Seven-Card Stud Poker Rules
Introduction
Before the start of the Texas hold'em poker
boom a couple of years ago, seven-card stud was ♣ one of the most popular poker
variations in the United States.
The game can be played with two to eight players, ♣ and
the biggest difference between seven-card stud and Texas hold'em or Omaha is that
seven-card stud does not involved a ♣ flop, and in most cases, it doesn't involve
community cards at all.
Here we go over the poker rules for Seven ♣ Card Stud.
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Game Play
As you can see in the image above, to begin each
hand a player is dealt the first ♣ two cards face down and then a third facing up. This
is often called third street. The two face-down cards ♣ are called the "hole cards" and
the face-up card is called the "door card." Based on these three cards, one ♣ would
decide whether or not to continue with the hand. Like in any poker variation,
starting-hand selection is extremely important ♣ in seven-card stud.
Each player gets
dealt a total of seven cards, of which three are dealt face down and four ♣ are dealt
face up. From these seven cards the player has to choose his best five-card
combination. The hand rankings ♣ are identical to those in Texas hold'em or Omaha; a
royal flush is the best possible hand and the worst ♣ hand is the high card hand (no
pair).
Antes, bring-in and betting
While the blinds are the forced bets in Texas
hold'em ♣ and Omaha poker, antes are the forced bets placed by every player before
receiving any cards. As an example, let's ♣ think of aR$10/$20 seven-card stud game with
an ante ofR$1 and a bring-in ofR$5.
Each player wanting to be dealt in ♣ to receive a
hand would have to post theR$1 ante, creating a pot worth competing for. The first
three cards ♣ are then dealt to each player before it is determined that one player must
post the bring-in. In seven-card stud, ♣ the player with the lowest-ranking door card
would have to post theR$5 bring-in at minimum, but this person does have ♣ the option to
"complete" the bet by postingR$10 (the small limit of the game). From there, the
betting continues clockwise ♣ around the table, with each player having the option to
call, raise or fold. In the case that the first ♣ player who brought in only posts the
bring-in, other players may have the option of completing the bet toR$10 as ♣ the first
raise. Once the betting is complete, every player left in the hand is dealt a fourth
card, referred ♣ to as fourth street.
In games that involve a button that dictates where
the action starts, those differ from seven-card stud. ♣ In seven-card stud, the first
player to act from fourth street on is the player displaying the highest-ranking
hand.
Before proceeding ♣ past third street, though, it is important to have solid hand
selection. An example of good starting hands in seven-card ♣ stud would include the
following:
Seven-card stud is most often played as a limit game. Sticking with the same
example of ♣ ourR$10/$20 seven-card stud game, the limits of betting on third and fourth
street would be the smaller limit, orR$10 in ♣ this case. On fifth, sixth and seventh
street, the limits increase toR$20.
In the case that a player pairs his door ♣ card on
fourth street, the opening player now has the option to bet double the small limit, or
the larger ♣ limit. For example, if a player begins with an ace and picks up another ace
on fourth street, that player ♣ may open with a bet ofR$20 instead ofR$10. This unique
betting rule only takes place in the high version of ♣ seven-card stud, and not the
split-pot version.
Conclusion
In seven-card stud, it is very important to pay close
attention to the cards ♣ of your opponents. If you, for example, have a straight draw
with K♣Q♦J♥10♠, but you already see three aces on ♣ the table, then you are only drawing
to one ace and the remaining nines in the deck. If a player ♣ folded the case ace and you
are unaware he or she did so, you could be incorrectly estimating your odds ♣ in the
hand.
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