Seven Card Stud

Seven Card Stud is always dealt limit. In Seven Card Stud players start by paying an ante to see their first three cards. The ante is usually 10% of the small bet. For example in $1/2 the ante would usually be $.10. The first card is dealt to the player to the left of the dealer and goes clockwise around the table. In Seven Card Stud the dealer button never moves. The first card will always be dealt to the player in seat 1. Out of the first three cards the first two are dealt down and the third card is dealt up.

Action

The lowest up card starts the betting. This is called the bring in. Twos are considered the lowest card and if more then one player is showing the same low card the suit determines who pays the bring in. The suit order is alphabetical starting lowest with clubs, then diamonds, hearts and spades. The bring in is usually 25-40% of the small bet. In $1/2 it would be between $.25 and $.40.

The player that has the low card may also decide to make the full bet instead of bring in. There is no checking on this round known as third street as players must call what the low card player bet. If the low card chooses to bring in as opposed to making a full bet then any player that wishes to raise must first do what is called completing the bet. For example if the bring in was $.25 in $1/2 the first raise would only be $.75 to a total of $1. If another player raised that player would raise the full amount of $1 to make it a total of $2. If the low card makes a bring in bet instead of a full bet there can be four raises on third street for a total of $4. If the player makes a full bet there can only be three raises. The max is three raises on any street. After all players have had the option of folding, calling or raising then another card is dealt up to all remaining players. This is known as fourth street.

Fourth Street

After all of the remaining players have been dealt a second up card the player with the best two cards up, also known as showing, has the first action. If the two best hands showing are the same the player to the left of the dealer has first action. If the best hand showing is not a pair then the player has the option of making a small bet. In $1/2 that would be $1. If any player is showing a pair on fourth street then the players have the option of betting either $1 or $2. If the player bets $1 then a player wishing to raise may raise either $1 or $2. If a player has already bet $2 players that wish to raise may only raise $2. If that player checks the action goes clockwise around the table until all players have checked or all bets have been called.

Fifth and Sixth Street

The fifth and sixth cards are also dealt up. The player with the best hand showing starts the betting. In $1/2 the player could either check or bet $2. The action again goes around clockwise on each street until all players have called or checked.

Seventh Street

The last card is dealt down. The player with the best hand showing again starts the action by either checking or betting one big bet. As long as there are still at least two players in there is a showdown. The player that bet last shows their cards first. If nobody bet the first player in to the left of the dealer shows their cards. The player with the best five card hand out of seven cards wins and is pushed the pot.

Rake

Online poker rooms usually take 5% up to $3 from the pot. Live poker rooms usually take 10% up to $4 or $5. Your rakeback is based on the amount of rake the house takes out of the pot. The rake is usually seen to the dealer’s right. Online you can either hover over the pot or the rake box to see how much rake was taken during a hand.