Seven Card Stud

Seven card stud is a popular form of poker and is played with up to 8 players at the table. This game has five rounds of betting between the dealing of seven cards. The player with the best hand, that is best five of the seven cards, wins the ‘pot’.

How to play Seven Card Stud

The game starts with all players posting the ‘ante’, the usually small compulsory bet which builds the ‘pot’.

Then each player is dealt three cards, two face down the ‘hole’ cards, and one face up the ‘door’ card or ‘third street’. The player with the lowest face up card initiates the first bet ‘bring-in’.

The players are then dealt the fourth card ‘fourth street’ this is face up. The betting is started with the player with the highest ranking two face up cards.

The players are dealt the fifth card ‘fifth street’ this is also face up. The betting continues with the player with the highest ranking three face up cards. Traditionally with this round and subsequent rounds the betting increases, double the amount that was available in the first two rounds.

The players are dealt the sixth card ‘sixth street’ this is face up. The player with the highest ranking four face up cards continues the betting.

The players are dealt the final card face down this is the third ‘hole’ card, also known as ‘river’ or ‘seventh street’. Then a final round of betting takes place.

The winner of the ‘pot’ is the player with the best five of the seven cards available to him.