Chicago High and Low is a variant of stud poker. The game play follows like in stub poker. While this is so, learning Chicago Poker variant is still worthy. This will help you play more of less common variant to leverage against other players on the table. Limiting yourself to learning only the popular variants will put you at an uphill climb in defeating poker experts.
On the other hand, if you know more variant, you may face less of those experts and thus, it will help you enjoy poker while practicing your poker skills against less competition. When you are already comfortable with your poker gaming, then you can now face the giants in a popular poker variant table such as Texas Hold’em or the ambitious game of H.O.R.S.E.
Now, here are the rules of Chicago Hi/Lo Poker and how it is played.
Rules of Chicago Hi/Lo
• This game is played with ante and bring it in bet. Ante is usually one chip. The bring it in bet on the other hand will be half of the minimum bet.
• Because of the bring it in bet, no player can check in the first round of betting.
• Betting starts from the player with the lowest face up card known as door card. This is the player who will post the bring it in bet.
• In Chicago high variant, the highest spade in the hole will win half of the pot. In the Low Chicago variant, however, the lowest ace will win half of the pot. If the player with the winning Chicago card is the player with the best 5-card hand at the end of the game, then, he wins the entire pot. This is called Chicago scoop.
How Play Chicago Hi/Lo
1. The dealer shuffles the cards. The player to the left of the dealer cuts the deck somewhere in the middle.
2. The players will now post the ante. Usually the ante is one chip. In other cases, the ante is half of the minimum bet.
3. The dealer now draws three cards to each player, 2 face down cards and 1 face up card.
4. The lowest face up card is called the door card. The player with the door card will post the forced bet known as bring it in bet.
5. After dealing three cards to each player, 2 face down cards and 1 face up card, the first round of betting starts. The player seated on the left of the bring it in bettor will make his action. This player will either call or see, raise or fold. The betting round moves clockwise until all the players have made their action.
6. The dealer now draws the fourth street, another face up card, followed by the second betting round. This time onwards, the player with the highest face up hand will start the betting round.
7. The dealer will then draw the fifty street and the sixth street both followed by betting round starting from the highest face up hand.
8. Then, the seventh street will be dealt. This time the card will be dealt face down. This is the third hole card each player will have. In the Chicago High variant, the player with the highest spade in the hole card will win half of the pot. On the other hand, in the Chicago Low variant, the player with the lowest ace such as Ace of Clubs will win half of the pot. In case the player with the winning Chicago card holds the best 5-card hand in the showdown, this player will therefore wins the entire pot. This is called Chicago scoop.
Want to try Chicago Poker in your next poker rendezvous? You already have the knowledge of the game, might as well practice it in the actual game.
Next, we will discuss another cool variation of poker known as Oxford Stud.
