Seven-Card Stud Eight-or-Better, High/Low Split

Games where high and low hands divvy up the money often have very large pots, so they're very popular online. With the pot divided so often, players who ordinarily wouldn't be in the hand are in there slugging it out. But a good many of them shouldn't be there, and you can win their money!

Seven-card stud eight-or-better, high/low split, abbreviated 7-stud/8, is a variant of seven-card stud. The pot is split between the best high hand and the best low hand. As in Omaha/8, it's possible for one player to make both the best high hand and the best low hand, thereby scooping the whole pot. However, as in Omaha/8, the low hand must "qualify," as we'll explain shortly.

How to Play 7-stud/8

Winning the entire pot by making both the best high hand and the best low hand - scooping the pot - is your goal. Short of that, your hand at showdown should be either the best low or the best high, since you're guaranteed at least half the pot. (If there's no low, the high scoops.)

Procedures are nearly identical to seven-card stud, with just two differences: In 7-stud/8, you can't make a double bet when there's a pair showing on Fourth Street, as you can in seven-card stud. And, of course, the pot is split whenever there's at least one acceptable low hand at showdown.
As in Omaha/8, you can always make a high hand. But in order to have a low hand, you must have five unpaired cards with the rank of eight or lower. That's called an "eight-qualifier."

For example, if your seven cards were A?J?9?7?5?4?2?, your high hand would be an ace-high flush, composed of A?J?9?7?5?.Your low hand would be called a "seven-low," made up of 7?5?4?s2?A?.

If you've been alert, you've just learned something very important about 7-stud/8. Aces can be used as both the highest and lowest card in the deck. When you're dealt an ace, it's like receiving two cards for the price of one, and that's worth remembering. Aces are valuable!

7-stud/8 has five rounds of betting, just like its high-only cousin. This often creates large pots, since some players are trying to make a high hand, while others are hoping to make the best low hand. As in seven card stud, the best players are alert, staying aware of both live cards and those already folded.

This game requires a lot of patience. Many people love playing high-low split games because, with two ways to win, they think they can play more hands. But the best 7-stud/8 players play few hands, and generally look for those with two-way possibilities. After all, the objective of this game is to scoop pots, not split them. Skilled players release many, many hands on Third Street.

Is My Low Hand a Good One, or is It a Dog?

It all depends on what your opponents' hands look like. An eight-seven low can be a terrific hand, as long as all opponents have face cards showing and appear to be heading off along the high road. But an "eight low" is a terrible starting hand if you look around the table and see a garden of likely low draws staring back at you.

Starting Standards

Since it's typical in split-pot games for a motley bunch of opponents to chase the pot, starting standards are more important than in games yielding only one winner. It's a good rule of thumb to have the best draw if you're trying for a low hand. If you don't have a draw to the best low hand, you'll have to rely on getting lucky twice: first by catching great cards, and second by opponents catching poor ones - "bananas," as they're called in poker parlance.

Your first three cards need to work together to make playing the hand worthwhile. If they pull together harmoniously in both directions, so much the better remember: Scooping the entire pot is the objective in all split-pot games.
Since an ace is both the lowest and highest card, holding one is almost like playing eight cards against your opponent's seven. Having an ace as your door card (the face-up card of your first three) is highly advantageous: It's the best low card, but it's also intimidating - hey, you just might have a pair of aces! Plus, if you hold an ace, it's one less for opponents to catch

Moreover, your hand is confusing to read: Until a few more cards are exposed, opponents have no idea whether you're "going high," "going low," or - much worse for them - both.

For example, A?4?3? is an incredibly good starting hand. You have a draw to a great low hand plus the possibility of making a nut flush for high. If another ace comes your way, you'll have highest pair, with a chance of improving to two pair or three-of-a-kind. Other possibilities include winding up with a straight, two pair with a low, or even a "flushy-low," if you're lucky enough to make both a flush and a low hand. Starting hands don't come much better than this!

But as strong as an ace is, not every hand containing an ace is playable! A hand like A-9/8 probably won't win whether you're trying to build a high hand or a low one. So do yourself a favor: Even when your door card ace is smiling out confidently at the world, toss it away if your hole cards are dogs.

Some 7-stud/8 Tips

If you decide to play past Third Street, your next key decision point occurs on the very next betting round. If you're going for low but catch a high card on Fourth Street, you've hit a pothole. But if you catch a fourth low card, you stand a good chance of succeeding at your draw.

If you have a low draw and catch well on Fourth Street while an opponent - who also has a low draw - stumbles by catching a high card. You can raise if someone bets. That will make it tough for the other low draw to call, since he's now dragging the heavy anchor of a high card attached to three babies. If you're able to raise and drive out all other low draws, it no longer matters how good your low is, because now if you make any low at all, you'll be rewarded with at least half the pot.

If you find yourself on Third Street up against opponents who have deuces, treys, fours, fives, or sixes showing, you can assume they're drawing for low. But an opponent with a doorcard ace could be going high or low, or even have a two-way hand like A-2/A. Whenever you make a two-way hand that already has a lock on half the pot, you should jam the pot by raising or re-raising at every opportunity. You'll scoop the pot if you get lucky, but whenever there are multiple opponents, each additional bet generates profit, even when the pot is split.

If you're dealt a big pair early, your hand already has some intrinsic value; but if you start with three low cards, all you have is a drawing hand. As good as it looks, there's always a chance it won't get there. But if you make the only low hand by Fifth or Sixth Street, along with a chance to improve to a high hand as well, you have half the pot already won against opponents who hold high-only hands. You can now bet or raise with complete safety.

If you make a straight or any other good high hand to complement your low, you may scoop the pot. But even if your high hand is still just a wannabe, as long as you hold the best possible low hand, there's no cost or risk in drawing for the high hand. Put simply, you have everything to gain and nothing to lose. Poker players call this "free rolling." Although it doesn't happen often, it's a wonderful feeling when it does!

If you have a high hand, you should bet and raise early and often: You need to make it as expensive as possible for anyone drawing to a low hand. After all, you want to avoid splitting the pot, and you'd also like to avoid the indignity of an opponent's low draw backing into a better high hand than yours, thus scooping the entire pot right out from under your nose. (This happens more often than you might think, so beware.)

If it's your opponent - not you - who makes a low hand, you have a problem. Once you suspect you're up against a made low, it's time to stop driving and apply the brakes. At best, you're now the player aiming at half the pot. At worst, you'll get scooped if your high doesn't hold up. Since that's the case, what earthly reason could you have for betting into this pot?

What to Do Once All the Cards Have Been Dealt

If you've seen the hand through to the river, call any bet if you think you may escape with half the pot. If your opponent appears to have a low hand, even a paltry pair can sometimes capture the high side. If its heads-up and you've got a high hand while your opponent appears to have made a low hand, there's no point in betting. At best, you'll just split the pot. At worst, he'll have a hidden high hand to complement his low and might scoop the entire pot.

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