Lucky Sevens

How to Play

Lucky Sevens plays like Hold'em, but the dice decide what's wild. Everyone antes $1 and gets two hole cards; the dealer rolls two dice and the sum names the wild rank for the whole hand. Over five $1-limit betting rounds the board grows — flop 2, turn 1, river 1 — and after the river each player gets a third hole card, face down. A paid re-roll can change the wild mid-hand and feed a side pot that only a player who rolls a seven can win.

A hand, step by step

1. Ante & deal. Everyone antes $1 and gets two hole cards, face down.
2. The opening roll. The dealer rolls two dice; the sum sets the wild rank (see the table) and — like any roll — the dealer pays $1 × the roll into the side pot, seeding it every hand. If it's a 7, the dealer immediately takes half the side pot and stakes the claim on the rest; if it's doubles, the dealer may roll again (see below).
3. Five betting rounds. Round 1 on your hole cards; then the flop (2 cards), the turn, the river, and finally the third hole card — each followed by a $1-limit betting round of the opening bet plus at most three raises.
4. The re-roll. At the start of rounds 2–5, before betting, the offer to re-roll opens with the player to the button's left — clockwise from the dealer who made the opening roll — and passes clockwise from there. The first to take it pays $1 × the number rolled into the side pot and resets the wild. One re-roll per round; the offer moves round the table hand to hand as the button does.
5. Doubles roll again. Any roll that comes up doubles — opening throw or a re-roll — lets that same player roll again, paying $1 × the new roll into the side pot. It keeps going as long as they keep hitting doubles and can pay — each new roll another chance at a seven.
6. Showdown. Best five from your three hole cards + four community cards (wilds included) wins the main pot. The last player to roll a seven takes the side pot if they never folded.
7. Play on. Re-ante, the button moves one seat, and deal again. Run out of chips and you're out — last player with money wins.

The Side Pot

The side pot is a running jackpot, separate from the main pot, that only a seven can win:

• How it fills. Every roll pays its number into the side pot — the dealer's opening roll, every paid re-roll, and every doubles roll-again ($1 × the number rolled). The side pot is only ever this dice money; nothing from the betting ever goes into it.
• Roll a 7, take half of it. The instant anyone rolls a seven, that player immediately scoops half the side pot (rounded down) into their stack — the other half stays in the jackpot — and stakes the claim on the rest.
• Who owns it. The instant anyone rolls a 7 — opening roll, a re-roll, or a doubles roll-again — they claim the side pot. A later seven passes the claim, accumulated pile and all.
• Doubles roll again. Matching dice never win the pot themselves — instead they hand the roller the option to roll again, paying again, for a fresh chance at a seven. A player can chain several rolls this way as long as the dice keep pairing and they can pay.
• Who wins it. Only the last player to roll a seven wins it, at showdown, provided they never folded — even if they lose the main pot.
• When it carries. If the owner folds (and no one else rolls a seven) or nobody rolls a seven at all, the side pot goes unclaimed and carries to the next deal, growing until someone finally rolls a seven and survives.

Watch a Full Hand — step by step

Step through a complete 4-player hand one action at a time — the opening roll that lands a seven (scooping half the side pot and claiming the rest), a mid-hand re-roll that swings the wild, a doubles roll-again into another seven, and a showdown decided by wild cards.

Player Comments (0)

No comments yet — be the first to tell us how your table plays Lucky Sevens.