Seven Card Stud
How to Play
The objective of 7 Card Stud is to win money from other players either by having the best hand at the end of the deal (the showdown), or by betting and forcing them to fold their hand before the showdown. Players can use any five cards out of the seven they are dealt to make the best five-card poker hand. 7 Card Stud is played using the Limit betting style on an 8 seat table.
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Joining a Table
To begin playing 7 Card Stud, log-in, and then join an online poker table by clicking any available seat. This will allow you to buy-in to the game. You will be prompted to specify how much you want to buy-in for the game.
The "buy-in" is the amount of money you want to bring to the online poker table, and the minimum buy-in in a Limit game is typically ten times the minimum bet for the table. Different tables may have different minimum and maximum buy-in amounts. You can choose to buy-in with any amount you like within the minimum and maximum. When you submit your buy-in, the buy-in amount is transferred from your casino account to the poker table. When you leave the table, your remaining poker chips are automatically transferred back to your casino account.
If you need more poker chips, you can buy-in with more money at any time by clicking the Get Chips button on the poker table window. Your total poker chips on the table cannot exceed the maximum buy-in amount.
Playing 7-Card Stud
After you’ve taken a seat at an online poker table and bought in, as long as there is at least one other player sitting at the table, the game will begin (unless you are playing in a tournament, in which case you will wait until the designated start time). All players must place a small bet before receiving any cards, called an ante.
After the ante, each poker player is dealt three cards: two hole cards dealt face down, and one up card dealt face up. 7 Card Stud is played with a single deck of cards, shuffled every game. The up card is referred to as the door card or Third Street.
Bring In
The player with the lowest up card must begin the game by placing the first bet - this bet is forced. If more than one player has a low card of the same value, the player nearest the dealer button is first to act.
The size of the mandatory bet or forced bet is specified by the online poker table rules. For example, on a $1/$2 table, the forced bet might be $1, depending upon the specific game rules. The player required to place the forced bet may optionally raise it to the bet limit. (The ante amount, forced bet amount, and bet limit are all clearly displayed at the top of the poker table screen.)
The betting proceeds clockwise around the table. Each player can:
- Call by contributing the same amount of money as the preceding player to the pot
- Raise by staking more money to the pot than the preceding player
- Fold signifying that he is abandoning the hand
7 Card Stud play continues clockwise around the table with each player having the option to either call, raise, or fold. Bets and raises are restricted to one bet and three subsequent raises per round. Of course, if a player raises and no one calls him, then he wins the pot and the hand is over.
Fourth Street
After the first round of betting completes, each player is dealt another card face up. This card is called Fourth Street. From this point on, the player with the best hand showing starts the betting. If two players are tied, the player nearest the dealer button is first to act.
In this and all subsequent betting rounds, the first poker player to act has the option to check or bet. By checking, the player remains in the poker hand without adding money to the pot. If the first player checks, the following player can also check. If a player bets by adding additional money to the pot, the players to the left must fold, call or raise as on the first betting round.
If there is an exposed pair on the table, any player may bet or raise either the lower or higher betting limit. The higher bet limit is normally twice the listed lower bet limit. After someone has made a bet or raise at the higher limit, then all subsequent raises must also be at the higher limit.
Play continues clockwise around the table with each player given the same set of options. When all players have either folded, called the last raiser, or the bet has been raised three times, the betting round is complete and the cards are dealt for the next round of 7 Card Stud.
Fifth Street
After Fourth Street betting completes, each player is dealt another card face up. The player with the best hand showing starts another round of betting. All bets and raises must be made at the higher limit from this point forward (twice the posted bet limit).
When all players have either folded, called the last raiser, or the bet has been raised three times, the betting round is complete and the cards are dealt for the next round.
Sixth Street
After Fifth Street betting completes, each player is dealt another card face up. The player with the best hand showing starts another round of betting.
After the player with the best hand showing starts by either checking or betting, play continues clockwise around the table with each player given the same set of options. When all players have either folded, called the last raiser, or the bet has been raised three times, the betting round is complete and the cards are dealt for the next round.
Seventh Street/The River
After Sixth Street betting completes, the last poker card is dealt to each player, face down. The player who began the Sixth Street betting begins betting in this round. Play continues clockwise around the online poker table with each player given the same set of options. When all players have either folded, called the last raiser, or the bet has been raised three times, the betting round is complete.
Showdown
After the final betting round ends, the showdown occurs to determine the winner of the 7 Card Stud game. The player with the best hand wins the pot except in the case when he goes all-in. In that case, the player only wins the amount that he contributed to the pot. Any player who wins a part of the pot must reveal his hand to the rest of the players. The last winning player who raised displays his cards first - if no players have raised, then the first active player to the left of the dealer displays his cards first. All losing players have the option of choosing whether or not to display their hole cards.
The winning player receives the entire pot (except for players that go all-in) less a small fee charged by the online poker room, called a rake. Rake is charged as a small percentage of each pot and is based on the pot size and the number of players at the table. The amount of rake taken from each pot is displayed in the middle of the board, along with the pot size. For more information on rake, see the Rake page.
