s "split-pot" game. The highest hand wins, as in regular seven-card stud, and the lowest "qualifying hand" also wins. Aces can be played high or low. It is possible that there is no "qualifying hand," so the entire pot will go to the player with the highest hand. Sometimes a person can have the highest hand and the lowest qualifying hand at the same time. This is because straights and flushes are not considered for purposes of the low hand, but are taken into account for the high hand. Therefore, the lowest possible hand is Ace-2-3-4-5. This could also be the highest hand. Additionally, of the seven cards available, different combinations can be considered for the high hand and the low hand. "Scooping the pot" is the phrase to describe winning both on the high and low ends, or winning high, with no low winner.

The Qualifying Low Hand

To be considered in the competition for lowest hand, a player must have five un-paired cards with no card higher than eight.

Evaluation of Hands

If more than one player at the table has a qualifying low hand, the winner is decided by looking at the highest card in each hand. The player with the lowest high card wins. If there is a tie, the second highest card is examined, and so on. (In the evaluation of the high hand, all the conventional rules are followed: aces are high or low, flushes and straights count.)

How Play Proceeds

As in conventional Seven-Card Stud, players must ante up before the deal. This is usually a fraction of a small bet, rounded off. Then three cards are dealt to each player, two down, one up. Betting starts with the lowest door card, who makes a forced "bring-in" bet equal to one-half a "small bet." The player can opt to make a full bet instead.

On the four subsequent betting rounds that follow the deal of the next four cards, the player with the lowest hand showing ("on board") will start the betting. If there is a tie, the tied player nearest the dealer's left hand is the first to act. Play always proceeds clockwise. At the showdown, each player puts together a high hand and a low hand, making use of any five of the seven cards dealt to him or her. The cards can be different for each of the hands. Note the difference from Omaha Hi-Lo, in which two of the five cards must come from the hole and three from the board.

Special Rule

Very rarely there will not be enough cards to give each player his or her own river card. When that happens, the dealer puts one card on the board face up and everyone then uses it for Seventh Street.

Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo Tips, Strategy, & Information

Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo Strategy
The major strategy difference between conventional Seven-Card Stud and the Hi-Lo game is that in calculating the pot odds it is often correct to consider only half the value of the pot in a Hi-Lo or split pot game. A win of a half-pot may barely cover the expense of playing the hand. Experienced players, therefore, aggressively pursue only those... more»