Seven-card stud’s three main variations—high, low (also called Razz), and high-low—all pack into play five exciting betting rounds. In each variation, players form their best five-card combination out of the seven dealt to produce their final hands.

In seven- card high stud, the highest ranking hand remaining wins the pot. In seven-card low stud, the lowest hand claims the gold. In high-low stud, players vie for either the highest-ranking or lowest-ranking hand, with the best of each claiming half the pot, or players can go for the high-low pot and risk all to win all. Once again, players also can win the pot by being the last remaining player in the pot-either as a result of skillful bluffing or by attrition of opponents due to stiff betting.

In each variation, players receive seven cards. After the first three cards are dealt, two face-down (closed) and one face-up (open), the first betting round commences. The following three cards are dealt open, one-at-a-time, with a betting round accompanying each card. The last card, the seventh, comes “down and dirty.” It’s the third closed card received by the players. online bet

All remaining players now hold three hole cards and four open cards. These are the final cards they will hold. One more round of betting follows the seventh card. Then the showdown occurs, and the best hand or hands (as may be the case in high-low) claims the pot.

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First Four Positions: (Early)
Second Two Positions: (Middle)
Last Two Positions: (Late)

8- high—pat hand
7- high—one card draw
9- high—pat hand
8- high—one card draw
10- high—pat hand
9- high—one card draw

Unless you hold an 8-high pat hand or have a four-card 7-high in early position, you can't call the blind's bet or make an opener yourself. You must fold. You're too vulnerable to raises behind your position to call with these hands in the first four spots. There is a strong possibility that players will up the stakes in the middle and late positions.

It is foolish to call hands in middle and early position if you will be forced to fold on a raise. Do not call bets with anything less than the minimum openers in early and middle positions. In late position, if a bet and a raise have preceded your play, call with a minimum holding of an 8-high pat hand or a four card 7-high draw.

With a 7-high pat hand, you hold a strong hand and should play aggressively. Raise the opener from any position at the table. If a raiser precedes you, reraise. When you're dealt a 6-high pat hand, you have almost a sure winner. Don't raise in early position. You want to keep as many players as possible in the game. If, however, a player raises behind you, and it's just you and he and maybe one other player, reraise and build up the pot. There's something pleasurable about winning big pots.

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Lowball gives the knowledgeable player a tremendous advantage over uninitiated opponents, since the strategic thinking is different in this poker variation. Players are shooting for different types of hands, and it takes the high poker player a while to become accustomed to the peculiarities of the game.

The first rule in lowball is never to play a hand which needs more than one card drawn to improve to a winner. Unlike high poker, draws of two or even three cards are terrible draws and immediately single out a player as a weak opponent. A two-card draw is a shot in the dark. It's equivalent to trying to fill a three-card straight in high poker.

To win at lowball, you must start out with cards that can win. If the cards you're dealt are weak, throw them away unless you can get a free ride. For example, if you're the blind, and there are no raises following the forced bet, it costs nothing more to play, so you should stay in for the draw. Always play further if there is no cost, no matter the cards. If you're faced with a bet, however, fold, unless you've got the goods.
Position is important in lowball and must be considered in the opening strategies. Here are my minimum opening cards in lowball.

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Lowball is often played with an ante, and that bet should be placed into the pot before the cards are dealt. When no ante is required, a blind bettor is used. Sometimes both a blind bettor and an ante are part of the structure.

After the shuffle and cut, cards are dealt clockwise, one at a time, until all players have received five face down cards. The first player to receive the cards, the one at the immediate left of the button or dealer, is also the first player to act. For purposes of illustration, let's assume a $5-$ 10 lowball game using a blind. This first player, being the blind, is required to make a $5 blind bet. He promptly does so, flipping a $5 chip into the pot. All bets before the draw in draw poker, high or low, are in the lower tier of the betting limit. In this example, all bets and raises are in $5 increments.

The next player to act sits at the blind's left, since play in all poker variations proceeds in a clockwise direction. He has three choices. He can call the $5 blind bet and remain an active player, raise that bet $5 more and place $10 into the pot, or fold his cards. Play proceeds around the table until all players have made their decisions—either to call the blind and any raises made, or to fold and wait for the next cycle of poker life to begin.

The draw occurs in the same order as the betting and dealing of the cards. The blind, if he is still in the pot, goes first. He can exchange up to five cards for new ones. Each active player, in turn, can exchange as many of his original cards as he likes, but he should do so only after the preceding player has received his cards. Discards should be announced so that all players are aware of the number of cards each person has drawn. Players who elect to stand pat (not draw any cards) can indicate this verbally or by knocking on the table with their fists.

After the draw is completed, the second and last betting round occurs. It is begun by the blind, or, if he has folded, by the first active player closest to the dealer's left. All bets and raises in this round are in the upper tier of the $5-$ 10 limit, in $10 increments. If the game were a $3-$6 game, all bets after the draw would be in $6 increments.

After the betting round is completed, there is the showdown, where the lowest hand collects the pot and all the money in it. If, at any point in the game, all opponents drop out of play, the remaining player would be the automatic winner, and he claims the pot. The deal now moves to the left. In the case of a casino game, the former blind is now the button, and can enjoy all the advantages of playing the dealer's position.

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Draw poker: anything opens is played the same as jacks or better except that any hand may open the betting, regardless of strength. For example, a pair of 7s could open betting in anything opens, or even a queen-high hand. Otherwise, the rules and methods of play are identical to jacks or better.

STRATEGY FOR ANYTHING OPENS
The strategies in draw poker: anything opens are virtually the same as in jacks or better. Though any cards can open the betting, don't be fooled into opening or calling bets with anything less than you would play in jackpots. Whether the game requires jacks or better or requires nothing to open betting doesn't change the fact that you'll be dealt just as many good and bad hands in one game as in the other. The same minimum starting hands apply here as in jacks or better.

DRAW POKER: LOWBALL
This interesting variation presents a different twist on poker. The lowest hand is the strongest in lowball, or loball as it is sometimes spelled, as opposed to the standard high poker game where the highest hand is the best. The ace is still the best card in lowball, but, unlike in high poker, where the ace counts as the highest card held, in this game the ace counts as the lowest card of a hand. The 2 is the next lowest card, and therefore the next best lowball card, and is followed in order by the 3, 4, 5,and so on, up to the king, which is the worst card in lowball.

In lowball, the highest card counts in determining the value of a hand: the lower the highest card, the better the hand. Hands are announced by their two highest cards. For example, the hand 7 6 4 2 A is announced as a "7 6" or "7-high," and 8 4 3 2 A is announced as an "8 4" or "8-high." Of the two above-mentioned hands, the "7 6" is the more powerful lowball hand, since its highest card, the 7, is lower than the 8, the high card of the "8 4" hand.

In instances where the highest values of two hands are equivalent, the next highest cards of the hands are matched up, and the lowest value of these matched cards determines the winner. Thus, the hand 8 6 4 3 2 is a stronger total than 8 7 3 2 A, and 9 6 5 2 A beats out the hand 9 6 5 4 A. When the competing hands are equivalent, such as the holdings 8 5 4 3 A versus 8 5 4 3 A, the hand is considered a tie and the pot is split.

The wheel or bicycle, 5 4 3 2 A, is the perfect lowball hand. It can never be beat. At best, it can be tied by another wheel. 6 4 3 2 A is the next strongest lowball total, followed in order by 6 5 3 2 A, 6542 A, 6543 A, and so on.
In lowball, straights and flushes are not relevant and do not count. The wheel, 5 4 3 2 A, is not considered a straight. It's a perfect "5 4." An 8 4 3 2 A, all of hearts is simply an "8 4" hand, not a flush as it would be in high poker.
Any five-card hand containing a pair is a weak hand and can be beat by any five unmatched cards. For example, K Q 7 6 5 is a winner over 2 2 3 4 5. Two pair, three-of-a-kind, full houses, and four-of-a-kind are increasingly worse holdings. The odds of these hands winning are very slim indeed.
The term smooth in lowball refers to a relatively good back four cards, such as the hand 9 5 4 3 A, a smooth nine. Rough suggests a relatively weak back four cards, such as the hand 9 7 6 5 2, a rough nine. Lowball is a draw poker variation. As such, it is played similarly to high draw poker, featuring two betting rounds, one before the draw and one after.

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Smaller two pair hands, such as 9s over 3s, are deceptive hands in draw poker. You must play them carefully. At first glance, a holding of two small pairs appears to be a strong hand with good winning possibilities. In reality, these cards spell trouble.

While a small two pair may stand tall before the draw, against three players trying to improve as well, that hand in fact becomes an underdog. If you're facing bets and raises before the draw and more bets after it, your small two pair (with 11-1 odds against improving) starts looking even smaller.

Fold two small pairs in early position if the pot is opened ahead of you, or if you're in late position and three or more players are in the pot. In last position, against just one or two players, raise, and try to force them out.

THE DRAW
When you're drawing to a pair, your best odds of improving is to take a three-card draw. Sometimes, however, holding a kicker, an extra card to a pair, can be a powerful bluffing tool. Players have to suspect your two-card draw for three-of-a-kind.

Occasionally, using the kicker in this fashion can really work to your advantage.
Drawing one card to a three-of-a-kind is a good bluffing strategy as well. Let's say you're playing a $5-$ 10 game. The first two players check and the third player opens betting with a $5 bet. The next player folds. You're in the next seat holding three 8s, and you raise the opener $5. Players fold in turn around the table. Only the opener calls your bet. He goes first and draws one card. You take one card as well.

After the draw, the opener bets $10, probably holding kings or aces up and figuring you for a lower two pair. You raise $10, banking on the 11-1 odds against his improving. He calls. Then he quietly folds his cards after you turn over your three 8s.
Fold four-flushes and four-straights if they don't improve at the draw.

The dealer has a decisive advantage in draw poker, since he acts last. With marginal hands, he can come in the pot cheaply. He can also fold if the action is too stiff. He's in a great position to bluff, and, being the last to draw, he can make use of his drawing strategy to gain a powerful edge. Due to the dealer's big positional advantage, draw poker is an excellent choice in dealer's choice games.

Play alertly and apply the winning strategies of poker to gain an advantage over your opponents and be a winner at draw poker.

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As with all the other poker variations, the single most important strategy in jacks or better is to start out with cards which have good winning possibilities. The opening requirement of jacks or better tells you right off that any pair you hold which is less than the minimum opening hand of jacks is automatically a big underdog. For example, if an opponent opens the betting, what chances do your pair of 8s have against this opener? You know that he has jacks or better.

Position is also an important consideration in jackpots. The relative position a player has in the order of betting affects the types of hands that he should play and how he should bet those hands. For example, if a player opens betting with a pair of jacks or queens in an early position, he's in a bad situation if his opener gets raised by several players. You have to figure the raisers for at least kings or aces, possibly better, and against a lowly pair of jacks, nobody is scared. The jacks are underdogs and must be folded.

Let's examine the minimum requirements for correct play in jacks or better.

Jacks or Better • Minimum Opening Cards
First Four Positions (Early): Kings or Better Second Two Positions (Middle): Queens or Better Last Two Positions (Late): Jacks or Better

In late position, when no openers have yet been made, the pair of jacks becomes a stronger hand. The jacks are in a good leveraged position, and an opening bet may be able to force other players out of the pot, effectively stealing the antes. If only one or two players call the opener, the jacks are in a decent enough position going into the draw to improve to a winner.

Once someone has opened the betting, players holding jacks or queens should call only if two players or fewer are in the pot and no raises have been made. Otherwise, you should foldjacks and queens. Their winning chances rapidly diminish as the number of active players increases.

Four-card straights and flushes have good potential. You should play them to the draw, but only if Concept #6 in Chapter 8.) Do not raise with these hands, however. At this stage they're speculative and hold no value. Should the draw fill these cards into a straight or flush, then you've got the goods to be raising and building up the pot.
If you hold kings, aces, and low three-of-a-kind hands, you should not only call the opener but raise as well. These are strong cards. If you don't force out weaker and speculative hands, these inferior hands may bury your favorite with a lucky draw.

Against fewer opponents, there's less chance of this occurring. The more players that stay in for the draw, the higher the average winning hand will be, and the greater the opportunity that the kings, aces, and small trips will get beat out by an inferior hand that improves. Raise with these strong cards. Don't make the game cheap for dreamers.
On the other hand, with a high three-of-a-kind, such as trip 10s or higher, don't raise—call! You have a powerful hand which can win without improvement. You want to keep as many players in as possible.

Do not play three card-straights or flushes, or inside straights. An inside straight is a four-card straight that has only one way of improving, such as 4 5 7 8. These are nothing hands, and the chances °f improving are steeper than a canyon.

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