Seven Card Stud High Low
SEVEN-CARD STUD HIGH-LOW STRATEGY
This game requires a lot of concentration as you’re not just looking for a high hand, but high, a qualifying low, or both!
Scooping the pot vs. splitting the pot
It may be reasonable to think that by winning two split pots, it’s the same as winning the full pot. But it is not: scooping the pot adds considerable amounts of chips to your stack, but winning only half of it put you ahead only marginally. Really good Seven-Card Stud High-Low players will sometimes play hands that will win half the pot and they’ll occasionally lose high or low hands, but they will always play hands that stand a good chance of winning both, because it’s so much more important to scoop the pot.
Starting hands
Just as in every other poker game, your starting hands in Razz are critical to your success in this game. In order to lose less money and, over the long run, win more, you should adopt a list of starting hands you’ll play or fold. Over time, you might notice that you need to make some adjustments, which is all part of developing your skills. Go ahead and do some tweaking, but whatever you do, try to be patient and stick with your list. It’s very rare that a long-shot hand luckily gets all of the cards it needs to make a monster hand you’re better not risking your money and fold weak hands. It’s also important to get out as soon as you can when you have a weak hand don’t stay in any longer than you have to be as you’re just wasting your money.
If your starting hands don’t improve with the next card, in most cases, it’s best to check-fold.
Good starting hands are the following:
- Three of a kind (trips) call with Aces to 10s until the Fifth Street, then bet/raise.
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3 low cards to a straight flush (6c 4c 2c) check-fold if your hand doesn’t improve
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3 low cards to a flush check-fold if your hand doesn’t improve
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3 low cards to a straight check-fold if your hand doesn’t improve
- 3 low cards with an Ace check-fold if your Ace doesn’t pair & there are 2 or more lower opponents’ upcards
- Low pair with an Ace check-fold if you don’t get a three of a kind or pair the Ace
- High pair (J-J to A-A)
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9s and 10s with an Ace check-fold if you don’t get three of a kind or another Ace
Starting hands that should be folded immediately:
- High straights and flushes
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Unsuited low cards not in consecutive rank that can’t make a straight without an Ace
- Pairs of 9s and pairs of 10s with a kicker other than an Ace
- High-Low combinations that are not paired
Poker Stars has free Seven-Card Stud High-Low tables in both Limit and No-Limit betting structures. Playing for free online is a great opportunity to develop your skills at picking the right hands to scoop the pot you’ll be ready for live play in no time! Once you’re ready to put some real money into your bankroll, VCPoker is an excellent site to play poker and win money. They’re secure, have live support 24-7, and best of all, they’re a popular site where there’s always lots of action at the tables you never have to wait at a table for players to join you.
