How To Play 7 Card Stud

Seven Card Stud poker has a rich history and is an increasingly popular poker variation online. Unlike many poker games there are no community cards. Each player is dealt their own seven cards, four of which are displayed for the whole table to see. This article shows you how to play Seven Card Stud by taking a hand from before the cards are dealt through to the river.

Antes

Before any cards are dealt each player must make a small contribution to the pot known as the ‘ante’. This is a fraction of the initial bet and goes to make up the initial pot. The size of the ante will vary from site to site and is usually between 10% and 50% of the initial (small) bets.

Each player is then dealt 3 cards. The first 2 are ‘face down’ and can be seen only by the individual player. The 3rd card is face up and so visible to all players. The card showing is referred to as the ‘door card’. The player with the lowest door card must make a further forced small bet known as the ‘bring-in’.

Betting

Betting then proceeds clockwise around the table from the ‘bring in’ player. Each individual can either fold, call (match the bring in bet) or raise. On this and all subsequent betting rounds there are a maximum of 4 raises allowed. Betting is completed when all players have reacted to the last raise.

Should a player run out of chips during the betting rounds a side pot is created for those players who still wish to bet. The pot which the all-in player has contributed to is separated at the time this player runs out of money and represents the maximum that player can win. Bets from players still in the hand then build a new pot.

Further cards are then dealt one at a time – each one being referred to as a ‘street’. This makes a total of 5 betting rounds in seven card stud. After each card is dealt the player with the highest hand showing starts the betting, which again proceeds clockwise around the table.

Double Bets

After the 5th card is dealt the betting limit doubles. For example a $1 / $2 stud game may have an ante of 25c and initial bring-in and bets of $1, after 5th street the betting amount will be fixed at $2.

The 7th card is dealt face down (visible only to the individual player) followed by a final round of betting before showdown. Each player ends up with seven cards, 3 face down and 4 visible to the rest of the table.

The winner at showdown is determined by the best 5-card poker hand using 5 of the seven cards held.

Read this article to learn how to play seven card stud hi lo.

Next: Seven Card Stud Starting Hands