Rules of Seven Card Stud

Seven Card Stud is a poker variant that before the recent increase in popularity Texas Hold'em was the most popular home played game in United States. Seven Card Stud is still popular in casinos in the eastern part of the country, while in western part it is played, but is much less popular than Texas Hold'em.

Two to eight players can play Seven Card Stud. At the beginning of the game each player receives two cards face down and one card face up. If the game is played with a bring-in, the player with the lowest up-card hands pays the bring-in. If two players have equal up-card hands, suit can be used to break the tie. After the bring-in is paid, the game proceeds clockwise. If played without bring-in, the player with the highest up-card hand starts betting. In this case suit does not break ties. If two players have equal hands, the first player clockwise to the dealer starts betting.

When all players place their bets or fold, another card is dealt face up ant the second betting round begins. In both bring-in and no bring-in games, the second round is started by the player with the highest up-card hand. While there are less than five up-cards, straights and flushes are not counted.

Third and fourth betting rounds are equal to the second one with one up card per round. The fifth betting round starts with a down-card and ends up with showdown. So, Seven Card Stud can be summarized as two down, four up, one down. At showdown, each player must set the best 5 card poker hand out of his cards.

Each player has 7 cards at showdown, and when played by 8 players, 52 card deck is not enough. Normally, many players fold in early rounds and there is no problem with that, but in low-stake home games a few or none of the players may fold, so, the easiest way to prevent such problem is to limit the game to 7 players, but there also are other solution, like reusing previously dealt burn-cards or deal one community card in the last round instead of dealing a down-card for each player. The only thing never to be done is recycling cards from folded hands. Unlike draw poker where players do not see each others cards until showdown, in Seven Card Stud, players build their strategies according to up-cards they see. Therefore, once folded, a card is not supposed to appear again in the same game.