Seven Card Stud

Seven-card stud is a variation of stud poker. Before Texas hold'em rose to become the most popular poker game, seven-card stud was considered the most popular game and the one that is most commonly played in various casinos across the United States. This game is also popular in western American casinos, although Texas hold'em still remains more popular than this variation. For seven-card stud, there can be two to eight players.

Rules

Seven-card stud starts with every player being dealt two cards that are put face down and one card that is dealt face up. In case the game is played with a bring-in, the player holding the upcard with the lowest rank gets to pay the bring-in. After that, the betting will proceed in a normal clockwise order. If there are two players who have the lowest equally ranked cards, the suit of the cards they have can be used as a tie breaker and assign the bring-in. If the game has no bring-in, then the first round of bets will start with the player tht has the highest-ranking upcard. In cases like this, the suit of the cards shouldn't be used to break a tie. When two players have the same high upcard, the one nearest to the dealer in clockwise rotation will go first.

Once the first betting round is over, one upcard is again dealt to every player, and is followed by another betting round that will start with the player who has upcards that make the best poker hand. Because there are less than five cards that are dealt face up, there will be no flushes, full houses, or straights. The person whose upcards make the best poker hand will start first and may either check or bet up to the limit of the game. Upon showdown, every player creates the best five-card hand out of the seven cards dealt to him.

In this game, discarded cards cannot be used later on within the same game. Unlike draw poker in which no cards are seen before the showdown, seven-card stud poker players use the information they get from upcards to devise their strategies. Once a player sees a specific card folded, they are then entitled to base their decisions on their knowledge that that certain card won't appear in any of their opponents' hand. Seven-card stud is a variation of poker that requires careful observation and memorization of cards. Those who are good observers of cards and player tendencies can make quite a huge sum off the pot in both brick-and-mortar casinos as well as online poker sites.

Strategies

One of the most important things that players of seven-card stud must know is how to read their cards. After that, they must know their chances of improving their hand based on the cards that are laid out on the table. For this game, money management is important, as well as discernment. Players must pay attention to the tells by their opponents and be careful not to be a predictable player. Most of all, players should have the discipline to fold when they know they're going to be beat.