NN777 Hi Lo Card Game: How a Round Is Decided and Paid
In a hi lo card game you bet whether the next card is higher or lower than the one showing.
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A hi lo card game turns one question into a round: will the next card be higher or lower than the one showing? The rules fit in a sentence, and the arithmetic behind the payout is where the game gets interesting. Every figure on this page is derived from a 52-card deck, so you can check it by counting. The game sits in the NN777 table games list for card players next to games with far more rules.
How a hi lo card game decides a round
The round runs in four steps.
- A first card is dealt face up.
- You choose Higher or Lower, and place your stake.
- The next card is drawn.
- If it lands on your side, you win. If it lands on the other side you lose. An equal card is handled by the table’s rules.
For counting, treat the ace as 1 and the king as 13. Your table may rank the ace high, which changes the counts below, so read its rules first.
What changes the payout from one card to the next
Once the first card is out there are 51 cards left in the deck. Each rank has four cards, and three of the shown card’s rank remain. The table counts the winning cards for each bet.
| Card showing | Higher wins | Lower wins | Same rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 44 | 4 | 3 |
| 7 | 24 | 24 | 3 |
| 10 | 12 | 36 | 3 |
| king | 0 | 48 | 3 |
Take the 7. Higher wins with 24 cards and loses with 27, so a fair payout on ₱100 would be 100 × 27 / 24 = ₱112.50 profit, if an equal card counts as a loss. Take the 10: Higher has 12 winning cards and 39 losing, so fair profit is 100 × 39 / 12 = ₱325. Lower has 36 winning cards, so fair profit is 100 × 15 / 36, about ₱41.67.
A real table pays below those fair amounts, and the gap is the house edge. Open the paytable on the table you play and compare its figure with the fair figure above.
The lucky 7 card game and its three bets
The secondary game uses one card. In the lucky 7 card game as it is commonly played, you bet whether a single card is below 7, exactly 7 or above 7. From 52 cards, ranks ace to 6 give 24 cards below, the four sevens give 4, and ranks 8 to king give 24 above.
An example payout shows the arithmetic. If Below and Above paid even money, a ₱100 bet wins ₱100 with 24 cards in 52 and loses ₱100 with the other 28.
The average is (24 × 100 − 28 × 100) / 52, which is minus ₱7.69 per ₱100 staked. If the Seven bet paid 11 to 1 in the same example, the average would be (4 × 1,100 − 48 × 100) / 52, also minus ₱7.69. These payouts are examples only, so your table’s paytable decides the real figures.
Reading a hi lo table before you stake
Before the first round, check three things on the game’s information screen.
- How the table treats an equal card.
- Whether the ace ranks high or low.
- How many decks are in play, since the counts in the table above are for one deck.
Hi lo asks for one guess per round. For games with more decisions, see how to play pusoy or the round-by-round description of Texas hold em from blinds to showdown.
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FAQ
How does a hi lo card game work?
A card is shown, and you bet that the next card will be higher or lower. The next card is drawn and the bet wins or loses. What happens on an equal card depends on the table's rules.
Why does the payout change from card to card?
Because the number of cards that would win changes. After a 2, almost every card is higher, so higher pays little. After a king, nothing is higher, so lower is the only bet worth making.
What is the lucky 7 card game?
Commonly it is a one-card game: you bet that the card is below 7, exactly 7 or above 7. The name is used by more than one game, so read the rules of the table you open.
Ano ang tie sa hi lo?
When the next card matches the one showing, the round is neither higher nor lower. Many tables count it as a loss for both bets or pay it separately, so read the rules screen.