Some Advice On Playing 7-Card Stud Poker
A very old form of poker still popular today because of its standard, familiar structure is 7-card stud. It attracts a major following in both casinos and Friday night home poker parties. Depending on the region of play, the rules of stud may be altered slightly, but all will have the rule of a maximum of seven players per table due to the fact that a deck contains only 52 cards, also the dealer is allowed to burn 4 in the course of a game. There are less rounds for betting so it is not unusual to find house rules include an ante or pre-flop requisite bet to elicit more hand participation as well as add more complexity to the game.
If you play holdem exclusively, you will have to learn a new strategy to play 7-card stud. Any one new to the stud games should carefully observe games as they are played and learn well the rules and strategies of betting before even thinking of sitting at the table to play a round or two. Learning strategies of stud as well as other forms of poker will always add to the enjoyment (and profitability) of any form of the game.
How Betting Goes Down in 7-Card Stud
To begin the game, each player is dealt three cards with two of them faced down and one up. Betting begins in a clockwise direction with the player holding the highest hand betting first (two aces would be the topmost hand at this point). The following three rounds, or streets as they are sometimes termed, will be dealt face up with the last (River) card dealt face down which takes us to the highest hand 5-card showdown. Betting rounds are taking place between each deal, with the exception of Mississippi stud which can be played with just four betting rounds and the last two cards are dealt as one.
The Workings of 7-Card Stud Strategy
All players must ante in most of the stud games while some go so far as to demand that the player with the lowest scoring hand in round one plays a “bring in” i.e., place a forced bet. Each player receives three cards, two up and the “bring in” player bets first. If there is a tie for the lowest hand, the suit becomes the tiebreaker. At this point the players can choose to bet, fold or raise to the limit the house allows.
Another deal commences with each player being dealt one card, followed by another round of bets starting with the player of the highest hand (three aces tops). In all ensuing rounds, the one who has the best visible cards can opt to bet or check to start the round. After all the cards have been dealt, the cards should be ordered in the players hands with two down cards, four up cards and finally, one down card.
Similar to the games of holdem and Omaha poker, the player whose hand consists of the highest ranked cards or card combinations wins. There are no community cards in stud poker, which is unusual as is the fact that the hands have a few face-up cards. Beyond that difference, the card rankings are the same with the Royal Flush leading the way, followed by the straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, pair, with high cards at the low end of the ranking scale. Sound strategies will use the strength of your hand as the base, with the visible cards and betting schematics of your opponents as major components. Do not forget to get a sense of how rich the pot is.
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