What this stud hi/lo odds calculator does
Seven-card stud eight-or-better is the split-pot game in HORSE and the mixed games, and it is the one where "equity" most needs unpacking. This calculator deals every live player's missing cards from a deck with your dead cards removed, scores the best five of seven for high, finds the best five of seven for low under the eight-or-better rule, and splits the pot the way the dealer does: half and half when a low qualifies, everything to the high hand when none does, quarters when two players tie for low. The result table shows your total pot share, your share of each half, your scoop frequency and how often your hand made a qualifying low at all.
Unlike Omaha, stud has no two-from-the-hand rule. Any five of your seven cards can be your low, and the same five can be your high, which is why A-2-3-4-5 is both the nut low and a straight. The calculator applies stud's rules, not Omaha's.
Entering hands
Three to seven cards per player, hole cards and upcards in one block, spaces between players: Ac2d3h4s KsKd7hJh is a wheel draw against split kings on fourth street. Every folded upcard you can remember goes in Dead cards; in eight-or-better the low cards are the ones everybody is drawing to, and three dead fives change a wheel draw more than anything that happens in the betting. Up to eight players.
Worked examples, computed by this engine
| Match-up | Equity | Scoop | Method | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wheel draw vs split kings, fourth streetAc2d3h4s vs KsKd7hJh | 59.97% / 40.03% | 38.5% / 18.6% | Monte Carlo · 2.7M trials | Load → |
| A23 vs rolled-up nines, third streetAc2d3h vs 9s9d9c | 31.08% / 68.92% | 7.3% / 45.1% | Monte Carlo · 2.6M trials | Load → |
| Two-way draw vs high pair, fifth streetAc2d3h5s8c vs KsKdJhTc9d | 61.55% / 38.45% | 23.1% / 0.0% | Exact · 672k deals | Load → |
The wheel draw against kings is the hand that explains the game. Its 60% total equity is built from a 38% scoop rate, because a five, or a six and a smooth run-out, gives it a straight and the nut low at once, and from winning half the pot nearly every time the low gets there. Kings scoop only when the low misses. Reverse the situation, a low draw against rolled-up nines, and the low hand's share collapses to 31%, almost all of it from the low half; the trips scoop 45% of the time simply because the low misses that often.
The fifth-street row is a made two-way draw, A-2-3-5-8, against a high pair with a straight draw. It is 61-39 with a 23% scoop rate for the low hand and zero for the pair: a high-only hand that has to win high against a live low can never scoop, and the table says so in one number.
Reading a split-pot result
Equity is the expected share of the whole pot and the figure to measure against your price. Hi and Lo show where it comes from. Scoop is how often you take everything, which is the number that should decide whether to bet or raise: a hand that scoops 40% of the time wants the pot big, a hand that collects half 80% of the time wants it kept small and the opponents in. Low made is how often you qualified, and if it is under 50% on fifth street you are mostly playing for half of a pot you might not win at all.
Why low draws are stronger in stud than in Omaha
Two reasons. The low can use any five of seven cards, so a hand with four low cards on fourth street has three more cards to find one more, instead of needing the board to cooperate. And the low cards you need are visible when they are dead: with no fives or sixes folded a wheel draw is live, and the calculator can tell you that precisely because you typed the dead cards in. The Omaha Hi/Lo calculator makes a good comparison; the Razz calculator is the same low evaluation with the high half removed.
Frequently asked questions
Half to the best high hand, half to the best five-card low of five different ranks all 8 or lower, aces counting low and straights and flushes ignored for low. If nobody qualifies for low, the high hand takes the whole pot. Ties for either half are split again, which is where quartering comes from.
Because A-2-3-4 is a two-way hand: a 5 gives it a straight for high and the best possible low at the same time. The Scoop column is the share of boards where one hand takes everything, and for a wheel draw against a high-only hand that is most of the boards where the low gets there.
Yes. In stud hi/lo you pick the best five of your seven for high and, separately, the best five for low, and they can overlap completely. A-2-3-4-5 is both the nut low and a straight.
No. Unlike Omaha there is no two-from-hand rule in stud; any five of your seven cards can make the low. That is why low draws are stronger in stud eight-or-better than in Omaha eight-or-better.
