High Low Card Game: Hi-Lo Rules, Bets, Payouts and Tips

Hi-Lo (also called high-low) is a card game with very simple rules: you predict whether the next card will be higher or lower than the card before it. Even so, it offers a variety of bets, and deciding which one to take is what makes the game engaging.

What You Will Learn

• The base card determines the payouts for Hi and Lo, and how likely each bet is to win.
• The highest payout returns 12.06 times your stake, and the return to player (RTP) is around 96%.

This article takes about 10 minutes to read.

What Is Hi-Lo? The Game’s Appeal and Features

Hi-Lo is a very simple table game. Several providers, including Playtech, offer it as a live game, and it has become better known among casino players in recent years.

The rules are easy to learn: you only have to judge whether the next card will be higher or lower than the card dealt before it.

You might think, then, that you could simply bet Hi whenever the card is low and Lo whenever it is high.

In Hi-Lo, however, the payouts change depending on the previous card.

For example, if the card showing is a K, the only higher card that can come next is an A. In that case, a winning Hi bet returns 11.56 times your stake.

You can choose a bet that wins often, or one that wins less often but pays more. This range of choices is what defines the game.

Hi-Lo Rules and How to Play

The main bet in Hi-Lo is a bet on either Hi or Lo.

Only two cards are compared, so the rules are quick to learn.

Card Rankings

The 2 is the lowest card, ranks rise through the numbered cards and then J, Q and K, and the A is the highest card.

This is the same order used in poker and many other card games.

Suits make no difference, so if a 6 of spades is followed by a 6 of diamonds, neither card is higher. How cards of the same rank are handled is explained below.

Most games use every card, but some remove certain cards. In Playtech Live’s Hi-Lo, for example, the 10s are removed, so the J comes directly after the 9.

How a Round of Hi-Lo Is Played

This walkthrough uses Playtech’s Hi-Lo Club screen as an example, but the basic flow is the same in every version of Hi-Lo.

STEP1

Bet on Hi or Lo Based on the Previous Card

In Hi-Lo, the card dealt in the previous round stays in play as the card to compare against.

You predict whether the next card will be higher (Hi) or lower (Lo) than the card currently shown, and place your bet.

The payouts for Hi and Lo change with the base card (this article’s term for the previous card that the next card is compared against). When a high card is showing, Hi pays more, and when a low card is showing, Lo pays more, so both bets have roughly the same expected value.

Other bets are also available, such as Snap (the next card has the same rank), guessing the rank and guessing the color (red or black).

STEP2

Three Cards Are Burned (Live Hi-Lo Only)

Once betting closes, the dealer burns three cards (deals them face down and discards them) so that players cannot work out which cards remain.

These cards play no part in the round and are removed from the shoe.

STEP3

The Card Is Revealed and Bets Are Settled

One card is turned face up.

If its rank is higher than the previous card, Hi wins; if it is lower, Lo wins. Winning bets are paid at the payout shown, and the next round begins.

In the game whose pay table is used on this page, a card of the same rank counts as a loss. In some games it counts as a win or a push, and games that treat it as a loss pay more on winning bets.

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Hi-Lo Bets and Payouts

In Hi-Lo, the payouts for Hi and Lo vary widely depending on the rank of the base card.

All figures are multipliers that include your stake, so 1.0x would simply return your bet with no profit. At 3.85x, for example, a winning $10 bet returns $38.50, a profit of $28.50.

When the base card is a 5, Lo wins only on a 2, 3 or 4 (another 5 loses), so this bet wins less often and pays a relatively high 3.85x. Hi wins on any card higher than 5, so its payout is lower.

Several other bets are also available.

Betting on Snap

Snap is a bet that the next card will have the same rank as the card on the table. A winning Snap bet returns 12.06 times your stake.

The payout is the same whatever the rank. In theory, you could take into account which cards have already been dealt, but in practice it is difficult to gain a consistent advantage this way.

Betting on the Rank

As the name suggests, this bet predicts the rank of the next card. In live Hi-Lo, you choose one of three groups of ranks, and a winning bet returns 2.89 times your stake.

Betting on Red or Black

Red/black is a bet on whether the next card’s suit will be red or black. A winning bet returns 1.92 times your stake. In theory, you could look for an imbalance in the colors already dealt, but doing so does not guarantee an advantage.

Betting on K or A

K or A is a bet that wins if the next card is a king or an ace. A winning bet returns 5.78 times your stake.

This bet wins less often, which is why it pays more. Previous results do not let you predict the next card, so if you take this bet, the sensible approach is to keep your stake small. Changing the bet size does not change the expected value.

Betting on A

The A bet wins, as its name says, if the next card is an ace. A winning bet returns 11.56 times your stake.

Hi-Lo Playing and Betting Tips

In Hi-Lo, as a rule, the lower the payout, the more often a bet wins. Every betting area is designed with roughly the same RTP, so the real choice is between winning more often and aiming for bigger payouts.

If you overestimate how often a bet will win and raise your stakes, a run of losses can set you back further than you can recover.

The following applies to every base card. Payouts are set to match the probability of winning, so no matter how you adjust your bet size, your long-term expected value stays the same. All you can change is the amount you win per round and how widely your balance swings.

When the Base Card Is a 7 or 8

When the base card is a 7 or 8, the difference between the Hi and Lo payouts is at its smallest, and their expected values are almost the same. The chance of losing is also high, so it is better to keep your bet small.

When the Base Card Is 4–6 or 9–Q

As a rule, the natural choice is Hi on a 4–6 and Lo on a 9–Q. These bets will sometimes lose, but they win relatively often and return 1.28–1.65 times your stake (see the table in “Hi-Lo Bets and Payouts” for the payout on each card).

When the Base Card Is a 3 or K

Bet Hi on a 3 and Lo on a K. With a base card of 3 or K, the only losing card is a 2 or an A, respectively (in games where a card of the same rank counts as a loss, another 3 or K also loses).

When the Base Card Is an A or 2

When the base card is an A or a 2, a bet loses only if the next card has the same rank (in games where a card of the same rank counts as a loss), so the chance of winning is very high. The payout, though, is only 1.05x, so a winning bet earns very little (Hi cannot be bet on an A, and Lo cannot be bet on a 2).

The game uses multiple decks and removes three cards every round, so counting the remaining cards to gain an advantage is not realistic.

Because these bets win so often, one approach is to adjust your bet size if you want a similar profit each round. They can still lose, so be careful not to raise your stake too far.

This applies only to Hi-Lo games in which a card of the same rank counts as a loss. In games where it counts as a win, these bets are not available.

Can You Use a Betting System?

Betting systems such as the Martingale system and the Paroli system only work in games where a win pays a fixed amount, such as even money (1 to 1). For this reason, they cannot be applied directly to Hi-Lo.

Providers That Offer Hi-Lo

Hi-Lo is slowly gaining popularity, but only a few providers offer it. So if an online casino carries one of the games listed below, you can play Hi-Lo there.

Many of these providers are lesser known, so the games are easier to find at online casinos with a large game library.

Hi-Lo Club (Playtech Live)

At present, Playtech Live is the main provider of live Hi-Lo. Playtech offers its own live game shows and a range of less common live games, and Hi-Lo is one of them.

Playtech’s Hi-Lo uses a deck with the 10s removed, so its payouts differ slightly from other versions. Rounds move very quickly, so it is best to play once you are familiar with Hi-Lo. Until then, you can start with Playtech’s Hi-Lo Premium, a table game you play at your own pace (its rules differ slightly).

Spribe HiLo

Spribe, known for simple casino games such as Aviator, Plinko and Mines, has also released a version of Hi-Lo.

Spribe’s version has slightly different rules. One base card is shown, and after you predict Hi or Lo for that card, you choose one of three face-down cards.

You can cash out after a single correct prediction. Each consecutive correct prediction adds to your winnings, but a wrong prediction forfeits them.

BGaming Hi-Lo Switch

BGaming’s Hi-Lo Switch is a new take on Hi-Lo in which your winnings multiply with each correct prediction.

Once you set your stake, three cards are dealt. Each card has an up arrow (↑) above it and a down arrow (↓) below it, and you use these to predict whether the next card will be Hi or Lo.

If your prediction is wrong, you lose your stake. If it is right, you win a payout and can then predict Hi or Lo against the new card. If that prediction is also right, a new multiplier is applied to your previous winnings. This repeats, and your winnings keep rising as long as you keep predicting correctly. After one correct prediction, you can cash out whenever you are satisfied with the amount. The game is simple, but it keeps the tension high.

Frequently Asked Questions About Hi-Lo Rules

What happens in Hi-Lo if the next card has the same rank as the previous card?

If you bet on Hi or Lo and the next card has the same rank as the previous card, the bet loses in the game whose pay table is shown on this page. In some games a card of the same rank counts as a win or a push instead. The rule differs by provider, so check it before you play. You can also bet on Snap, which wins when the next card has the same rank.

What is the RTP of Hi-Lo?

Casino Hi-Lo games are often set with an RTP of around 96%, which is slightly lower than table games such as blackjack and roulette. In any case, the RTP is below 100%, so you should expect to lose money over the long run.

Summary: Choose Hi-Lo Bets by Balancing Payout and Chance of Winning

Hi-Lo is a very simple game: you predict whether the next card will be higher or lower than the previous one. What makes it interesting is that the balance between the payout and the chance of winning changes with the base card.

You can play steadily with bets that win often, or aim for bets with high payouts, so Hi-Lo is a casino game you can play in many different ways. Only a few online casinos offer it at present.