If you thought poker was all about getting the highest ranking poker hand then think again. Seven Card Stud poker offers a variation in which the lowest ranking poker hand wins. The other two variations involve the highest ranking poker hand winning the pot and the pot being shared by the highest and lowest ranking poker hands. This last version known as Seven Card Stud Hi Lo is the most interesting. The sequence of play however is the same for all versions, the difference coming in the poker showdowns.

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First the ante bets are placed in the pot and then three cards are dealt to each player. Two cards are dealt face down, which are known as hole cards in poker parlance, and one card is dealt face up. The hole cards can be seen only by the respective players whereas the face up cards are in public domain. The face up cards make the game more interesting because part of each player's poker hand is known to all. Then the third street betting takes place. This betting is at the lower limit of the poker stakes and no checking is allowed. Each player must either call, raise of fold. Then the next card is dealt face up and the fourth street betting takes place. Unless any player has a pair in the open cards, this betting also takes place at the lower limit of the poker stakes. The next two cards are dealt face up one at a time followed by the fifth street and sixth street betting at the higher limit of the poker stakes. The final card is dealt face down. Hence in Seven Card Stud poker each player has three hole cards and four face up cards from which he has to make a five card poker hand. The seventh street betting takes place followed by a showdown.

In the Seven Card Stud Hi all players compete for the highest ranking poker hand. In the Seven Card Stud Lo all players compete for the lowest ranking poker hand. The action is in Seven Card Stud Hi Lo in which each poker player declares just before the showdown whether he is playing for the highest ranking hand or the lowest ranking hand or both. The pot is equally divided into two. If there is more than one player for the Hi then the highest ranking hand wins the Hi pot. If there is only one player for the Hi then he wins the Hi pot. If there is no player for the Hi then the Hi pot gets added to the Lo pot. The same applies for the Lo declaration. The players who declare both Hi and Lo make two poker hands one competing for the Hi pot and the other for the Lo pot. In order to win the player has to be best in both pots. Unfortunately if such a player is the best in the Hi pot but not in the Lo pot he loses the Hi pot as well.