7 Card Stud Hi Lo,
Hand Selection
July 23 2008
In 7-Card Stud Hi-Lo, there are usually two hands in play, the best high hand and the best low hand. The best possible low hand is A-2-3-4-5. Ace is both high and low, so that is the smallest hand possible. You may be thinking, “That is a straight!” and that it's not a low hand at all. In other versions of poker that is a straight, but in 7-Card Stud Hi-Lo, the low straight is waived because it would eliminate too many hands, destroying the draw odds of a lot of hands. And it still counts as a straight for your high hand.
The same goes for the flush. If you have five low cards, and they’re all the same suit, it won’t count as a flush unless it’s your high hand. Having five low-suited cards is a good opportunity to win both halves of the pot, with both the best low and high hand.
Players need to be able to draw to low cards without having to worry about hitting a flush or straight. If they did there would never be any action on the low hand, and the game wouldn’t be worth your time to play.
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