Seven Card Stud

• HOW TO PLAY
• BEST STARTING HANDS
• WINNING STRATEGIES – SEVEN CARD STUD

HOW TO PLAY

Seven Card Stud used to be the most popular variety of poker, until Texas Hold-em took its crown. It is quite different from both Texas Hold-em and Omaha and it requires a certain amount of patience. However, it's an exciting game that can be very rewarding!

Before a game starts, each player must post an 'ante', a mandatory amount that ensures there is some money in the pot. In stud poker games, there are no community cards. Instead, the dealer begins by dealing clockwise until each player has three cards. The first two cards are dealt face down ('hole' cards), the third face up (the 'door' card).

Seven Card Stud is divided into five rounds of betting, and the betting moves clockwise around the table.

Opening the Betting

The player with the lowest-ranking up card starts the game with a token bet called the 'bring-in'. If two or more players have the same lowest card, the bring-in is determined by suit in alphabetical order: clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades. See our BEST STARTING HANDS chart below to determine if you should stay in – or fold–em.

Third Street

Once the bring-in bet has been made, each player (starting with the player to the left of the bring-in) can fold, call, or raise to the betting limit.

Fourth Street

Everyone is dealt another up card. At this point, the player with the highest two up cards starts the betting. On this round of betting only, if a player gets an open pair, he or she can make a double bet.

Fifth Street

Everyone is dealt another up card. The player with the highest combination of up cards starts the betting.

Sixth Street

Everyone is dealt another up card. Again, the player with the highest combination of up cards starts the betting.

Seventh Street or The River

Everyone is dealt their final down card. The same player who started the last round starts the betting.

Showdown

The player with the best hand wins.

SEVEN CARD STUD BEST STARTING HANDS

1. Any three of a kind, starting with ( A-A ) A, then ( K-K ) K, and so on…
2. Top pairs, concealed or unconcealed, beginning with A-A down to J-J
3. Top suited connectors, like ( A-K ) Q or ( J-Q ) K.
4. Mid ranked pairs like 8-8 through 10-10 and mid ranked suited connectors like 10-J-Q
5. Top suited semiconnectors, like 10-J-K or 9-J-K

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WINNING STRATEGIES SEVEN CARD STUD

Always start by following THE HOG'S GOLDEN RULES.

Please make sure to memorize our BEST STARTING HANDS for Seven Card Stud.

In Seven Card Stud you want to only open with hands that offer the most options, or pairs to start. I always look for 3 high cards for a straight (8 being the lowest card), or 3 for a flush. It is important to remember – never call if you are beaten on the table. You may start off with K-K in the hole and a 6 showing. This would be a good hand to raise on. If a J calls you and 4th street is an A for him, you may want to bet, assuming he has a pair of jacks and that the A didn’t help him. If 5th street is another A for him …well just let go of the hand. No point in calling when you are already beat.

1. Only open with good hands. If you don’t get early help i.e. you open with 3 for a flush, and 4th street does you no good, and somebody is betting, fold it. If somebody hits a pair on 4th street – all the more. He may have a set with good odds of making a full house, no point in hoping for a flush (you will need to go 2 for 3 on your suit – and might not be enough to win anyway).
2. If you start “rolled up” (3 of a kind), don’t be shy about raising. Often enough the final hands are straights or better. Bet your set as hard as you can, even if people figure out that’s what you have. More often then not, they will not fold flush or straight draws. And 50% of the time you will end up with a full house. Even if they make their hand you will win anyway.
3. When an A raises early, if you call with a big pair, my rule is if after card 5, I don’t get any help i.e., a second pair or trips, I let it go.
4. If I do start with a big pair and it looks like no one is getting much of anything, I bet it through out. If I don’t pick up at least a second pair on the river, I just check and pray. If somebody bets into me after the river, and all I have is my pair, I will fold. Unless the pot is really big (if there were 4 players or more throughout the hand), then I will call assuming I will lose, but for one extra bet in a huge pot I will “keep the player honest” – it only takes one time to catch a bluffer there for it to make up for many calls.
5. Upon seeing a player hit a 3rd of a suit on the board, if that player bets into me, or raises I almost always believe it is a flush and let my hand go. Unless I have a set (3 of a kind) and a chance to make a full house.
6. With less then a straight I almost always check the river. There is little point betting. If another player made his hand, it will most likely be a straight, a flush or a full house. They won’t call my bet if they missed, and if they hit I will just have lost more money.
7. If a player is showing 3 of a suit and betting, I tend to believe he has a flush. If you make a full house on the river - check - raise. A flush will almost always bet the river, and almost always call a raise. Who can fold a flush?
8. In Seven Card Stud most of the game is just common sense. Look what the player is showing, and guess what he has in the hole by the way he is betting. If he is an aggressive player I believe him less and less as the game goes on, and will call with mediocre hands. But for the most part it is quite easy to get a feel for what the player has (flush, or straight etc.). use your better judgment most of the time.
9. Many books are available for strategies on the game of Seven Card Stud. I strongly recommend reading at least one. Check out our RECOMMENDED POKER BOOKS for our featured books on this exciting game.

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