How to Play Seven Card Stud Poker

Added on December 27, 2024, in Gambling Articles by Gambling Gurus

Most people, when they consider poker, primarily think of Texas Hold ‘Em, largely due to its widespread television coverage and prevalence in films such as Casino Royale, making it the world’s most famous poker game. However, numerous other poker variants exist, each possessing unique thrills, including Chinese Poker, Real Estate Poker, Five-O Poker, Billabong, among others. One variant that holds a special place in my heart is the Seven-Card Stud poker. It shares some attributes with Texas Hold ‘Em, but it also possesses distinctive features that sometimes make it feel like a separate game. Just to let you know, you can experience poker games similar to this one and a variety of other casino games at Norway’s top online casino, another personal favorite of mine.

Dealing the First Cards

The game starts with a dealer dealing two face-down cards to each player, much like in Texas Hold ‘Em, however each player is also dealt a face-up card. Whoever has the lowest value face up card (which is called the ‘door card’) will be responsible for the ‘bring-in’. Which I won’t go into here for those who don’t know, so check out this link, if you want to know more about this term.

Third to Fifth Street

Each subsequent round in the game is named after a numbered street, because what’s life without a dash of whimsey? Third Street starts with the person to the left of the bring acting, by either, folding, calling, or raising, as in other poker games. Play then continues in a clockwise fashion until everyone has acted. At the start of Fourth Street (and Fifth), the dealer gives another face-up card to each player and the person with the highest value will act first, and then everyone to the left goes in turn. Fifth street mimics this round, but with increasingly high betting limits.

Sixth and Seventh Street

Sixth and Seventh are very similar to Fifth, however the player that acts first on both Sixth and Seventh is the player who has the highest value of the four face-up cards they hold. These last two rounds have much bigger betting limits which can lead to very exciting climaxes to the games.

Two Major Differences

There are many smaller differences to Texas Hold ‘Em, as should be apparent to you by reading this brief description of the game, however there are two major differences I would like to bring to your attention. The first being the fact that there is no flop or river as in Hold ‘Em, and everyone has their own set of cards. Because of this (the second difference), you can see a lot of the other players cards which mean that you can more easily come to the decision of whether to fold or not, because you can see if someone else has the cards you need.

Seven-Card Stud is a great variation of poker that when you get to grips with its differences and similarities, becomes a very rewarding experience.