The first thing you need to know how to play Seven Card Stud High Low is that this game is very similar to the High stakes poker. If you have played High stakes poker, you should know the rules quite well. The rules and the differences between High stakes poker and Seven Card Stud Hi Low are very minor. Mainly, the Seven Card Stud High Low is played with the standard 52 cards deck. This is not a really a bad hand to hold since there are a lot of high cards and very few low cards. This means that the player can have several chances to outdraw his opponents.
Each player should know the faces and values of the cards. The face value is given to all the cards in the deck. The Ace is the highest rank card and has the value of 1. The values of the cards begins with Ace 2.. Ace 3 gives the highest card to the player. The Ace 4 can be low if belong to the same rank. One example where having an Ace 2 would be better then having an Ace 3 would be to play this hand called Dewacasino.
Another common strategy used in this game is called the 5 card counting. Basically, you apply a sum to the card ranks as well as the ace values from 1 to 5. When the counting is complete, you then reduce the cards to their practical values. This continues with the cards 2..5 and so on. When the number of cards are reduced to 35 cards, you then have a 35 card deck.
The high card is the card that marks the start of the games. The player should have at least five cards above the number of the high card. Ideally, the player should have six cards. The next highest card up to the six-card rank is the second highest card in the sequence. The third highest card in the sequence is the forth highest card and so on.
Low cards are the cards that follow the high cards. Just like in the High stakes poker, the Ace 2 can be the low card for the high hand if it is not used as the high card. Similarly, the Ace 3 can be the low card for the low hand.
It is common for the flop to contain three cards of the same rank. It is legal to use them as both a high card or a low card, just as long as no more cards of the same rank are placed on the table. However, if a fourth card of the same rank as the current one is placed on the table, the highest card in that sequence will have to be placed there.
Three of a kind is a hand of two cards of the same rank. It is used as a high card in this game. The best way to do this is to have three cards of the same rank on the table. An Ace and a King, Ace and a Queen, King and a Queen, Ace and a Jack, Queen and a Jack, are examples of three cards of the same rank. When holding three cards of the same rank, the player can only use two of them. The rest will be used as the low card.
Two cards of a particular rank are called a set. Having two cards of the same rank set, players can only use one of them. The other card is set as the low card. The two cards of a particular rank are called a trio. Players can only use three of them. An Ace, a King, a Queen and a Jack are examples of three cards of the same rank. The other hand, a pair, has two cards of the same rank and a third card, called a kicker.
Here is an important tip. You will be amazed to learn that you can have cards of different ranks and still have a low card. This is an effective way to lower your odds. An example is having a set of kings. This is still a low card although the ace kicker isminus one. Having an ace and an ace is still a low card. The same principle goes for a pair of twos. Even though a pair of threes is a high card, since there are only two cards of the same rank, it is still a low card.
After the cards are dealt, the low card wins. If both the cards are the same, the pot is split.