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7 Card Stud rules for play

7 card stud is a traditional version of poker, and whilst it is different to Texas hold'em we are going to assume that you have learnt how to play Texas hold'em for simplicities sake. If you have not, please check out our Texas hold'em guide.

7 card stud, often reffered to as just 'stud' poker, uses an 'Ante' and 'Bring in' rather than the big and little blind. Also, there are no community cards. Instead, each player is dealt (in stages) 7 cards. The first 2 are private (face down so only the player can see it), the next 3 are face up so that everyone can see them, and the final two are private. The final difference is that in stud, there are 5 rounds of betting instead of 4.

Calculating hand rank in 7 card stud

Calculating your hand rank in stud poker is easy. Using the standard poker hand rankings, you take 5 of your hole cards to make the strongest hand possible.

See the image below for an example of an Ace high clubs flush;

The betting rounds in 7 card stud

A stud poker table seats between 2 and 8 players. Instead of having blinds, betting starts with all the players placing a small amount, called an 'Ante'. The size of the ante is determind by the stakes, and is usually 1/10th of the smallest stake. For example, on a $10/$20 table, the ante would be $1.

Third street

After the antes have been placed, all players are dealt 3 cards, first two face down and the third face up. The face down cards are reffered to as hole cards, whilst the face up card is called the 'door card'. This stage of the hand is called 'third street'.

Bring-in

The player with the lowest door card (see above) is first to act and starts the betting round. This is called the 'bring in'.

Fourth street

After the first betting round is completed, fourth street is dealt. This is a single card, dealt face up, to each player. Following this is another round of betting. At this point, and from here onwards, the player with the highest ranking hand starts the betting in each round.

Fifth and sixth street

Fifth street follows fourth, and sees all the players dealt another card face up, followed by another round of betting. After this comes sixth street, another card and another round of betting.

Seventh street

Seventh street is often reffered to as 'the river'. every player is dealt one final card, face down. Another round of betting follows, at the end of which comes the showdown. The winner is decided on the basis of the strenght of their hands on the usual ranking scale.