Seven Card Stud Rules
Here are the main rules:
1: Ante
Before the game starts all players will need to ante a small amount (depending on the game), which is how much it costs to be dealt in. It can be as small as just $0.15 upwards.
2: Third Street
Players will be dealt three cards – one face-up card and two face-down cards (hole cards). The player that has the lowest-value face-up card will start the game. They will need to make a nominal bet or bet the lowest betting increment. The betting will continue in a clockwise direction.
3: Fourth Street
Players will now get another face-up card – Fourth Street. The player that starts this round of betting action will be the player whose two exposed cards have the highest value (i.e. if they have a pair of Aces or Kings for example). They can either check (stay at the current betting level) or bet the lower incremental betting amount (i.e. $3). The betting goes in a clockwise direction.
4: Fifth Street
After the third and fourth street comes the fifth street – where players are dealt another face-up card. The betting action starts with the player that has the best-exposed cards. Another round of betting starts. The best will go up to the higher betting increments (i.e, $6)
5: Sixth Street
All players will receive a new face-up card – sixth street. The player that starts the betting action will be the player with the best exposed cards.
6: Seventh Street/ The River
The players now get their seventh – and final card. This will be dealt face-down so no other player can see what it is. This is the final betting round and the first player to bet will be the one with the highest value exposed cards. If there is more than one player left, it goes to the showdown.
7: The Showdown
If there is more than one remaining player, the player who bet last (or raiser) will show their hand first. Hands will be revealed in a clockwise direction and the player that has the best five-card poker hand will win. If it is a draw, the pot will be split.
Betting Options
Stud poker betting options are very much the same as most other poker game variants. They have the options to:
- Check: Decline to place a bet but still keep their cards (if no other player has yet made a bet)
- Bet: Place their first bet
- Fold: Thrown in their hand and leave the game
- Call: Match the amount of the previous bet
- Raise: Match the previous bet and increase the bet further.
What option is available to you as the player depends on what has happened previously. If you are the very first player in the first betting round, you have the option to check or bet only. After this, all other players will have the option to Fold, Call or Raise. In Limit games, bets and raises will be in pre-determined increments.
Other Stud Rules
If all other factors are equal, then the hand might be determined based on the card suit. So, you are looking to find the player to make the first bet based on the value of an exposed card, then a 10 of spades would beat a 10 of clubs.
1. Spades
2. Hearts
3. Diamonds
4. Clubs
Where spades are the most valuable and clubs are the lowest value. This can often be used to break a tie. However, this rule doesn’t count in the showing of the hands at the final showdown.
When playing the fourth street, should a player show a pair in their face-up cards, then the betting can either be opened as normal or raised to the higher limit in the betting structure. If a player does make the big bet in this instance, then this bet will remain in place for the rest of the betting round.
Because 7 Card stud games can be played with up to 8 players – and there are only 52 cards in the deck, you could run out of bets before reaching the seventh street. This is very rare, but in this instance, one exposed community card will be dealt and shared by the rest of the remaining players.
