Seven Card Stud Rules

The object of the game is to win the pot, either by holding the best five-card hand at showdown or by making a bet that no other player calls.

The game is played with a standard 52-card deck with no jokers. Hands are ranked according to the standard poker hand rankings. Suits have no rank when comparing hands.

Each player receives seven cards over the course of the hand. A player's hand is the best five-card combination from those seven cards. There are no shared cards, except in the rare case described in Article 6.

Between two and eight players may take part. Eight is the maximum, because a full table of eight can use up the entire deck.

There is no dealer button. The dealer deals from the seat to their immediate left, clockwise, and the order of action on each round is decided by the cards showing, not by position.

Before the deal, every player posts an ante, a small forced bet that goes into the pot. Antes are dead money and do not count toward a player's bet.

After the first three cards are dealt, the player whose face-up card (the door card) is lowest in rank must make a forced opening bet called the bring-in. For this purpose an ace is high.

If two or more players tie for the lowest door card, the tie is broken by suit. For the bring-in only, suits rank in this order, lowest first:

2.3(a) Clubs ♣ (lowest)

2.3(b) Diamonds ♦

2.3(c) Hearts ♥

2.3(d) Spades ♠ (highest)

The bring-in is the only point in Seven Card Stud at which suits matter, apart from awarding an odd chip (7.5). They are never used to rank hands, to decide who acts first on later streets, or to decide who wins a pot.

The bring-in is a set amount smaller than the small bet. The player required to bring in may instead choose to complete the bet to the full small bet.

The amounts are fixed by the venue. A typical structure is ante 25, bring-in 50, small bet 200 and big bet 400. The examples on this page use that structure.

On third street, the dealer deals each player two cards face down (hole cards) and one card face up (the door card), one card at a time, clockwise, starting with the player to the dealer's left.

On each of fourth street, fifth street and sixth street, each active player receives one card face up.

On seventh street, also called the river, each active player receives one final card face down. At the end of the deal each player holds three cards face down and four face up.

Before dealing fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh street, the dealer discards the top card of the deck face down as a burn card.

A player's face-up cards (upcards, together the player's board) must be kept face up and in full view of the table. Many venues also require upcards to be kept in the order they were dealt.

Third street. The bring-in acts first. Each player after them, clockwise, may fold, call the bring-in, or complete to the small bet. Once the bet has been completed, later players may fold, call or raise by the amount of the small bet.

The bring-in does not count as a bet for the purpose of the raise cap. A completion counts as the opening bet.

Fourth street onwards. The player with the highest-ranking poker hand showing on their board acts first. That player may check or bet. Action then continues clockwise.

When two or more players have equally ranked boards, the player nearest the dealer's left, in clockwise order, acts first. Suits are not used.

Bets and raises are in increments of the small bet on third and fourth street, and of the big bet on fifth, sixth and seventh street.

Open pair on fourth street. If any player shows a pair on their board on fourth street, any player may bet or raise either the small bet or the big bet on that round.

4.6(a) If a player opens for the small bet, a later player may raise by either amount. Once a big-bet increment has been made on the round, all further raises must be of the big bet.

4.6(b) The option applies to every player, not only the player holding the pair.

4.6(c) Some venues have abolished this option. It never applies in Stud Hi-Lo or Razz.

The number of raises in a betting round is capped, typically at a bet and three or four raises, as the venue specifies. Many venues lift the cap when only two players remain in the hand.

A player who folds must turn their upcards face down so that the remaining players cannot tell which cards are dead from the table alone. A player may not show folded cards to an active player.

If all but one player folds at any point, the remaining player wins the pot and does not have to show their cards.

Eight players who all reach seventh street need 56 cards, and seven players need 49 cards plus four burn cards. Either total can exceed what the deck holds.

If the dealer determines that there are not enough cards left to give each active player a separate seventh-street card, the dealer shall not deal individual river cards. Instead the dealer burns a card, if one is available, and deals a single common card face up in the centre of the table.

The common card counts as the seventh card of every active player. It plays as a face-down card would, but everyone can see it.

The player with the highest hand showing, counting the common card, acts first on the final round.

Procedures for a stub that holds a single card vary; some venues deal that card as the common card without a burn, others mix it with the burn cards before dealing. The deal is never cut short or left incomplete.

If more than one player remains after the seventh-street betting, the hands are shown to decide the winner. Each player's hand is the best five cards of their seven.

If there was a bet on seventh street, the last player to bet or raise on that round shows first. If there was no bet, the player with the highest hand showing on board shows first. Other players then show in clockwise order or may concede by discarding their cards face down.

The cards speak. Hands are read from the cards shown, whatever a player declares. A player should hold their cards until the pot is awarded.

Hands of the same rank are compared card by card on their best five cards. If both five-card hands are identical, the pot is split equally. Suits are never used to break a tie for the pot.

When a pot cannot be split evenly, the odd chip goes to the player with the highest card by suit among the tied hands. This is the one other use of suits in stud, and it only divides a chip, never a pot.

A player who is all in may win only as much from each opponent as they put in themselves. Further bets form a side pot, as in any poker game.

If the dealer exposes one of a player's first two hole cards, the player's third card is dealt face down instead, so the player still holds two cards down and one up. If both of a player's hole cards are exposed by the dealer, a misdeal is declared.

A misdeal is also declared if, on third street, a player is dealt the wrong number of cards or is missed out, or if the deck is found to be incomplete, provided substantial action has not yet taken place.

If a card that should be dealt face up on fourth, fifth or sixth street is dealt face down, it is turned face up.

If the dealer exposes a player's seventh-street card, the card stands and the other players receive their cards face down. If only two players remain, the other player's seventh card is also dealt face up, and the player with the higher board acts first.

If the wrong player is told to bring in, the error is corrected if the next player has not yet acted: the chips are returned and the correct player brings in. Once the next player has acted, the action generally stands.

A hand is dead if it is folded, if it contains the wrong number of cards at showdown, or if it touches the discards and cannot be clearly identified. Players are responsible for protecting their own cards.