7 card stud 8 plays just like 7 card stud until the showdown, although there’s usually more action. The big difference is that the pot gets split 50/50 between the highest poker hand and the bestpossible low hand. Not all hands have a qualifying low.

1. Best Starting Hands In 7 Card Stud Hi Lo
2. Stud Hi Lo Strategy
3. Best Starting Hands 7 Card Stud
4. 7 Card Stud Hi Lo Starting Hands
5. Best Starting Hands In Seven Card Stud

Three of a kind. This is the best starting hand in seven-card stud, but you won’t get it very often — in fact, on the average of only once in every 425 times you are dealt in. Because rolled-up trips are so strong, it usually doesn’t matter how you play them. Still, you don’t want to be dealt.

To have a low hand, you need 5 cards ranked 8 or lower in your hand. And you can’t include a pair as part of this low hand. So a hand with an 8-7-6-5-4 would qualify as a low hand, even thoughit’s also a straight. But 7-7-6-5-4 wouldn’t qualify as a low hand because of the pair.

• 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo Guide. 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo Poker is a variant of 7 Card Stud in which the pot is equally divided between the player(s) with the best “Hi” hand, and the player(s) with the best qualifying “Lo” hand – a qualifying “Lo” hand being comprised of five individually ranked cards with a value of Eight or lower.
• Replay Poker recently launched two new poker variants: Seven Card Stud and Hi/Lo. Ready to dip your toes in the water? We have a guide for you to get started with Hi/Lo. Until you get experienced, fold hands that aren’t connected. Start with three low cards, three running cards, three suited cards, or pairs for the initial bet.
• Although the starting hands for Seven Card Stud and Stud hi-lo vary quite a bit, the basic truth in both cases is that your first three cards are a good indicator about how your hand will grow up. If you start with 3 suited low cards in a high only stud game you're likely to.

If you’re not familiar with how 7 card stud is played, here’s the game in a nutshell.

Each player gets 7 cards. At the showdown, you use those cards to put together the best possible poker hand using the standard poker hand rankings.

You have antes as forced bets to drive the action, then you have several rounds of play with betting in between each round.

The goal of the smart 7 card stud 8 player is to “scoop” the pot. That’s a situation where you win both the high hand AND the low hand simultaneously.

Best Starting Hands In 7 Card Stud Hi Lo

Stud Hi Lo Strategy

Best Starting Hands 7 Card Stud

For example, you might have a flush (5 cards of the same suit, with an ace as your high card). That will win the high in most 7 card stud games. But you might also have a 6-5-4-3-A, which mightbe the qualifying low hand, too.

Aces are more important in high-low split games than any other card because they can count as both the highest card in your hand AND the lowest card in your hand.

7 Card Stud Hi Lo Starting Hands

There’s one final distinction that warrants a comment, too.

Best Starting Hands In Seven Card Stud

A qualifying low hand can’t have a pair in it, but it CAN be a flush or a straight. Those designations don’t interfere with the hand’s qualification as a low hand.