Seven Card Stud

Before the meteoric rise in popularity of Texas Holdem, Seven-Card Stud Poker was the most popular form of poker played.

There are a few variations of stud poker out there, but the most popular still remains Seven-Card Stud. It is still also a favourite of many of the top pro’s in both Europe and the USA.

The poker rooms on our site all offer the option to play Seven-Card Stud Poker, but only some of the have very busy tables. We suggest you pop into Full Tilt Poker or Ultimate Bet to get a regular game.

How to play Seven-Card Stud Poker

Seven-Card Stud is played with anything from 2 to 8 players.

To start of proceedings everyone puts in their ante. Each player is dealt two cards face down and one facing up.

Betting is done clockwise and it starts with the player showing the lowest card. That player needs to put in the “bring-in” bet. The play then continues from there to the players left.

A round of betting follows and once it is completed, the next card is dealt face up in front of each player. This card is called the turn or fourth street.

From here on in things change a little. The following round of betting will start with the player with the highest card showing… and then play continues to his or her left. The fifth card or river will then be dealt.

Another round of betting follows before the sixth card is dealt face up in front of each player. After another round of betting, a seventh card is dealt. A last round of betting follows before players show their cards.

The winning hands are based on the winning poker hands used in most forms of poker and consists of the strongest five card hand.

There is no limit to which five cards you need to use to make your strongest hand. It is however crucial that you pay close attention to all of the information available to you. You can see at least 60% of the cards used in your opponent’s hands.