We are now going to look into 7 Card Stud. This poker variant belongs to the Stud family. We will therefore have an introduction dealing with the basics of Stud Poker.
Seven card stud is played in the mixed game H.O.R.S.E (the S). Note that the E is the High Low variation of 7 card stud, also called Eight or Better.
Introduction to Stud Poker
Contrary to community card poker players (or flop game players), Stud Poker players do not share any cards. They receive a mix of face-down (hole cards) and face-up cards with betting rounds in between. Another big difference with flop games is that Stud games are non-positional games. This means that every round the player who speaks first may change, it will usually be determined by the value of his face up cards.
Combinations are the same than in other poker variants (cf. Hand Ranking section)
Dealing sequence in 7-card stud
In 7-card Stud, players are dealt their cards differently than in Hold’em or Omaha. Note that there are also 5 betting rounds (after the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th street) but we’ll get back to it later.
After every player has paid the ante, each player receives two face-down cards (the hole cards) and one face-up card (the 3rd Street) also known as the door card.
A betting round takes place and the 4th Street is a face-up card dealt to every player still in the pot. The 5th and the 6th street are also face-up cards. And the 7th street is dealt face-down.
An easy way to remember the dealing sequence is to summarize it as "two down, four up, one down".
A complete 7-Card Stud hand
Betting structure
7-card Stud is usually played with fixed limit.
Once all players have received their two hole cards and the face-up card, the player with the worst door card has to pay the bring-in (more on it below) which is usually equal to ½ or 1/3 of the low limit bet, if he prefers paying a full low limit bet, he can also do so. In a clockwise order, players can then decide to call, raise (this is called completing the bring-in) or fold. When at least two players have bet the same amount, the 4th street is dealt.
In the first two rounds of betting (after the 3rd Street and 4th street), players’ bets or raises must be equal to the low limit bet size. There is however an exception. If a player holds a face-up pair on the 4th street, players can bet the equivalent of the high limit bet size. Players who would like to raise can also raise a single or double bet. In the last 3 rounds of betting (after the 5th, 6th and 7th street), the bets and raises must be equal to the high limit bet size.
From 4th street onwards, the player with the best face-up hand will speak first. Note that the best hand can change from a betting round to another.
After the 5th street is dealt, the betting switches from the low to the high limit. If there is more than one player still in after the last betting round, the showdown takes place and the players reveal their face-down cards. The pot is then awarded to the winning hand.
Some 7-Card Stud Specifics
7-Card stud is a High Game, which means that the best Poker combination wins in case of a showdown.
When it comes to the bring-in, it’s the player with the lowest card who has to pay it (Aces being considered as high cards). In case two players have a similar value card, the suit is used to assign the bring-in; the suit order is alphabetical: S>H>D>C. That means that if your opponent holds a 2c and you hold a 2h, he will have to pay the bring-in.
The first player to act on 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th street is the player with the best face-up poker hand. As a result, if player A holds xx99 and player B holds xxAK on fourth street, player A will be first to act.
Some key strategy concepts
Playing 7-Card stud is very different than playing Texas Hold’em or Omaha. You still have to count odds and outs (see our Odd section in the Hold’em part) but you have way more information you need to take into account. Face-up cards dealt to an opponent are as many outs that neither you nor any other opponent will ever hit; this is what is called a dead card. The idea is to always determine what your live cards.
You therefore spend way more time counting cards and remembering mucked outs.
In case you have a straight or flush draw always look for your outs in other players’ hands. A basic rule of thumb for flush draws (eg. 3s Ks | As) is that if you see more than two other players in a full table with some of your outs (spade 3rd streets in that case), you should abandon hopes of hitting it. The situation is similar for straight draws, if some of your opponents hold some of your outs to the straight or just to pairing your cards, act with caution (that means FOLD in most cases ).
Another very important concept is to pay attention to the first player to raise the bring-in. A player raising the bring-in will generally hold a pocket or split pair (99|A or 9A|9). Even if position is not as important in Stud as in flop games, a player raising the bring-in from a late position may also be attempting to steal the pot.
When it comes to starting hands, in Stud you are always looking for a spot where your hand has several outs to different combinations. As stated previously make sure your outs are live.
Hands you will usually feel confident to play are hands where your door card is better than all other door cards on the table. If your three cards are better than all the door cards, your odds of winning significantly increase if you catch something. Some other good hands to start with are:
Trips (88|8)
Medium to high pocket/split pairs (TK|T or TT|K)
Connectors, if they are suited it’s even better (6s8s|7c)
Three cards to a flush (8h3h|Qh)
As for any other Poker game, remember to vary your game, be aware of your table image, your opponent’s playing styles. Stay focused and play with a winning attitude.
That’s all for 7-card stud, so good luck and have fun.
