7 Card Stud


Seven Card Stud is probably the most well known poker game – especially in Europe.

Game Description

Seven Card Stud is played with a deck of 52 cards. Up to 8 players can take part in the game.

Every player must pay an Ante, independent of how much the limit is, before the first card is dealt. Then every player receives three cards. Two cards face-down (hole cards) and one card face-up (door card). The player with the lowest door card begins with the first round . When the same value of cards are shown, the type of card is the deciding factor (spade, heart, diamond, club). This player now has the option to only bet the forced bet (half of the limit) or the whole bet. A betting round (clockwise) follows. Now every player receives another card, face-up. From the second round onwards, the player begins who has the highest face-up card. Then every player receives another card, face-up, followed by a betting round. This is now repeated once more. The last card (the seventh card) is given to the player face-down. This is followed by the last betting round and the best hand, consisting of five cards, wins the pot.

Limit Policy

As you can see from the game description, there are five betting rounds in Seven Card Stud. During the first two rounds (two cards face-up) there is a lower limit (e.g. it would be $2 for $2/$4) for every bet or raise. There are two exceptions to this: first, it could happen that all players can only make the forced bet (e.g. it would be $1 for S2/$4) and second, if a player has a pair with his/her first two cards face-up, then the players can also play the higher limit (e.g. it would be S4 for $2/$4). If this higher limit must be played then the following bets must also be according to the higher limit. From the third betting round onwards (third card face-up) the higher limit (e.g. it would be $2 for $2/$4) is to be played.

In every betting round there is the possibility of making three raises, unless there are only two players in the pot (heads-up) – then the raises are unlimited.