Bring It In

Instead of only a couple players posting blinds to begin the hand, an ante is required of all players. Once the antes are posted, every player will receive three cards, two face down and one face up.

The player with the lowest exposed card is required to "bring it in" and begin the first round of betting. If two or more players have the same lowest ranked card, suits are used to determine who acts first. Suits rank in alphabetical in order: clubs, diamonds, hearts, then spades is the highest.

The low card has the option of making an ante-size bet, or a full small bet, according to their preference. The action continues clockwise until the betting round has been completed.

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Fourth Street

Every player still in the hand receives a fourth card, dealt face up. This is known as fourth street and now the player with the highest exposed hand begins the action by either checking, or betting.

The highest exposed hand will begin the betting action in every subsequent round from this point on. You can perhaps see that if you don't know this rule you will look weak to your tablemates, so it's worth studying the rules of Stud before you get into a game.

If there is a pair showing in any player's hand on fourth street, a full big bet can be made. Otherwise, the big bets don’t come into play until the next round.

This is an illustration of the limit nature of 7 Card Stud, it's not like Hold'em where people shove all in a lot with maniacs creating havoc every 15 minutes.

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Fifth Street

Once the fourth street action has been completed, the fifth street cards are dealt face up to all remaining players who have not folded. Once again, the player with the highest of all exposed hands begins the action and can either check or make a full big bet.

All bets from here on out are big bets, according to the betting structure of the game, i.e. the limits. As of fifth street you are either betting bigger chunks into the pot, checking, or you're folding.

As you might imagine players with good hands, or representing good hands, are not usually a fan of not betting because this gives opponents a chance to receive a free card and potentially draw a winning hand.

So in this sense fifth street is a major narrowing down the field moment.

The increased investments into the pot that take place on fifth street create "pot equity," and in turn create the conventional wisdom in Seven Card Stud that if you are betting on fifth street, you should be counting on going all the way to the showdown.

Certainly this is a "rule" that many of your Stud opponents may follow.

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Sixth Street

Upon completion of fifth street, the sixth street cards are dealt face up to the remaining players and wagering action once again commences, you must either big bet, check, or fold.

As noted, the Seven Card Stud practice is to bet rather than fold if you've gotten to this point. Pots are usually big enough that it's worth proceeding. However, there are times when everybody checks all around and a free card is given.

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The Showdown

After the six street betting round is over, the last card is dealt face down to all remaining players. The betting round again begins with the player showing the highest poker hand, who has the option of checking, or making a full big bet.

After all betting action is completed, the player who last bet or raised must show his hand first. If there was no betting in the final round, the player in the earliest seat shows his hand first.

The winner of the hand is the player who can showdown the highest five card poker hand. In the event of a tie, where the highest hands are identical, the pot is split evenly among those players.

After the winner of the hand is determined and the money is sent his way, the next hand will begin and the action starts again.

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