7 Card Stud Poker Basics
By
Bill Burton
7 Card Stud Poker used to
be the most
popular game
in the cardroom. Everyone
who has ever
played poker at home is familiar with 7 card stud because most of the
crazy
home games such Baseball or follow the Ace are just variations
of
this
game with different wild cards.
In
the
card room the only thing wild are some of the players and the game is
played
with no wild cards. Because each player receives seven cards the number
of
players in a game is limited to seven or less.
7 Card Stud has five betting rounds instead of the four
found in Hold’em and Omaha.
There
are also two betting variations you may encounter depending on the
limits you
want to play.
In the higher limits, the first two betting
rounds are one amount
and the limits double on the last three rounds.
For instance
in a $5/10 game the first two rounds are five
dollars and the last three are ten dollars.
In the lower
limit games the
betting levels are usually a spread amount. One of the most popular
spreads for
low limit games are $1-5. This means that a player can bet any amount
with in
that spread.
A player can bet any amount with $1 being the
minimum bet
and $5 being the maximum bet.
If
a
player wants to raise he must double the amount of the bet.
Antes
7 Card Stud is an ante game. That means that
each player
must put some money in the pot before the game begins. The amount of
the ante
depends on the limit of the game and also may vary from card room to
card room.
Some cardrooms offer low limit spread games with no antes.
The Start
After the antes are put in the dealer scoops the
money into
the pot. Each
player is dealt two cards
down and one card up beginning with the player to the immediate left of
the
dealer button.
The
two face down cards
are called your hole cards and the up card is referred to as your “door
card.”
Bringing It In
The
first betting round is called Third
Street because you have received
three cards to
begin the hand. After
the cards are
dealt the first betting round begins.
In the first betting
round the player
with the lowest card showing is required to make a forced bet know as
the “Bring
in” bet. The size of this bet is slightly larger than the ante but less
than
the minimum bet. In a $1-5 game it is usually around 75 cents.
After the bet is
made
the next player on the immediate left of the player making the bring in
bet has
the option of calling the bet, folding, or raising. During this first
round if
a player wishes to raise the amount of the raise is not double but
equal to the
amount of the minimum bet for that game.
In a $1-5 it must be at least one dollar but
no more that
$5. In a $5/10
game the raise would be $5.
Fourth Street
After the betting is finished each player is dealt a second
card face up and the second betting round begins. From this point on
the action
starts with the player showing the highest and at the beginning each of
the
remaining betting rounds.
The player with the highest hand
is not forced to
bet. He can check and the player to his left then has the option of
betting or
checking. If there
is a bet and a player
acting after the bet must call, fold or raise. A raise would be double
the bet
in a spread game or the higher denomination in a fixed betting game.
Fifth Street
When
betting is for that round is complete each active
player is then dealt a third card face up. In a limit game the betting
is now
higher bet, So in a $5/10 game all the bets are now in multiples of
$10.
The
player with the highest hand showing acts first and can bet of check.
The
betting proceeds clockwise.
Sixth Street.
A
fourth card is dealt face up to all active players and
there is another betting round with player showing the highest hand
acting
first.
Seventh Street
The seventh card is dealt face down. Each active
player now
has four up cards and three hole cards face down.
There is a
final betting
round and all players show their hands after the betting is complete.
The
highest five card hand wins the pot.
If one player makes a
bet and all the
others fold, that player wins by default and is not required to show
his hand.
7
Card Stud Poker Strategy follows 7 Card Stud Basics
OR
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