Introduction
Although the 7 card stud game is popular in all poker playing channels, it has been shadowed in recent years by Texas Holdem. Still, all online poker rooms and land based casinos offer the game. Like other popular poker games, it is quite easy to learn the basic rules of the 7 card stud. It takes just a quick reading of this article.
The Game
The 7 card stud game is usually held with 4-8 players. Unlike Texas Holdem, which involves a combination of community and personal cards, the 7 card stud game is solely based on personal cards – 7 in number. 3 cards are dealt face up (upcards) while 4 are dealt face down (hole cards). Winner of the hand is the player that reached the highest 5 cards hand from his 7 cards.
The game uses predetermined low and high limits as increments for the different rounds of bets.
The Ante and Third Street
The game starts with a preliminary forced bet - the ante, where every player has to post 10% of the high limit. After all antes have been posted, each player is dealt with three cards. The first two are dealt face down and the third face up. This is the Third Street. After the Third Street is dealt, the player with the lowest upcard has to post his bet – The Bring in Bet. In the case of a tie, the tie is broken by the suit. Then all other players, starting with the next player on the left of the Bring in Bet player, have the option to CALL (place a bet with the same amount as the Bring in Bet), RAISE, usually to the low limit, or FOLD (leave this round). This is the first betting round. Every betting round has a maximum of three reraises.
Fourth,Fifth and Sixth Street
After the first round of betting, the fourth card is dealt and revealed. This is the Fourth Street. The second round of betting is held, with the same rules as before, except that the first bet is posted by the player with the highest visible hand. Size of the bets in this round is usually in increments of the low limit. Then the fifth card is dealt and revealed. This is the Fifth Street. Another round of betting is held, with the same rules as the previous round. From this point onwards, bets are placed in increments of the high limit. Then the sixth card is dealt and revealed – the Sixth Street. Another round of betting is held, with the same rules as the previous round.
The River and the Showdown
The final card is then dealt, face down. This is The River. Another betting round is held with the same rules as before. Then all players must reveal their cards, starting with the player who posted the last bet. This is the Showdown. After all players reveal their cards, winner is determined and announced by the dealer.
