Seven Card Stud Rules

In seven-card stud, the highest hand wins. Aces count as high cards, but can also be low cards for purposes of straights.

Prior to the deal, players make an ante, a bet made literally "before" the round. Usually it's very small, like a quarter of a bet or less, down to twenty-five cents.

After the antes, each player receives two cards face down and one face up. The down cards are called "hole cards." The face up card is called the "door card" or just "the door."

Next comes an opportunity to bet. The lowest door card must bet. It can be either a half bet or a whole one at the player's option. This is called the "bring-in bet" or just the "bring-in," and it starts the action.

After the initial betting round, four more cards are issued to each player, with a betting round after each. A total of seven cards will be issued to each player who stays in the game until the end. There will be five betting rounds in all.

The four cards that come after the initial deal are called "street" cards, starting with "Fourth Street" and ending with "Seventh Street." Seventh Street is often called "the river card" or just "the river". It is dealt face down.

So, at showdown time, each player will have seven cards, three of which are face down, from which to construct the highest possible five-card poker hand. Betting moves clockwise, and each person in turn gets to fold, call (i.e., "see" the current bet by matching it) or raise, if the raise limit has not yet been met. Also, if no change has been made in the pot since the last time a player has bet, he or she may also "check" (which means to pass). In such a case, the pot gets no larger, the player stays in the game, and the betting level is unchanged. This is sometimes referred to as giving your opponents a "free ride," since they will not have to add to the pot to see their next card. After the first round the person with the highest showing cards or hand starts the betting.

Starting with Fifth Street (that is, after two betting rounds) the betting amount doubles. So if the game was a $2 bet game, the bet on Fifth Street, Sixth Street and the river will be $4. Many casinos offer an additional betting option. On Fourth Street, if a pair appears on a person's board, he or she has the option to make a double bet one round early.

If more than one person is still in the game after the fifth betting round, there will be a showdown. The dealer will gather the chips, declare the winner and pay the pot to him or her, minus the house discount. For pots of more than a minimum size, it would be appropriate to toke the dealer.

Special Rule

It is rare in Stud games for a full table of eight players to stay in the game until Seventh Street. If that does happen, there will not be enough cards to go around. The solution is for the dealer to place one board card face up in the middle of the table for Seventh Street, and all players may make use of it in the composition of their hands. This rule applies in Razz and Hi-Lo as well.