7 Card Stud Rules

7 Card Stud is quite a complex form of poker. Although the ground rules are not too complex, the finer points of the game are amazingly intricate. On this page we will review the most basic ground rules of the game. First of all 7 Card Stud can be played by a maximum of 8 players (this is due to the amounts of the cards in the deck, other variations can have games of up to 10 and even 12 players). There are five separate rounds of betting withstanding the first compulsory bet called the ante (it is common to other types of poker as well).

First each player receives two cards that only facing down (meaning that only he can see them) and one facing up. Than the player with the lowest visible card needs to place a bet of either the small bet at the table or half of the smallest bet at the table. The player can choose which bet to place. Then players can decide to call the bet, raise it or fold and not participate in that round of betting. After the betting finishes a fourth card is being placed in the middle of the table. This is a community card that can be seen by everyone and used by everyone (This type of cards is very common in many other poker variations).