How to Play Seven Card Stud

To play 7 card stud, everyone antes and gets 2 cards face down and 1 face up. The lowest up card must bring in the betting. After that, the best hand showing acts first on every street. Fourth, fifth and sixth street come face up, seventh comes face down, and you make your best 5 cards out of 7. Hand rankings are the same as Hold'em.

Seven card stud rules: antes, no blinds, no button

Stud has no blinds, no shared board and no dealer button. Instead, every player puts in a small ante before the deal so there's always a pot. It plays best with 5 to 7 players, and 8 is the most one deck can handle.

Most home games play fixed limit with 2 bet sizes: a small bet on third and fourth street, and a big bet (double) on fifth, sixth and seventh. If your Hold'em game is $0.25/$0.50, a Stud game that feels about the same is a $0.10 ante, a $0.25 bring-in, $0.50 bets early and $1 bets later.

How a hand of 7 card stud is dealt, street by street

1. Third street. Each player gets 2 hole cards face down and 1 door card face up. Betting starts with the bring-in.
2. Fourth street. 1 card face up, then a round of small bets.
3. Fifth street. 1 card face up; bets double from here.
4. Sixth street. 1 card face up, big bets.
5. Seventh street (the river). 1 card face down, a final round of big bets, then the showdown.

The dealer burns a card before each street. By the end you have 3 cards nobody else can see and 4 that everybody can. Use any mix of up and hole cards to make your best 5. If you need a refresher on what beats what, see our poker hand rankings guide.

The bring-in: who bets first in 7 card stud

On third street, the player showing the lowest door card has to start the betting. Aces count high, so a deuce is the lowest card you can show. If 2 players both show a deuce, card rooms break the tie by suit: clubs lowest, then diamonds, hearts and spades.

That player either puts in the small bring-in or makes a full small bet, which is called completing. Everyone to the left then calls, completes or folds. A lot of kitchen-table games grew up with the high card betting first instead. That's a legitimate house rule, so agree on it before the first deal.

Who acts first after third street

From fourth street on, the order flips: the player showing the best hand acts first, and with no forced bet anymore they can check. A pair beats no pair; with no pair, the highest card goes first. If 2 boards tie, the player closest to the dealer's left acts first. The order can change every street, so just read the boards.

A full hand of 7 card stud, worked example

4 friends, Jen dealing, $0.25 bring-in, $0.50 small bet, $1 big bet. Hole cards are in brackets.

Mike made the last raise, so he shows first: kings full of fives, made on sixth street with the K♠ in the hole. Sara's ace-high heart flush loses, because a full house beats a flush. The card that beat Sara was the one she couldn't see.

Pot count: antes $0.40 + third street $1.75 + fourth $1.50 + fifth $3 + sixth $2 + seventh $6 = $14.65 to Mike.

The video deals this exact hand card by card, with the order flips and Mike's hidden full house on screen.

High Chicago and other house rules

On dealer's choice night, High Chicago splits the pot: the highest spade in the hole takes half and the best hand takes the other half. A spade showing on your board doesn't count, and the ace of spades in the hole guarantees half the pot. Agree beforehand whether the seventh-street card counts, whether you must stay to the end, and who gets that half if nobody has a hole spade. In the hand above, Mike's K♠ was the highest surviving hole spade, so he'd take the whole pot either way.

Running out of cards: 8 players times 7 cards is 56, plus burns, and a deck has 52. Someone usually folds, but if the deck runs short on seventh street, the dealer turns 1 card face up in the middle and everyone still in uses it as their seventh card.

Host's note: We usually play Hold'em at $0.25/$0.50, so when Stud comes out on dealer's choice night we say 3 house rules out loud first: bring-in or high card first, what the bets are, and whether High Chicago is on. Then deal the first hand slowly and have the dealer call out who's first on every street.

Frequently asked questions

How do you play 7 card stud for beginners? Everyone antes, then gets 2 cards face down and 1 face up. The lowest up card brings in the betting, and after that the best showing hand acts first each street. You get 7 cards in total (3 down, 4 up) and make your best 5-card hand.

Who bets first in 7 card stud? On third street, the player showing the lowest card must bring it in, with aces high and suits breaking ties (clubs lowest, then diamonds, hearts, spades). From fourth street on, the player showing the best hand acts first and may check.

What is the bring-in in 7 card stud? The bring-in is a small forced bet made by the player with the lowest up card on third street. That player can bet the small bring-in amount or complete it to a full small bet, and everyone else then calls, completes or folds.

How many players can play 7 card stud? 5 to 7 players is best and 8 is the maximum. 8 players need 56 cards plus burns, so if the deck runs out on seventh street the dealer turns 1 community card face up for everyone still in.

What is High Chicago in 7 card stud? High Chicago is a home-game variation where the highest spade in the hole wins half the pot and the best hand wins the other half. Spades showing on your board don't count.

Mixing Stud into a Hold'em night? Our mixed games guide covers rotating games. HG Poker logs every buy-in and rebuy during the game and shows who owes whom at the end; your group pays each other outside the app. Download on the App Store · Get it on Google Play