7 Card Stud Rules
7 Card Stud is now the more popular successor to 5 Card Stud. While 5 Card Stud became popular during the Civil War, it’s one hole card didn’t allow for a lot of bluffing or hidden hands. That’s where 7 Card Stud comes in. As the name implies, you get seven cards in this game, but your goal is to make the best five-card hand possible. This allows for lots of cleverly disguised hands where three of your cards could be secret with only two showing.
7 Card Stud can be played with as little as two players and is usually played with a maximum of eight. The reason being, is because if all eight players draw seven cards, there aren’t enough in the deck. But that’s not likely to ever happen.
There is a ton of betting and pots can get fairly big in 7 Card Stud. To start, all players have to play an ante and then they get three cards, two of them are face down and the third is face-up. The player with the lowest showing face card starts the action with a forced bet called the “bring-in”. If two players have the same low card, then it goes to suits for a tie breaker. The suits ranking from lowest to highest are as follows:
- Diamonds
- Clubs
- Hearts
- Spades
Players still in the hand keep receiving one card at a time interspersed with betting rounds until they have 7 cards total. Dealers deal the final card face down, and players reveal their hands only if it goes to a showdown.
The best five card hand wins the pot and then it starts all over again. If you need a quick refresher on poker hands, check out our poker hand rankings page. There’s also a variant called Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo, which is played exactly the same way except that it’s a split pot game with half the pot going to the high hand, and half the pot going to the qualifying low hand. To be a low hand, the player has to have five cards lower than an eight. Aces qualify as both high and low and straights and flushes don’t discount a hand from being low. A “scoop” occurs when a straight flush of A-2-3-4-5 wins both pots, making it highly likely to succeed.
Betting Rounds
7 Card Stud is a limit poker game with antes and a bring-in. Every player must post a small forced bet called the ante at the start of each hand. The amount varies depending on the stakes you’re playing. For example, if you have $5/$10 limits then you can expect about a $1 ante and $2 bring-in.
The dealer deals three cards to all players who posted an ante. This betting round is known as “third street.”
Third Street
The player with the lowest value card then posts the bring-in and has the option to check or complete the bet to whatever the limits dictate.
After that, action goes clockwise from the bring-in. Players can either call, raise or fold. If the player with the bring-in did not complete, then the following players can complete the bet. After all the players have acted, the ones still in the hand get another card.
Fourth Street
When players have two cards down and two cards up, they’re officially on fourth street. This round of betting varies slightly from the previous street. First of all, it’s not the lowest card that starts the action anymore, but the best card that kicks things off.
The player can bet the lower limit, but if there’s a pair showing in the two exposed cards, they can bet the higher limit. Once again, players bet clockwise until they reach a settlement. Then players get their fifth card.
Fifth Street
Fifth street follows the same general structure as fourth street. Once again, the best showing face up cards start the action. Trips would be the best, followed by pairs and then high cards. The main difference in fifth street is that the betting limit is the higher limit regardless of what players are showing. Once again, players bet clockwise until they settle the betting. Then players get their last face up card.
Sixth Street
Players get their fourth face up card on sixth street and betting follows the same structure as fifth street. The only real difference is that face up quads are a possibility and take the high hand value. After completing this round of betting, the remaining players proceed to the final betting round.
River
The players who are left get one last card, this time face down. The player that started sixth street will start off again on the river since the top showing cards do not change. The big change on the river is that it’s the end of the hand so if there’s a bet and a call, or action is checked down, then players have to turn over their cards to see who the winner is.
Best 7 Card Stud Starting Hands
The best starting hands in 7 Card Stud are the sneakiest ones. Ideally you’d like the strongest part of your hand to be concealed. If you have A-K-2 for example, ideally the ace and king would be your hole cards and the 2 would be open.
The same goes for pairs. A sneaky pair of pocket aces is easier to hide than a pair of aces with an exposed ace. Aside from that, three flush cards are always a strong starting hand as are three straight cards. This gives you five drawing streets to complete your flush or straight draw.
Rolled up trips are the strongest three cards you can get and can really help disguise an incredibly powerful hand. Barring that, any two flush cards with a pair, straight draw or suited connector-type hands are also quite strong.
7 Card Stud Strategy
7 Card Strategy involves a lot of counting. At its core, poker is a game of incomplete information and in 7 Card Stud, you’re given quite a bit of it. One of the most essential bits of information is how many outs you have when drawing to your hand.
For example, if you have three hearts and are drawing to a flush draw, you know that there are only 10 hearts left in the deck. But if you see that your opponents have three of them, you know that only seven remain. If no hearts are visible, then your chances of hitting your flush are higher. The same is true for straight cards and pairs and trips. If you need a 10 to complete your straight, or your set, and you see two out in the field, then you know you’re drawing dead. If there’s one out, your chances drop. Ideally you’d like to take your draws when you have the highest chances of hitting them.
As we mentioned above, it’s also best to have your hand as hidden as possible since so much information is visible to your opponents. Learn how to take advantage of this too and you can also bluff fairly effectively. If your visible board looks like it could be a flush or a straight, but you know it isn’t, then try to represent the hand to take down the pot.
FAQs
Yes! There were four different 7 Card Stud tournaments at the 2021 World Series of Poker. The tournaments included two hi-lo tournaments. Each of the two featured a $1,500 buy-in event and a $10,000 Championship event. So if you’re looking to become the next 7 Card Stud world champion, the WSOP is the place to do it. If your bankroll isn’t that big, then there’s still an event for you.
Did we peak your interest in other online poker games? Good, we have a lot of guides just like this one to introduce you to a number of different poker games. If you want to learn about Omaha, Texas Hold’em or Mississippi Stud, we have you covered. Check out our games guide homepage to see a full list of poker games and guides to each one of them.
There are tons of different resources available for players looking to improve their game. Nothing beats experience though, so start playing and get a feel for the game and watch how you improve. If you want some more free guidance, then there are online forums and articles and youtube videos that’ll help you cover all the basics and a bit more. If you like books, then “High-Low-Split Poker, Seven-Card Stud and Omaha Eight-or-better for Advanced Players” by Ray Zee is considered to be one of the best 7 Card Stud strategy books out there. If you have a bit more money, then there are several coaches and coaching sites that can help you improve your game.
That’s always tough to say. 7 Card Stud was originally more popular in Atlantic City than out west and some great players like Barry Greenstein came from those times. With 7 Card Stud taking a bit more of a backseat, there are fewer players specializing in the game, but modern mixed game pros like John Monette, George Danzer and Alexandre Luneau are often thrown around. If you’re looking at the reigning WSOP champions, then Anthony Zinno is the reigning champion after taking down the 2021 7 Card Stud Championship and winning $182,872.
There are tons of different options to play 7 Card Stud. The first thing you need to do is decide whether you want to play live or online. If you want to play live, Google your closest casinos and see if the game is offered online or call the poker room. If you’re looking for the best place online, then we have you covered. Our top-notch reviewers have scoured the internet to find the top online poker sites out there and given a detailed review on the best ones. If you’re looking for a good site, head on over to our reviews page to find one that works for you.
