Seven Card Stud rules

Seven Card Stud is one of the more popular poker games alongside Hold’em and Omaha. For a long time in the 20th century, this variant was even more popular in American casinos than Texas Hold’em poker. Limit is the most common form in which seven card stud is played.

Seven card stud rules

General rules of seven card stud poker

  1. Seven card stud is usually played with 2 to 8 participants.
  2. The game is played with all 52 playing cards, excluding the jokers.
  3. The ace is both the lowest card and the highest card in the game.
  4. A player tries to form the highest possible card combination with his own cards. See our article with the rules of Texas Hold’em for hand combinations.
  5. Unlike Hold’em poker, in Seven card stud you play only with your own cards and there are no community cards that each player can combine with.
  6. A player can win in 2 ways:
    1. By having the highest card combination at a showdown.
    2. By betting (betting) or raising (raising) after which all opponents pass.

How to play Seven card stud

Unlike Hold’em, no blinds are bet in Seven card stud. Instead, each player bets an ante. The amount of the antes are predetermined. Next, each player is dealt 3 cards. The first 2 cards are closed (hole cards) and the third card is open, the “door card.”

The player with the lowest card now brings in the bring in. If several players have the same lowest card, the suit of the card is decisive. The order of suits from low to high is spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs. Then after the bring in, players may determine to call, raise or fold.

Fourth street

After the first round of betting, each player who has not yet passed is dealt an open card: 4th street. The player with the highest open card combination starts the bidding round and can choose to check or bet. Also on later streets, the player with the highest open card combination begins the action.

Fifth street

The remaining players are dealt another open card: 5th street. From this round, bets are doubled (for example, if betting and raising on 1st round and 4th street was done with $1, it is now done with $2).

Sixth street

The players still in the pot are dealt another exposed card: 6th street and now there is another round of betting.

Seventh street

Finally, each player is dealt a closed card (a card you can only see yourself) and this is followed by a final round of betting.

In a showdown, the player who can show the highest card combination with 5 of his 7 cards wins. As in other poker games, you can also win if you can make all other players pass.

Finally, a video explaining Seven card stud poker.

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