1. Summary
In seven card stud, every player plays with seven cards. Three of these cards are hole cards (which only you can see); whilst the following four are open, that is, in full view of all the players. As opposed to Texas Hold’em and Omaha, there are no cards that can be used by all players. Each player has to make the best possible five card hand from the seven available. . The betting in the first two rounds is limited to the table’s lowest limit. One exception to this rule is when a player has a pair showing after Fourth Street. In that case, the player is allowed to bet up to the table’s higher limit. The last three rounds of betting are also limited to the table’s higher limit.
2. Ante
As opposed to Texas Hold’em and Omaha, Seven Card Stud uses the ante system, not blinds. This means that all players who wish to participate in a hand have to place a predetermined amount into the pot. This is later used to up the game’s tempo.
3. First round of betting
Every participating player is dealt three cards, the first two face down and the third one, face up. The player with the lowest open card begins the betting, this is also called the bring-in. If two or more players have the same lowest card, the suit order (from high to low) is: Spades, Hearts, Diamonds and Clubs.
Image explanation point 3:
The first thing that happens is that the Bring-In round starts. The players have put in their Antes and are dealt three cards. Of these three cards, two are dealt face down – so-called hole cards. Hole cards should only be seen by the player they are dealt to. The open cards can be seen by everyone at the table. To make it easier to follow, we viewers can see which hole cards Player 1 was dealt – the Jh (Jack of Hearts) and Jd (Jack of Diamonds). The open card is the 8d (Eight of Diamonds), so Player 1 has got a pair of Jacks. We haven’t yet seen what Player 2’s hole cards are, but his open one is the 9h (Nine of Hearts).
4. Second round of betting
Once the first round of betting is over, another card is dealt, face up, to each of the players who are still in. After that, the player with the highest hand showing begins the betting. If two or more players have the same hand, the player sitting closest to the left of the dealer, starts.
Image explanation point 4:
The fourth card is dealt to each player, in what is called “Fourth Street”. Player 1 gets the Ah and continues to have a pair as his best combination, whilst Player 2 gets the Th and has still not got anything from the cards we can see. There are no pairs in view at Third Street, which means all betting in this round is limited to the table’s lower limit.
5. Third round of betting
Another face up card is dealt to every participating player. The same rules as before are valid for who starts the betting.
Image explanation point 5:
The fifth card is dealt in the round that is also called, “Fifth Street”. Player 1 gets dealt the As and now has a relatively good hand. We can see that he is now sitting on a strong couple of pairs, whilst the other players around the table can only see his pair of aces. Player 2 gets the Ks and as far as we can tell, has still not gotten any combinations. Players are allowed to bet the table’s higher limit from this round onward.
6. Fourth round of betting
Another face up card is dealt to every participating player. The same rules as before are valid for who starts the betting.
Image explanation point 6:
The penultimate card is dealt to each player in the round called “Seventh Street”. This is the penultimate round of betting before the showdown and players are still allowed to bet the table’s higher limit. Player 1 gets a Jc as his fifth card and has now got himself a great hand: Full House with Jacks over Aces. Of course, Player 2 doesn’t know this, as the four open cards only show a pair of aces.
If he is a good player, he will probably suspect that Player 1’s hole cards can make a big difference to his hand. Player 2 gets the Js as his last card and so has still not got a combination from his open cards.
7. Fifth round of betting:
The last card is dealt to each player still in the game. This card is another hole card, so the other players cannot seem them, just like with the first two cards. The same rules as for the second and third rounds are valid for who starts the betting.
Image explanation point 7:
The last card, which is a hole card, is dealt. We can see that Player 1 got a 3d, which is no improvement to his already strong hand, meaning he finishes with a Full House. Player 2’s hand still seems the same to us, as the last card was dealt face down.
8. Showdown
All the cards have now been dealt and it only remains to see what hands the participating players have. The hole cards are turned face up and the best five card hand possible is used for each player.
Image explanation point 8:
The cards are shown and Player 1 enjoys that Full House he has held since Seventh Street. Player 2 shows his hole cards and it seems as if he, too, has been sitting on a strong hand. Three hearts, the Queen, Eight and Four, join the two open cards, the Nine and Ten of hearts, to make a Flush – and only one away from a Straight Flush. However, Player 1 takes home the pot and we can imagine just how disappointed Player 2 must be right now.
Player 1’s final hand: Jh-Jd-Jc-Ah-As – Full House, Jacks over Aces
Player 2’s final hand: Qh-Th-9h-8h-4h – Flush in Hearts, Queen high