Seven Card Stud Poker Rules & Game Sequence

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All players ante except when an online casino has a game which has no ante.

Dealing

We'll use a $10-$20 game as our working example, so the Ante is $1, 10% of the low limit. The dealer deals clockwise starting on their immediate left. They deal one card at a time around the table until each player has two pocket cards face down and a single up which is the door card. Once the initial cards have been dealt, the game begins.

At this point the dealer indicates which player will open the betting, determined by the lowest door card. If there's a tie for low door, suit resolves it: spades over hearts, followed by diamonds, and finally clubs is the lowest. At this point we've got three cards on the table per player and that's called "Third Street".

Third Street

The player holding the lowest door card must "bring it in" by opening with a bet equal to twice the ante ($2 in our example game). If the low door player doesn't make this bet, they're forced to Fold and the opener passes to the player on their left.

The next player clockwise from the opener can Call by matching the opener, Raise by betting the low betting limit ($10) or Fold. Throughout third street all Bets and Raises are fixed at the low betting limit ($10).

Fourth Street

The dealer gives each player another open (up) card. Unlike third street, the opener in the fourth and remaining streets is the high hand as determined by the open cards. They may Check (Pass) or Bet. It they Bet it's at the low limit ($10) and that fixes all raises in this round to the same.

If the high hand is an open pair, the opener can Bet at the upper limit ($20) and this fixes all Raises in the round to the same.

Fifth and Sixth Streets

Again, the card is dealt up and high hand opens. All Bets and Raises are at the upper limit ($20).

Seventh Street

Each player is dealt a last card face-down - river or 7th street. The last card, called the "river", is another pocket card (face down). All bets and raises are at the high limit ($20).

Showdown

At the showdown, players use any 5 of their 7 cards to make their best possible poker hand. There is seldom a situation where there aren't enough cards left in the deck to give each player their own river card. In this event, the dealer will turn one boardcard face-up and it will be used as a community card. After the Bets and Raises have been resolved, the remaining players enter the Showdown. The opener reveals his pocket cards. If a player wishes to compete with this hand they too reveal their pocket cards, or they can yield and muck out (Fold).

At the casino it's the dealer's responsibility to call the winner, as determined by the best 5-card hand under normal Poker rules. In online games, the software will designate the winner and the pot will be passed to them.

It is any player's right to request to see any final hand that has been mucked, though this is primarily intended for casino play.

Betting Structure for 7 Card Stud - another viewpoint

All players must first ante before they receive their initial cards, except when an online casino has a game which has no ante. There are five betting rounds in a complete game of 7 Card Stud, not including the ante.

On the first round of betting, the low card by suit is required to initiate action with a bet equal to half the lower limit (bring-in). 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.

Each bet and raise during the first two rounds of betting is set at the lower limit of the stakes structure. For example in a $4/$8 game, all bets and raises are $4 for the first two rounds. The exception to this rule is if any player displays a pair with their 2 face-up cards on 4th Street. In this circumstance, all players have the option to bet either the lower limit or the higher limit. If a player bets the higher limit, then all subsequent raises must be made at the higher limit.

Each bet and raise during the last three rounds of betting is set at the higher limit of the stakes structure. For example in a $4/$8 game, all bets and raises are $8 for the last three rounds (5th street, 6th street and the river).

The maximum allowable number of bets per player during any particular betting round is four. This would consist of (1) a bet, (2) a raise, (3) a re-raise, and (4) a cap. The term cap is used to describe the 3rd raise in a round since betting is then capped and can not be raised anymore. Once the pot is capped, players will have only the option of calling or folding.

Again, some procedural rules may vary slightly from casino to casino.

Click here for our recommended list of online casinos that offer Seven Card Stud Poker Play.