7 Card Stud Poker Rules and Basic Strategies

When it comes to Poker games, Draw Poker is old school, 5-Card Stud is too rare to speak of, but 7-Card Stud is alive and well.. Texas Holdem gets all the press and makes a better spectator game, but 7 Stud is the game of choice for the hard-nut players.

Seven Card Stud has been the most popular form of poker in the world for the past half century. Around 1990 seven card stud was surpassed in popularity by Texas Holdem in two of the United States largest legal poker centers, Las Vegas and Los Angeles. However, seven card stud still remains a popular, well known game which is still played in most households in America today.

7-Card Stud can be played with up to eight players at the table and in a typical stud game you'll find between five and eight players. On a slow day there may be only four players at the table including yourself and if this happens, don't play ­ unless the card room manager agrees to reduce the rake (3-4% approximately, but varies according to casino) until at least one additional player enters the game. Stud is one of the most demanding games, with a lot of cards on the table, each street demands a different approach, and betting can move from modest to sweat breaking in a matter of minutes. It is a game that requires a lot of skill, a good memory and strategy to be on the peak of the winners circle consistently.

Top caliber players are hard to find and they still have one thing common with the rookies, in that every player of the game is still learning, even the masters. Stud is a game that can be exhilarating, punishing and even humiliating.

Our rules and strategy guide will help you enjoy more of the former and suffer less of the latter.

Seven-Card Stud is a HIGH card game. More winning hands are decided by the highest pair of two pair or just the highest pair, than by straights, flushes and other big hands. So if you start with a straight or flush draw, it should have at least two high cards or at least one card that is higher than anything up on the board. These draw hands and low pair starting hands need to improve or turn a high pair quickly to justify continued play. When your high hand is beaten on the board, fold, unless you think you still have the best draw hand.

A maximum of four bets is allowed, which includes one bet, and three raises are for each betting round per player. To continue to play, players must take an action from what is displayed to them on each "street" or betting round (unless they are all-in). The term cap is used to describe the final raise in a round since betting is then capped and no one can make another raise. Once capped, players will have the option of calling or folding only. Folding can be done at any stage of the game. The action of folding basically shows the player cards being moved to the dealer. The player from then on would not be considered as part of the game. He/she would not have any rights over any pots created on the table.

Poker is typically played "table stakes", meaning only the chips in play at the beginning of each hand may be used throughout the hand. This means that the player cannot get additional funds while he is in the midst of a game. The table stakes rule has an application called the "All-In" rule, which states that a player cannot be forced to forfeit a hand because the player does not have enough chips to call a bet.

The First Round of Betting :Third Street

A new game on an active table starts with all the players at the table posting antes.  There are five betting rounds in a complete game of 7 Card Stud, not including the ante.

For Seven-card stud poker, players are dealt a total of seven cards, three "down" cards and four "up" cards. On the first round of betting, the low card by suit is required to initiate action with a "bring in bet" equal to half the lower limit. Suits are ranked: spades (highest), hearts, diamonds, clubs. On subsequent rounds, the high hand on board initiates betting action. If hands are tied, the player to the left of the dealer acts first. In all cases, the dealer will inform the players as to who acts first.

The dealing starts with each player being dealt ( 1 )two down cards and one up card. The up card is known as the "door card" or "Third Street".

For each betting round every player is allowed one bet and three raises. To continue to play, players must take an action from what is displayed to them on each "street" or betting round (unless they are all-in).

The Second Round of Betting :Fourth Street

Another card is now dealt ( 2 ) face-up to the players who haven't folded in third street. Fourth Street is the second round of betting. From "Fourth Street" on, the highest hand showing begins the action by checking or betting. If a pair is showing on "Fourth Street", players have the option to make a single or double bet. If a player makes a single/double bet, the other players may call, raise the single bet, raise the double bet or fold. In case of a double bet, only an equal amount can be raised (to the extent of the double bet).

The Third Round of Betting :Fifth Street

Upon completion of the betting on "fourth street", another card is ( 3 ) dealt face-up to those who remain in the pot. This is called "Fifth Street" (the third round of betting - which doubles (the value of each bet is double of what was available in the first two rounds) - and continues at this amount for the remaining betting rounds). The highest hand showing again starts the action by checking or betting.

The Fourth Round of Betting :Sixth Street

( 4 ) Another card is now dealt face-up. This is "Sixth Street" (fourth betting round).

The Fifth Round of Betting :Seventh Street

The final card is  ( 5 ) dealt down. The last card is also known as the "River Card" or "Seventh Street" (final round of betting).

The Showdown:

Players may now use 5 of their 7 cards to make the best poker hand.
Note: Very seldom a situation occurs where there are not enough cards in the deck to give each player their own "river card". In this case the dealer must turn one boardcard face-up and it will be used as a community card.


An Advantage to Playing Stud Online
Remembering what cards other players have folded is one of the strategic elements of seven-card stud. Playing online offers the opportunity for those who want to pay attention to this important strategy. This offers a major advantage over people who play at home or in casinos.

The reason? In a live game, players often fold their cards too quickly to see easily, and you also sometimes have difficulty seeing cards held by a player sitting far away. You also can't use pencil and paper to write down folded cards in live games, although we don't recommend that you do this unless you work out a system where you can do it quickly.

Why do you need to take notes quickly and act quickly? Because if you play too slowly, you are not only being discourteous to the other players in the game, you may find that the "action" players-the folks who really want to get in there and gamble and have fun, and who probably aren't paying attention to folded cards-will probably leave your table to switch to another game.

"Fine," you might think, "there are usually plenty more people waiting to play," but even if that's true, the people you are driving away with your slow play are exactly the people you DO want in your game. So if you choose to jot down notes about cards, figure out a way to do it quickly, or any advantage you gain by having accurate information about folded cards will be heavily outweighed by losing the opponents you want in the game!

We recommend you try the Poker School at the Poker Room. There you can try out a few lessons that could help to improve your game. Get the confidence you need to play low limit poker for real money and enjoy the excitement of it.