Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo is another variation of Seven Card Stud, in which the players with the highest and lowest hands split the pot.
A low (lo) hand is one that consists only of cards less than 8. The values of the cards for a lo hand are: A,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 – in this case the Ace is low. Straights and flushes are not considered for the purposes of counting a lo hand, therefore the best lo hand is 5432A.
If a hand features pairs, three of a kinds or quads, it cannot be considered a lo hand – 544AA for example is not a lo hand.
The best lo hand is the one with lowest high card. This means that the hand 76543 beats 8542J (the lowest high card of the first hand is a 7, and the lowest high card in the second hand – an 8).
If there is no qualified lo hand in the game, the player with the best high (hi) hand wins the entire pot.
Generally the pot is split into half – one half is won by the player with the best lo hand and the other – by the player with the best hi hand. If two or more players have hands of equivalent strength, they split the half of the pot that is determined for the particular type of hand (hi or lo). This means that if two players have equivalent lo hands, they will each win a quarter of the entire pot.