Robert's Rules of Poker - Seven-Card Stud High-Low

Robert's Rules of Poker was written by Robert Ciaffone. The goal of this rulebook is to produce the best set of rules in existence, and make it generally available, so any person or cardroom can useBob Ciaffone is one of America’s best-known poker players, writers, and teachers. He has numerous poker tournament wins and placings, the most prominent being third place in the 1987 World Championship. He has been a poker teacher since 1995, with his students having earned well over a million dollars in tournament play.  Bob's website is www.pokercoach.us  it who so desires. The purpose is the betterment of poker.

The following section concerns the rules of Seven-Card Stud High-Low.

Seven-card stud high-low split is a stud game which is played both high and low. A qualifier of 8-or-better for low applies to all high-low split games (unless a specific posting to the contrary is displayed). This means to win the low half of the pot, a player's hand at the showdown must have five cards of different ranks that are an eight or lower in rank. (An ace is the highest card and also the lowest card.) If there is no qualifying hand for low, the best high hand wins the whole pot. A player may use any five cards to make the best high hand, and the same or any other grouping of five cards to make the best low hand.

2.     A player may use any five cards to make the best high hand and any five cards, whether the same as the high hand or not, to make the best low hand.

3.     An ace is the highest card and also the lowest card.

4.     The low card by suit initiates the action on the first round, with an ace counting as a high card for this purpose. On subsequent rounds, the high hand initiates the action. If the high hand is tied, the first player in the tie clockwise from the dealer acts first. If the high hand is all-in, action proceeds clockwise as if that person had checked.

5.     Straights and flushes do not affect the value of a low hand.

6.     Fixed-limit games use the lower limit on third and fourth streets and the upper limit on subsequent rounds. An open pair on fourth street does not affect the limit.

7.     Splitting pots is determined only by the cards, and not by agreement among players.

8.     When there is an odd chip in a pot, the chip goes to the high hand. If two players split the pot by tying for both the high and the low, the pot shall be split as evenly as possible, and the player with the highest card by suit receives the odd chip. When making this determination, all cards are used, not just the five cards used for the final hand played.

9.     When there is one odd chip in the high portion of the pot and two or more high hands split all or half the pot, the odd chip goes to the player with the high card by suit. When two or more low hands split half the pot, the odd chip goes to the player with the low card by suit.