Seven-Card Stud Rules

Seven-Card Stud is a stud poker game. In stud poker each player receives a mix of downcards (that only you can see) and upcards (that everyone can see) dealt in multiple betting rounds. In all stud games, the last card is always dealt face down. All card are individual, there are no community cards as in hold'em games. Stud games are also typically non-positional games, meaning that the player who bets first on each subsequent round does not necessarily have to be the same. Antes are used instead of blinds.

Seven-Card Stud is played with seven cards, whereof three are downcards and four are upcards. Two downcards and one upcard are dealt before the first betting round. Thereafter one card is followed by one betting round, in total there are five betting rounds. The best five-card poker hand - constructed by any mix of the seven cards - wins the pot.

Sequence of Game Play

1. Antes Each player must place a forced bet, the ante, before the cards are dealt.
2. Starting hand Each player receives two cards face down and one card face up. The face down cards are also known as hole cards, and the first open card as the door card.

3. First betting round The player with the lowest ranking upcard (also by suit) has to open the betting. That player has a choice of making the bring-in bet, which is less than a full bet, or making a regular full sized bet. The action then continues clockwise.
4. Fourth street Each player receives another card face up.

5. Second betting round From now on the player with the best poker hand showing (of the upcards that is) starts the action.
6. Fifth street Each player receives another card face up.

7. Third betting round The betting advance as before. (In a fixed limit betting structure the bets are now doubled.)
8. Sixth street Each player receives another card face up.

9. Fourth betting round The betting advance as before.
10. River Each player receives a seventh and final card face down.

11. Last betting round The betting advance as before.
12. Showdown If more than one player reaches this stage, all remaining players show their hands. The first bettor or last raiser shows first, and then only those who beat that hand has to show. The highest ranked hand wins the pot. Players can use any five of their seven cards to make their best hand.

Example

Player As cards

Player Bs cards


Studying each players hand in this example shows that Player B must have started the betting on the first round of betting as the king is lower ranked than the ace. On all subsequent rounds, player A has started the action as player As upcards are better than player Bs all the way. Including the hole cards and the river, player Bs three of a kind was not beat until the river when player As flush came in.

Player As final hand

Player Bs final hand

In Depth Issues

Suits To determine who should start the action on the first round of betting, if two or more players have the same lowest card, suits are utilized. The person who brings it in is determined by suit order progressing from clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades.

Position To determine who should start the action on subsequent betting rounds, if there is a tie for the highest hand, position is considered. The player who received cards first, is then also first to act.

Option If a pair is showing on fourth street, players have the option to make a single or double bet. As soon as a player makes a double bet, the following betting is made with these bet increments. When playing online, such rules are not necessary to know by heart as all the legal betting options will be presented on the screen.

Cap The term cap is used to describe the final raise in a round since betting is then capped and no one can make another raise. A cap of three raises are usually used. Increasing the amount wagered by the opening forced bet up to a full bet does not count as a raise, but merely as a completion of the bet. So three raises can still be made before the cap is reached.

Too small deck On a few rare occasions the number of cards in the deck are not enough to give each player their own river card. This happens when all player at a full table chooses to stay in the game all the way. In such a case, the final card is dealt face up in the center of the table, the river card becomes a community card.