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Seven Card Stud

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Seven Card Stud

Seven Card Stud is the most popular version of Stud Poker. The biggest difference between Seven Card Stud and the other versions of poker is that there are no “Community Cards”. This means that each player has his own hand. Every player is dealt a total of seven cards, three of them face-down, and the other four face-up.

Forced Bets

Ante

Seven Card Stud always starts with a forced bet, called “Ante”, which is approximately 1/5 of the low limit bet size, and does not count towards any future bets. Every player must “Ante up” before the hand begins.

Bring in

After the initial deal each player has one card showing. The player with the lowest card must place another forced bet, called “Bring in”, which means he must place half of the low limit bet size in the pot. If several players share the lowest card, the one closest to the dealer's left side must bring in. This bet counts as your first round bet, so if nobody raises, you do not have to place any more money in the pot to see the next card.

Betting Rounds

There are five rounds of betting. In fixed limit Seven Card Stud, all bets and raises must be equal to either the low limit in the first two rounds, or high limit bet size in the third, fourth and fifth rounds. Only three raises are allowed per betting round.

3rd Street

Each player is dealt two “Hole Cards” face-down and one “Door Card” face-up. The player with the lowest card must “Bring in”, by betting half of the low limit bet. He also may choose to Raise by betting the full low limit bet. Play proceeds clockwise around the table, with each player choosing to Fold, Call or Raise. All bets and raises must be equal to the low limit bet size.

4th Street

A fourth card is dealt face-up to every player. This round of betting is carried out the same as the first one. The player with the highest hand showing is the first to act. He may choose to Check, Bet or Fold. If two or more players are showing the same highest hand, the one closest to the dealer's left will be the first to act. If a player is showing a pair at this point, then he and all the other players have the option to bet either the low limit bet size or the high limit bet size. Otherwise, all bets and raises must be equal to the low limit bet size.

5th Street

Each player is dealt next fifth card face-up. Play proceeds as in the previous round, with the highest-ranking hand betting first, except now all bet limits reach their highest point.

6th Street

A sixth card is dealt face-up to every player. This betting round is carried out exactly as the previous one. All bets and raises must be equal to the high limit bet size.

7th Street

A final seventh card is dealt face-down to every player. Play is carried out as in the previous round. All bet limits reach the highest size. Some times when all eight players remain in the hand at this point, there would not be enough cards for each player to receive another one. If that occurs, instead of every player receiving a card face-down, a single card is placed in the middle of the table face-up which every player is free to use in forming their best five-card hand.

Showdown

The best five-card hand wins the pot. The player who bet last is the first to show their hand, and then it proceeds clockwise from there, with each remaining player either choosing to show their hand or Muck it. If two or more players have the same best hand, the pot is split between those players.