Dealer's Choice Poker Game - Low in the Hole, High Chicago

A favorite 7 card stud variation of mine is “Low in the Hole, High Chicago.”  The game is dealt very similar to 7 card stud, and will be explained in more detail below.  The key to the game is that each player’s individual low FACE DOWN card is wild, and their highest FACEDOWN spade can qualify Chicago.  A player can have at most 3 face down cards.  If their lowest down card is (for instance) a five, then not only is that five a wild card but any face up fives they have are wild as well.  This can make the game very tricky because it is very easy to have a great hand disguised very well.  The person who shows down the best high hand and the person who shows down the highest FACEDOWN spade will split the pot.

Each player antes the standard table ante, then the dealer deals two cards facedown and one card face up to each player.  A round of betting starts with the highest hand showing.  Betting can be done according to table rules, either limit, pot limit or no limit.  Then another card is dealt face up, and another round of betting.  This is done twice more, where at this point each player will have two cards facedown and four face up.  Finally the dealer will ask each player whether they would like their final card up or down.  This is important because taking another card face down gives you another opportunity at making a high spade but it also risks changing your low wild card.

After the final card is dealt, there is one last round of betting and any players who have stayed in will show their hand.

This is a great game for building big pots because of it being a splitting game.  The best position to be in is to have the ace of spades down where you can guarantee you will win half of the pot.  At this point you will want to bet small and keep other players in, or if you are lucky someone else will be doing the betting for you.  Hope you enjoy this game in your next dealer’s choice poker game.  Good Luck!

For any poker poker player, you can always appreciate seeing a good bluff!  Here's one of my favorite poker bluff videos.