How To Play 7 cards stud
The game rules and the structure of the betting
Seven cards stud is in essence a limit game. At first each player places an ante (pre-bet).
This is a compulsory bet which is intended to add money to the pot before additional bets are accepted.
At this stage, each player receives one card in each round, until every player has three cards.
The first two cards are dealt face down, the third card is dealt face up. This is an important card and it is called the "door card".
NOTE: the dealing and the betting rounds are carried out in a clockwise fashion.
Seven cards stud has 5 betting rounds. During the first two rounds the limit is the low and in the next three rounds the limit is the high – similar to "Texas hold'em".
The exception to this is if the player holds a pair (or a better hand) in the fourth street (the third card), as will be explained further on.
The first betting round: opening the betting / the third street
The betting starts with the player who holds the "door card" with the lowest value.
The first bet is called the opening or the opening bet. If two players hold the same "door card" with the same value, the opening will be decided according to the symbol of the card, according to the order of the alphabet in English (clubs (♣), diamonds (♦), hearts (♥), spades (♠)).
At this stage, every player can match, raise, or fold his cards, as he sees fit.
The second betting round: The fourth street
Every player who is still playing the game receives an additional revealed card.
The betting in this round starts with the player who holds the two strongest revealed cards.
The strongest hand is determined according to the usual ranking of poker hands, meaning: high card, pair, two pairs and so on. A player who holds a pair can make a double bet (a bet which doubles the minimal bet, or which in practice is considered as two bets).
The bets continue then, around the table as usual.
The third betting round: The fifth street
Every player who is still playing the game receives an additional revealed card.
The player who holds the best combination of revealed cards starts the betting round.
From this point onwards, all bets follow the highest betting unit.
The fourth betting round: The sixth street
Every player who is still playing the game receives an additional revealed card.
The player who holds the best combination of revealed cards starts the betting round.
The fifth betting round: The river
Every player who is still playing the game receives one last card, face down.
At this stage every player holds 4 exposed cards and three hidden cards. This time, as well, the bets are started by the player holding the best combination of exposed cards, and the play moves around the table in a clockwise fashion.
The stage of revealing the cards or Show-Down
When all bets are complete, the players can reveal their hidden cards.
The player who places the last bet reveals his hand first. However, if there was no bet at all in the last round, the player to expose his cards first will be the one whose combination of revealed cards is the best.
If two or more players hold the same winning hand, the usual pot splitting rules will determine how the pot will be divided.
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