Seven Card Stud Poker – Beginner’s Guide

Seven card stud poker is played as part of the World Series of Poker and is one of the games played during multi-format H.O.R.S.E tournaments.

How to Play Seven Card Stud Poker

At the beginning, each player is dealt three cards, two face down and one face up. Players then check their face down cards before the first round of betting commences. The player who holds the lowest face up card, makes a compulsory contribution to the pot to start the first round of betting. Thereafter, the order of play for each round of the game is determined by which player shows the strongest poker hand at the beginning of the round.

There are a maximum of five rounds of betting in each game. Following the first deal and round of betting, the dealer will deal each player another face up card, followed by another round of betting.

Each player is then dealt a fifth card. A round of betting takes place before the sixth face up card is dealt to each player. Following the fourth round of betting the remaining players are dealt their final card face down. A final round of betting takes place before the showdown which sees the remaining players compare hand strengths.

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Players have four options open to them during each of the five rounds of betting in a game:

• Players may call a bet by paying an amount into the pot equal to the last bet placed by a participating player.

• A player may raise during any stage of a round of betting by placing a bet in the pot. Subsequent players must call or raise this bet to remain in the game.

• A player may check during a round of betting if no other players have wagered a bet during the round and the player does not wish to place any bet.

• If a player feels that their hand is too weak to compete with those of other players they may fold at any stage, turning all their cards face down and returning them to the dealer.

Seven card stud poker can be played in a variety of formats. However, a game limiting the amount of money bet in each round is preferred by most players.