Who acts first in Seven Card Stud?

On third street, the player with the lowest door card (the one face-up card) must start the betting with the bring-in. If two door cards tie, suit breaks it, from lowest to highest: clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades. After that, the player with the best poker hand showing acts first on every street.

How many players can play Seven Card Stud?

Up to eight. With eight players, 56 cards would be needed if everyone stays to the end, but the deck only has 52. When the deck runs short, the dealer puts one shared card face up in the middle for the seventh street, and everyone can use it.

Is Seven Card Stud played with blinds?

No. Everyone puts in a small ante before the deal, and then one player is forced to open the betting with the bring-in. There are no blinds and no button, because the first player to act is decided by the cards that are showing.

What is the best hand in Razz?

A-2-3-4-5, called the wheel. Razz is Seven Card Stud played for the lowest hand. Aces are always low, and straights and flushes do not count against you, so the wheel is the best possible hand even though it is also a straight.

How does Stud Hi-Lo decide the winner?

The pot is split between the best high hand and the best low hand, as long as someone has a low of eight or better. If nobody qualifies for the low, the high hand takes the whole pot. A player can win both halves with the same seven cards.

Poker rules

Seven Card Stud rules: antes, bring-in and streets

Stud has no community cards, no blinds and no button. You get seven cards of your own, some face up for everyone to see, and you make the best five-card hand from them. Here is how a hand runs from ante to showdown.

The basics

How Seven Card Stud works

Two to eight players use a standard 52-card deck. Every player puts in a small ante before the hand starts, then gets three cards: two face down and one face up. That up card is the door card. Each player then receives three more up cards and one last down card, one at a time, with a round of betting after each. At the end, your hand is the best five of your seven cards. The standard hand rankings apply.

Because so many of your cards are face up, you can see what your opponents might hold, and they can see yours. Good stud players pay attention to which cards have been folded as well. If you are chasing a flush and three of the spades you need are already in folded hands, the draw is far less likely to arrive.

Round by round

Streets, in order

Each round of dealing and betting is called a street. Stud has five of them, named for how many cards you hold.

Seven Card Stud streets, cards dealt, bet size and who acts first
Street	Cards dealt	Fixed-limit bet	First to act
Third street	2 down, 1 up	Small bet	Lowest door card brings in
Fourth street	1 up	Small bet	Best hand showing acts first
Fifth street	1 up	Big bet	Best hand showing acts first
Sixth street	1 up	Big bet	Best hand showing acts first
Seventh street (river)	1 down	Big bet	Best hand showing acts first

Starting the hand

Antes and the bring-in

After the antes, each player is dealt two down cards and one up. The player showing the lowest door card is forced to open the betting. This forced opening bet is the bring-in, and it is usually a bit less than a full small bet. Aces are high for this purpose.

If two players have the same lowest rank, the suit decides, from lowest to highest: clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades. So a two of clubs is the lowest door card there is.

Everyone else, going clockwise, can fold, call the bring-in, or raise to the full small bet, which is called completing the bet. After a completion, further raises are in small-bet increments.

Betting limits

Small bets, big bets and caps

Seven Card Stud is almost always played fixed-limit. In a 2/4 game, bets and raises on third and fourth street are 2, and on fifth, sixth and seventh street they are 4. The 2 is the small bet and the 4 is the big bet.

Open pair on fourth street: If a player's four up cards include a pair, that player can bet either the small bet or the big bet on fourth street.
Raise cap: Most games allow a bet and three raises in each round. With only two players left, the cap is usually removed.
Who acts first after third street: The player with the best poker hand showing starts the betting. A pair of kings showing beats a pair of nines, and two high cards beats nothing at all. Ties go to the player nearest the dealer's left.

Showdown

Who wins at the end

After the final round of betting, if two or more players remain, they show their hands. The last player to bet or raise shows first. If everyone checked, the player to act first shows first. Everyone then makes the best five cards from their seven.

Here is a final hand to look at. The first two and last card were face down, and the middle four were face up.

The best five cards are K-K-K-7-7, a full house, kings over sevens. The two and the nine are not used. When the deck runs short with a full table, the seventh card for everyone still in the hand is dealt face up in the centre.

Two other stud games

Stud Hi-Lo and Razz

Both use exactly the same dealing and streets, with a different goal.

Stud Hi-Lo (often called Stud eight-or-better) splits the pot between the best high hand and the best qualifying low. A low needs five cards of different ranks, all eight or lower, with aces counting low. A-2-3-4-5 is the best low. Straights and flushes do not hurt your low, so you can use the same cards for both halves and win the whole pot. If nobody has a qualifying low, the high hand takes everything. The Omaha Hi-Lo section works the same way for the low hand.

Razz is Stud played for the lowest hand only. Aces are low, and straights and flushes do not count, so the best hand is A-2-3-4-5. The bring-in is made by the highest door card instead of the lowest, and on later streets the player showing the lowest hand acts first. A pair showing is bad, because it ruins the low.

Questions

Quick answers

Who acts first in Seven Card Stud?: On third street, the player with the lowest door card (the one face-up card) must start the betting with the bring-in. If two door cards tie, suit breaks it, from lowest to highest: clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades. After that, the player with the best poker hand showing acts first on every street.
How many players can play Seven Card Stud?: Up to eight. With eight players, 56 cards would be needed if everyone stays to the end, but the deck only has 52. When the deck runs short, the dealer puts one shared card face up in the middle for the seventh street, and everyone can use it.
Is Seven Card Stud played with blinds?: No. Everyone puts in a small ante before the deal, and then one player is forced to open the betting with the bring-in. There are no blinds and no button, because the first player to act is decided by the cards that are showing.
What is the best hand in Razz?: A-2-3-4-5, called the wheel. Razz is Seven Card Stud played for the lowest hand. Aces are always low, and straights and flushes do not count against you, so the wheel is the best possible hand even though it is also a straight.
How does Stud Hi-Lo decide the winner?: The pot is split between the best high hand and the best low hand, as long as someone has a low of eight or better. If nobody qualifies for the low, the high hand takes the whole pot. A player can win both halves with the same seven cards.

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