How To Play Seven-Card Stud

Seven Card Stud is one of the oldest and most widely spread games of poker. It has been praised from its inception for its demand on players memory and technical intricacy. It is one of the hardest games to master, but one of the most fun to beat. The rules of Seven Card Stud are as follows:

1. A round of Seven Card Stud begins with all players posting an enforced bet, known as the ante. The ante is generally one third to one half of the lowest limit. For the purposes of this rule set, we will refer to a hypothetical game with the limit $2-4. In this game, the ante would be $1.

2. After the antes are posted, three cards are dealt to each player. The first two are dealt face down, and are called hole cards. The third is dealt face up for all to see, and is called the door card. Immediately following the deal, the player with the lowest ranked door card must most a mandatory bet called a bring-in. The bring-in is most often one third to one half of the lowest limit, but can be set to any amount. In our game, the bring-in would be $1.

3. After the bring-in has been posted, a betting round occurs. Betting begins with the player to the left of the player who posted the bring-in. This first round of betting is known as third street (since three cards have been dealt thus far). As in all forms of poker, players have three betting options: call the bring-in (match the bet), raise (add another bet), or fold. Raises on third street must be in increments matching the lowest limit of the game. In this case, bets would be made in $2 increments.

4. After third street betting is complete, another card is dealt face-up to each player. A betting round follows the deal, this one being known as fourth street. Betting in this round and all rounds following begins with the player who has the highest hand showing. The betting structure in this round mirrors that in the previous, with one exception. Since there is no enforced bet on fourth street, if there are no bets behind on a given player’s turn, he may check his hand- passing his turn without folding, and without betting.

5. Once fourth street has ended, each player is dealt one more card face-up. Another round of betting ensues, known as fifth street (see a pattern here?). The options available to players in terms of betting actions remain the same, but the betting amounts change. On fifth street, minimum bets double, and are made in increments matching the highest limit of the game. In our $2-$4 limit game, bets on fifth street would be $4. This limit structure continues on all streets going forward, until the end of the game.

6. Once fifth street is over, each player receives a final face-up card. Another round of betting begins, known as sixth street. Betting structure on sixth street mirrors that of fifth street.

7. After betting is complete on sixth street, players are dealt their last card of the game, face-down. A final round of betting occurs, the structure of which is identical to the previous two rounds. This last round is known as seventh street, or perhaps more popularly, the river.

8. Upon completion of betting on the river, any players remaining must compare their hands. As in other forms of poker, the player with the highest five card poker hand wins the pot. This is called the showdown. Once hands are compared and the pot has been shipped to the winner, the round of Seven Card Stud is complete.