Before the massive explosion of Texas Hold’em worldwide, 7 Card Stud used to be the
number one poker game in ⚾️ the world. Every professional poker player in the world knew
the game and knew it well.
The times have changed, but ⚾️ 7 Card Stud remains an important
part of a well-rounded poker player’s arsenal. In the modern era of poker, it's ⚾️ more
common to see stud played as part of mixed games.
Let's jump right in and learn the
rules of 7 ⚾️ Card Stud.
(Note: This guide covers the rules of standard 7 Card Stud. You
can also learn 5 Card Stud here ⚾️ or Stud Hi-Lo here.)
Antes and the Bring-In
Stud is
almost always played with limit betting rules. For more on limit game ⚾️ structures,
including references to the "small bet" and "big bet" referenced throughout this
article, see our guide to Poker Betting ⚾️ Rules.
Stud is unlike Hold’em and Omaha, where
two players to the left of the button post blinds. Instead, each player ⚾️ at the table
posts an ante, usually worth 5% of the big bet.
The player who receives the lowest
ranking door ⚾️ card posts a forced bet called the bring-in which is worth 5 times the
ante. If they so choose, this ⚾️ player may also complete the bet, by posting the entire
small bet.
In aR$5/$10 7 Card Stud game, players would postR$0.50 ⚾️ ante, and the
bring-in would beR$2.50. If the player chose to complete, they would need to payR$5
(the amount of ⚾️ the small bet).
The Streets
There are no community cards in stud games.
Instead, each player in 7 Card Stud receives seven ⚾️ unique cards. The first dealing
street includes two down cards and one up card to each of the players.
Four more
⚾️ betting rounds commence after that, with each player dealt another card in each
round.
After all seven cards have been dealt, ⚾️ the players will be left with three cards
face down and four cards face up.
The Betting Rounds
Once the player with ⚾️ the
lowest-value door card has posted his bring-in, the action continues clockwise around
the table. Every player has the right ⚾️ to either raise the bet, call, or fold their
cards.
In aR$5/$10 game, players would have the option to raise the ⚾️ bring-in toR$5.
Since Stud is always played as a limit game, there are exact limits as to how much you
⚾️ can raise.
The third and fourth street use the small bet as the raising and betting
standard, while the fifth, sixth, ⚾️ and seventh street use the big bet.
The only
exception to this is when a player pairs their door card on ⚾️ the fourth street, in which
case they may open with the big bet instead of the small bet if they ⚾️ so choose.
To use
ourR$5/$10 game example once more, players would be raising and betting inR$5
increments on the first two ⚾️ streets and inR$10 increments on the later three streets.
If a player pairs his door card on fourth street, they ⚾️ get an option of opening with
theR$10 bet.
The fourth, fifth, and sixth streets, each include a single card being
dealt ⚾️ face up to all remaining players. Seventh street is then dealt face down. A
betting round follows after every dealing ⚾️ street.
Starting with the fourth street, the
first player to act is always the one with the strongest showing hand.
For instance, ⚾️ a
player showing a pair will always act before players whose hands are not showing a
pair. Face-down cards are ⚾️ irrelevant.
The Showdown
If more than one player remains in
the hand after seventh street, the players show their cards, starting with ⚾️ seat one and
around the table clockwise. If there was aggressive action on the last betting street,
the player who ⚾️ made the aggressive action goes first in showing the cards.
The player
with the strongest five-card poker hand wins the pot. ⚾️ Winning hands are determined
using standard poker hand rankings. If two or more players have the same hand strength,
the ⚾️ pot is split among the winning players.
In the Stud showdown example above, the
player on the right wins with a ⚾️ club flush, beating the left player's two-pair.
Note:
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