Event #25: $2,500 Omaha/Seven-Card Stud Hi-Low
Day 1 Started
2014 World Series of Poker
Event #25: $2,500 Omaha/Seven-Card Stud Hi-Low
Day: 1
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2014 World Series of Poker
Buy-in
$2,500
Prize Pool
$1,069,250
Entries
470
Level
28
Limits
50,000 / 100,000
Ante
10,000
Welcome to Event #25: $2,500 Omaha/Seven-Card Stud Hi-Low
It's a busy day here at the Rio All-Suite Casino in Las Vegas as Event #21: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em, Event #22: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. Championship, and Event #23: $1,000 Turbo No-Limit Hold'em all look to play down to a winner. In addition, Event #24: $5,000 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold'em kicked off earlier this afternoon, and this evening this tournament, Event #25: $2,500 Omaha/Seven-Card Stud Hi-Low, will begin.
The tournament has a rich history; in fact, back in 2009 the legendary Phil Ivey won this very event. We expect to see the nine-time bracelet winner in the field. Likewise, the defending champ is Mike Gorodinsky, who topped a field of 374 last year to win a $216,988 first prize, following Oleksii Kovalchuk and Owais Ahmed as recent winners of the event.
Others expected to try their Omaha/Seven-Card Stud Hi-Low luck are ESPN commentator Norman Chad, who is a frequent participant and even made the final table to finish sixth in 2012; Women in Poker Hall of Fame inductee Marsha Waggoner; and Bryan "The Icon" Micon, just to name a few.
Action is set to kick off at 4 p.m. local time and the plan is to play ten one-hour levels of play. Join us then for all the Omaha and seven-card stud hi-low action you can handle!
Level: 1
Limits: 75/150
Ante: 25
How to Play Omaha Hi-Low
Level 1
: 75/150, 25 ante
Since today's tournament is half Omaha hi-low and half seven-card stud hi-low, we figured you'd better know how to play each to get the most out of our coverage. For those who may be new to the game or just need a little refresher, here's the gist of how to play Omaha hi-low (we'll have a separate primer for stud hi-low).
Omaha hi-low is a popular version of Omaha poker game. The basic rules are like in Omaha, which is based on Texas hold'em, but there are some differences which makes the game active and interesting.
In hi-low games, the pot is split between the high hand and the low hand. The same cards may be used in declaring high and low.
One hand may win both the high and the low halves of the pot. A frequent example of this is "the wheel," consisting of an A-2-3-4-5.
If there is no qualifying hand for low, the best high hand wins the whole pot.
In the division of the pot, the high hand receives any odd chip.
Otherwise, all the regular rules of each game apply except that a qualifier of 8-or-better for the low hand applies unless a specific statement to the contrary is made. This means that the winning low hand can only contain cards of the value under nine. Hence in flop games, the flop must contain three non-paired cards of the value of eight or lower.
In order to qualify for the low half of the pot, the low hand must be 8, 7, 6, 5, 4 or lower. That's why this game is called "8 or better," or simply "Omaha 8/O8".
Interesting moment of Omaha hi-low rules is that straights and flushes do not count against you when qualifying for low. Also you are permitted to use different cards in your hand for the high side and different cards for the low side or the same cards for both the high and low sides. In a split pot, any leftover odd chip goes to the high side of the pot.
First Couple Of Notables
Level 1
: 75/150, 25 ante
The mixed game specialists are back in the Amazon room, including Vanessa Selbst. On her table is also Shirley Rosario, who finished in fourth place in the $10,000 Limit Omaha Hi-Lo (Event #10) just a few days ago.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
7,500 | 7,500 |
|
7,500 | 7,500 |
|
7,500 | 7,500 |
|
7,500 | 7,500 |
|
7,500 | 7,500 |
|
7,500 | 7,500 |
|
7,500 | 7,500 |
|
7,500 | 7,500 |
We Have Arrived As Well
Level 1
: 75/150, 25 ante
Eoghan O'Dea is on the same table as Vanessa Selbst and Shirley Rosario. We are now up to 295 entries with late registration available until the end of level six.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
7,500 | 7,500 |
|
7,500 | 7,500 |
|
7,500 | 7,500 |
|
7,500 | 7,500 |
|
7,500 | 7,500 |
|
7,500 | 7,500 |
|
7,500 | 7,500 |
|
7,500 | 7,500 |
|
7,500 | 7,500 |
|
7,500 | 7,500 |
|
7,500 | 7,500 |
Leah Caps Action
Level 1
: 75/150, 25 ante
Stud Hi-Low
With the opponent showing 
, Mile Leah capped the betting to 400 while showing 
. He drew the 
and his opponent got dealt the 
, which caused a min-bet and call. Both players checked the final card and the opponent scooped the pot with two pair after getting the 
on seventh street.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
6,800 | 6,800 |
More Hi-Low Studs in the Field
Level 1
: 75/150, 25 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
7,500 | |
|
7,500 | |
|
7,500 | |
|
7,500 | |
|
7,500 | |
|
7,500 | |
|
7,500 | |
|
7,500 | |
|
7,500 | |
|
7,500 | |
|
7,500 | |
|
7,500 | |
|
7,500 | |
|
7,500 | |
|
7,500 | |
|
7,500 | |
|
7,500 | |
|
7,500 | |
|
7,500 | |
|
7,500 | |
|
7,500 | |
|
7,500 | |
|
7,500 | |
|
7,500 | |
|
7,500 |
How to Play Seven-Card Stud Hi-Low
Level 1
: 75/150, 25 ante
Seven-card stud hi-low is a split pot game played with two to eight players. As in regular seven-card stud, every player is dealt a total of seven cards, three of them face down, and the other four face up.
Objective
To make both your best five-card high hand, and your best five-card low hand, using any combination of the seven cards you are dealt. The player with the best high hand wins half the pot, and the player with the best low hand wins the other half. If there is no qualifying low hand, the player with the best high hand wins the entire pot.
A qualifying low hand is made with five cards that are all eight or lower, an ace counting as the lowest. No pairs can exist in a low hand, but a straight and/or a flush may. The lowest possible hand is A-2-3-4-5. The highest possible qualifying low hand is 8-7-6-5-4.
Winning both the high and the low hand is called "scooping the pot".
Forced Bets
Ante - Seven card stud is normally played with an ante that is approximately 1/5th of the low limit bet size. Every player must ante up before the hand begins. The ante does not count towards any future bets.
Bring in - After the initial deal when every player has one card showing, the person with the lowest card must "bring in," which means he must place the low limit bet size in the pot. If two or more players share the lowest card, the one closest to the dealer's left side must bring in. This bet counts as your first round bet, so as long as nobody raises, you won't have to place any more money in the pot to see the next card.
Betting Rounds
There are five rounds of betting. In limit seven-card stud, all bets and raises must be equal to either the low limit, or high-limit bet size, depending on what round it is. In the first two rounds, all bets and raises must be equal to the low-limit bet size. In the third, fourth, and fifth rounds, all bets must be equal to the high-limit bet size. If, for example, you're playing 5-10 seven-card stud, all bets in the first two rounds will be in increments of 5, and all bets in the last three rounds will be in increments of 10. A maximum of three raises are allowed per betting round.
3rd street - Two cards are dealt face down to every player, followed by another card face up. The player with the lowest card must bring in, by betting 1/2 o the low limit bet. He may choose to raise by betting the full the low-limit bet. Play proceeds clockwise around the table, with each player choosing to fold, call, or raise. All bets and raises must be equal to the low-limit bet size.
4th street - A fourth card is dealt face up to every player. The player with the highest hand showing (at this point, the highest possible would be a pair of aces) is the first to act. He may choose to fold, check, or bet. If two or more players are tied for the highest hand, the one closest to the dealer's left will be the first to act. Play proceeds clockwise around the table as before. If a player is showing a pair at this point, then he and all the other players have the option to bet either the low limit bet size or the high limit bet size. Otherwise, all bets and raises must be equal to the low limit bet size.
5th street - A fifth card is dealt face up to every player. Play proceeds as in the previous round, with the highest hand betting first, except now all bets and raises must be equal to the high-limit bet size.
6th street - A sixth card is dealt face up to every player. Play proceeds as in the previous round. All bets and raises must be equal to the high-limit bet size.
7th street - A seventh and final card is dealt face down to every player. Play proceeds as in the previous round. All bets and raises must be equal to the high-limit bet size. In the rare event that all eight players remain in the hand at this point, there would not be enough cards for each player to receive another one. If that occurs, instead of every player receiving a card face down, a single card is placed in the middle of the table face up which every player is free to use.
Showdown - Anyone who has not folded after the last round of betting will now have the option of showing their hand in hopes of taking down the pot. The person who bet last is the first to show their hand, and then it proceeds clockwise from there, with each remaining player either choosing to show their hand, or muck it. Often times a player will muck their hand if they aren't going to win the pot, and don't want their opponents to see what they played.
"That's How You Start"
Level 1
: 75/150, 25 ante
Stud Hi-Low
Ismael Bojang was involved in a hand with two opponents that had three-bets in after fifth street, while the German raised the single bet after sixth street. After they all drew one more card, another single bet of three went into the pot, and the third opponent got scooped.
Bojang: 
/ 
/ 
The second player in the hand chopped the pot with a seven-low. Bojang smiled and said, "That's how you start."
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
8,200 | 700 |