Mixed poker games: Stud, Razz, Stud Hi-Lo, 2-7 and HORSE

Mixed games put several poker variants on one table and switch between them on a fixed rotation. The best known is HORSE: Hold'em, Omaha Hi-Lo (eight or better), Razz, Seven Card Stud and Stud Hi-Lo (eight or better). 8-game adds 2-7 Triple Draw, No Limit Hold'em and Pot Limit Omaha. The point is breadth: a player who only knows one game is at a disadvantage for most of the rotation.

This guide covers the games that are new to most Hold'em players: the three stud games and 2-7 Triple Draw. For the flop games, see our guides to Texas Hold'em rules and Pot Limit Omaha. For hand strength, start with poker hand rankings.

Seven Card Stud

Stud has no community cards and no blinds. Each player builds a seven-card hand and uses the best five.

1. Antes. Everyone posts a small ante before the deal.
2. Third street. Each player gets two cards face down and one face up.
3. Bring-in. The player with the lowest up card must start the betting with a forced bet called the bring-in. It is smaller than a full bet. That player may instead "complete" to a full small bet.
4. Fourth, fifth and sixth street. One more card face up each round, with a betting round after each.
5. Seventh street (the river). A last card face down, a final betting round, then the showdown.

From fourth street on, the player with the highest hand showing acts first. In fixed-limit stud the small bet applies on third and fourth street and the big bet from fifth street on. A common rule lets players bet the big bet on fourth street when someone shows an open pair.

Ties for the bring-in are broken by suit, in alphabetical order from lowest: clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades. If two players show a 2, the player with the 2 of clubs brings it in.

Eight players at seven cards each would need 56 cards, four more than the deck holds. If the deck runs out before seventh street, the dealer turns a single community card that everyone shares.

Worked example (illustrative stakes). A $2/$4 stud game with eight players, a $0.50 ante and a $1 bring-in. The pot starts at 8 × $0.50 = $4. The bring-in makes it $5. If the next player completes to $2 and two players call, the pot is $5 + $2 + $2 + $2 = $11, and the bring-in player must put in $1 more to stay in, making $12.

Razz

Razz is Seven Card Stud played for low. The lowest hand wins the whole pot.

• Aces are low. Straights and flushes do not count. The best hand is A-2-3-4-5, called the wheel.
• Pairs are bad. With seven cards you choose the five lowest unpaired cards.
• Bring-in. The rule flips: the highest up card brings it in, with the king as the highest card and the ace as the lowest. On a tie the higher suit (spades, then hearts) brings it in.
• Later streets. The lowest hand showing acts first.

Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo (eight or better)

Stud Hi-Lo is dealt like Seven Card Stud, but the pot is split between the best high hand and the best qualifying low hand.

• A low hand qualifies only with five unpaired cards of eight or lower. Aces count low for the low hand.
• If nobody has a qualifying low, the best high hand takes the whole pot.
• You can use different five-card combinations for high and low, so one player can win both halves ("scoop").
• The bring-in goes to the lowest up card, as in Seven Card Stud, with aces counting high for this purpose.

Worked example (illustrative). A $120 pot reaches showdown. Player A has a flush and 8-6-4-2-A for low. Player B has 8-6-4-2-A as well. The high half ($60) goes to A. The low half is split between A and B, $30 each. A collects $90 and B $30. Splitting a half like this is called being quartered, and it is why a low draw with no high potential is weaker than it looks.

2-7 Triple Draw

2-7 Triple Draw (also called deuce-to-seven) is a draw game. It uses blinds and a button like Hold'em.

1. Each player gets five cards face down.
2. A betting round, then a draw: discard any number of cards and receive replacements.
3. There are three draws and four betting rounds in total, usually in fixed limit.

Hands are ranked by deuce-to-seven lowball. Aces are high, and straights and flushes count against you. The best hand is 7-5-4-3-2 in mixed suits. That is why 7-6-5-4-3 is a straight and loses to almost any unpaired hand, and why A-2-3-4-5 is simply an ace-high hand, not a strong low.

How low hands are ranked

In every lowball game you compare hands from the highest card down. The hand with the lower top card wins. If the top cards tie, compare the next card, and so on.

Players often name a low hand by its top card or top two: "a seven-five low" for 7-5-4-3-2.

HORSE and 8-game rotations

A rotation switches games after a set number of hands or a full orbit of the button. The room or tournament sets the rule and shows the current and next game on screen.

Switching between flop games and stud raises a seating question, since stud has no button. The Poker TDA rules (rule 12-B) say that when play moves from Hold'em to stud, the button moves to where it would be for the next Hold'em hand and stays frozen during stud, then resumes from there.

Betting changes with the game too. HORSE is usually all fixed limit, while 8-game mixes fixed limit with no-limit and pot-limit rounds. Stack sizes that feel deep in fixed limit can be short in a big-bet round.

Mistakes to avoid

• Ignoring dead cards. In stud, cards folded face up by others change your odds. If three of the cards you need are showing, your draw is much weaker.
• Playing high in Razz. A pair is a weak hand in Razz. Fold early when your up cards are high.
• Drawing only to the low in Stud Hi-Lo. A low with no high chance can at best win half the pot, and may be quartered.
• Forgetting the ace in 2-7. Aces are high in deuce-to-seven. A-2-3-4-5 is not a good hand.
• Mixing up who acts first. Stud: highest showing hand. Razz: lowest showing hand. Draw and flop games: after the first betting round, the first active player to the left of the button.

Where to play

Mixed games are a small part of most online rooms' schedules and availability varies by market and by room. See our licensed-site listings for UK poker and New Jersey poker, or the poker markets hub. If you are new to short-handed variants, our guide to Short Deck poker covers another non-standard game.