7 Card Stud Poker

Seven-Card Stud is different from both Texas Hold’em and Omaha, where you have to be patient. Seven-Card Stud is exciting and can also be pretty rewarding. It was the most popular game of poker, before Texas Hold’em took the ‘crown’.

To make sure there is some money to start out with in the pot, each player has to post an ante. In contrast, for example in Texas Hold’em, stud poker has no ‘community’ cards. The dealer instead deals out two cards face down and one card face up.

There are five rounds of betting and moves clockwise around the table, and a limit of three re-raises in all rounds. Opening the Betting The player with the lowest-ranked up card starts the game with a token bet called the 'bring-in'. (If two or more players have the same lowest card, the bring-in is determined by suit in alphabetical order: Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, and Spades, with Spades as the highest.)

Third Street
Once the bring-in bet has been made, each player (starting with the player to the left of the bring-in) can fold, call, or raise to the betting limit.

Fourth Street
All players are dealt another up card. The player with the highest face up card starts betting. If a player gets an open pair he makes a double bet, but in this round only.

Fifth Street
All players are dealt another up card. The player that starts betting is the one with the highest combination.

Sixth Street
All players are dealt another up card. The player that starts betting is the one with the highest combination.

Seven Street or River
Every player is dealt the final card. The player who started betting at the last round starts out betting this time too.

Showdown
The best hand wins.

7 card stud is summarized as 2 down, 4 up, 1 down.