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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