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Seven Card Stud is a challenging poker variation that has been popular in the United States for a long time. The game is played at home, at brick and mortar casinos and is also quite popular at online poker sites. While the game has taken somewhat of a backseat to Texas hold’em and other community poker games in the past, an increase in the number of players looking to add a little variety to their game has caused a surge in the popularity of Seven Card Stud. This article will cover set up and basic play for Seven Card Stud.

7 Card Stud setup, deal and third street

Seven Card Stud can be played with between two and eight players and a standard deck of fifty two cards. In Seven Card Stud you use antes rather than blinds. Each player must pay the ante before they are dealt into the hand. An ante is a forced bet that everyone at the table must make, much like the small and big blind in Texas Holdem. The amount of the ante is going to vary depending on the limit of the game you are playing but is usually between five and ten percent of the big bet of that limit. For example, if you are playing $2/$4 Seven Card Stud, the ante is most likely going to be $.40.

After each player at the table has placed their ante, the dealer gives each player three cards with the first two being dealt face down and the third being dealt face up. This part of the hand is known as third street because of the three cards that are dealt. The face up cards in Seven Card Stud are individual cards for each player, they are not community cards. Once the cards are dealt, the player with the lowest up card is forced to make a bring in bet. The bring in bet is normally half of the small bet for the limit you are playing. For example, if you are playing $2/$4 Seven Card Stud, the bring in bet will most likely be one dollar. If there happens to be a tie for the lowest card by rank, the tie is broken by suit. Clubs are the highest suit, followed by diamonds, hearts then spades. After the bring in bet is made, play continues around the table clockwise with each player having the option to fold, call or raise. Raises on third street are at the low betting amount for the limit you are playing, so if you are playing $2/$4 Stud the low bet is going to be $2. Play continues until all players have had the opportunity to act.

Fourth street in 7 Card Stud

During fourth street another face up card is dealt to each player and the betting round begins with the player showing the highest hand with there two up cards. The betting round then continues clockwise until all players have acted. Bets and raises on fourth street are also the amount of the small bet.

Fifth and Sixth street in 7 Card Stud

Fifth street play is identical to fourth street in that all players receive an additional face up card and then play begins with the player who has the highest showing hand. The only difference between fourth and fith street in 7 Card Stud is that from fifth street on betting and raising is done at the large bet level. So in our example game it would be $4. Once all players have had the chance to act for the fith street betting round all remaining players are dealt another face up card to begin sixth street. Sixth street is the last face up card players will receive. Once again the betting round begins with the player showing the highest hand and rotates clockwise from that point. Once all players have acted, play moves onto the final round called the river and the showdown.

The river and the showdown

In the last round of play all remaing players are dealt one last card face down. The betting round once again starts with the player showing the highest ranking poker hand. Once all players have had the chance to act, its time for the showdown. The last player to bet or raise must show their hand first, then all challenging players can either muck their hand "if they are beat", or they can show their hand if it is good enough to take the pot. The dealer then determines the winning hand and awards the player the pot. It is possible to run out of cards in Stud. If this happens the dealer will place the 7th in the middle of the table and it will be a community card that can be used by every player.