7 Card Stud Poker

In 7 Card Stud poker, the dealer starts by dealing two cards face down and one face up to each player. Play starts with the lowest ranked card paying the "bring-in", after that there's no subsequent checking. The alternative is the player with the highest ranked card opening without a bring-in, in this case he and then players following him are allowed to check.

A second round of upcards are now dealt starting at the dealer's left and the player with the best poker hand from the two upcards showing opens the betting. He can check or bet and after there is a bet obviously players following can no longer check.

The third round is another upcard and betting round following the format of the second round.

The fourth round is again another upcard and betting round.

The fifth and final round in Seven Card Stud poker is a downcard and a fifth betting round followed by a showdown if required, where players who remain in the hand make the best possible 5 card poker hand out of the 7 cards dealt.

** Seven-card stud is often remembered as "two down, four up, one down".

A card is usually discarded or "burned" before each round, meaning that home games are limited to six or seven players. Theoretically seven players could run out of cards (7 x 7 + 4 burns = 53) but there is little chance that all the players will hold all their cards so discarded ones may be reused.