As you want to become a master, you must be curious about how to play 7 card stud poker. This game is also called Down-The-River or Seven-Toed Pete, which is a popular variant of Stud Poker. Players popularly played the seven-card stud game until Texas Hold’em took over its popularity in the casinos of Malaysia.
The Seven-Card Stud can be played between 2 to 8 players. The major difference between this poker type and Texas Hold’em or Omaha is that this game doesn’t include the flop in poker round of betting and mostly doesn’t include the use of community cards. Are you interested in this game? Read more below to learn the gameplay and rules.
The 7 Card Stud Hands Ranking
The 7 card stud hands ranking vary from the usual hand used in the popular types of poker where the Royal Flush is the best hand. Well, look at below to know more about hands ranking in this game.
Five-of-a-kind
The highest hand on the 7 card stud poker hand rankings chart is 5 of a kind that can be created only when at least once card is a Wild card like Joker. For example, 10♥️ 10♦️ 10♣️ 10♠️ Joker (the Joker being the wild card) or K♣️ K♠️ 9♦️ 9♥️ 9♠️ (where 9s are the wild cards here).
Straight Flush
In 7 card stud poker, when a standard pack of 52 cards are used, and there are no Wild cards in the game, Straight Flush is the highest possible hand. Then, you can make a straight flush with 5 cards in sequence and of the same suit. For instance, 9♣️ 8♣️ 7♣️ 6♣️ 5♣️ in the game.
Four-of-a-kind
The next on the 7 card stud hands ranking is four of a kind. As proof from its name, a four of a kind hand can be formed by 4 cards of the same rank. For instance, A♦️ A♠️ A♥️ A♣️ or 6♦️ 6 ♥️ 6♣️ 6♠️.
Full House
A full house hand in 7 card stud poker is made using 5 cards with 3 cards of the same rank and 2 cards of a different rank. For instance, 5 ♣️ 5♠️ 5 ♥️ 7♠️ 7♦️.
Flush
Flush in 7 card stud hands ranking is created with 5 cards of the same suit but not in a sequence. For instance, 10♠️ 8♠️ 5♠️ 3♠️ 2♠️ in the game.
Straight
A straight includes 5 cards in a sequence but of different suits. For instance, Q♠️ J♥️ 10♦️ 9♣️ 8♣️.
Three-of-a-kind
Three of a kind in 7 card stud poker includes 3 cards of the same rank and 2 cards of a different rank. For instance, you get J♠️ J♣️ J♥️ 6♥️ 3♣️ in the game.
Two Pairs
As its name suggests, two pairs are made with one pair of cards of one rank, another pair of cards of another rank, and the fifth card of a different rank. For instance, you get J♠️ J♣️ 6♦️ 6♠️ 5♥️ in the game.
One Pair
The one pair hand in 7 card stud poker includes only one pair of cards of one rank and 3 other cards of different rank. For instance, J♥️ J♣️ 10♠️ 7♦️ 4♥️.
No Pair
No pair is a common hand that includes no cards that can be paired up, are of the same suit, or in a rank sequence. When you play and have no pair, then the highest card decides the rank of the hand. This hand is called a High Card.
The 7 Card Stud Poker Rules
After knowing the hand rankings, now you also need to figure out the rules in the game. This will help you to understand how the game works, so you can increase the winning. Take a look at below.
Game Object
The objective for every player in the game is to win the pot that includes all the bets of the players in any one deal. The player with the strongest hand made of 5 cards wins the pot.
Dealing
The 7 card stud poker can be played using a standard deck of 52 cards. Every player is given the chips to place their bets, and every player has to give an ante (the amount of which is picked before the game) before the cards are dealt.
In addition, the players get 7 cards in total throughout the game in a combination of face-down and up cards. The 3 cards are dealt face-down and 4 cards face-up in different betting rounds.
Ante
The gameplay of 7 card stud poker is divided into different betting rounds. Before you start the game, you will pay a predetermined nominal amount that is known as the ante in poker. In addition, the ante amount is used to get entry into the hand, and the ante is always chosen before the game starts.
Third Street
The game starts after the ante is paid and the cards are dealt to every player. Before the first betting round, every player will get 3 cards, one by one, which is known as the third street. The 2 of the 3 cards are the hole cards and are dealt face-down, and one card or the door card is dealt face up. Then the betting will proceed.
Moreover, the player with the lowest-ranked door card is called the “bring-in” and is needed to make the fist bet. This player will have 2 options: to make a bet equal to the bring in, which is chosen before the game starts or to make a bet based on the low bet structure size.
Fourth Street
In 7 card stud poker rules, after the first betting round of the third street, every player gets one more face-up card, called the fourth street. The player with the highest face-up card will make a bet. Then, this player has two options to bet: to bet per the lower betting structure size or to check (will stay in the hand without betting).
Fifth Street
After the second betting round in 7 card stud poker rules, the remaining players are dealt one more face-up card, known as the fifth street. The player with the highest value of the face-up cards starts betting.
Sixth Street
In the fourth round of the game, the remaining players will get one more card, face-up, and this is called the sixth street. Then, the player with the highest value of face-up cards will place the bet.
The River
Next, the river in 7 card stud poker is the last betting round where every active player gets another card (this time face-down) also called the seventh street. And the player with the highest of face-up cards will start the bet.
By this round game, all the active players will have seven cards in hand. In this round, if only one player remains and the others fold, the player will win the pot. However, if more than one player is left in the last round, those players will play the showdown.
The Showdown
In the showdown of 7 card stud poker, all the remaining players show their seven cards-hand. The player with the highest five-card poker hands will win and take the pot. If the hand ranking of more than one player is the same, the pot will be divided equally between the winning players.
The Variants of 7 Stud Poker
We are pretty sure that you now already understand how 7 stud poker works. However, we haven’t finished yet. You need to know some variants of this game which are important to know. Let’s take a look at below.
7-Card Stud Hi/Lo
Usually found in online poker rooms best e-wallet Casino Malaysia, the 7-card stud hi/lo has the same rules, however, only the pot is split at the end of the game. The pot is evenly splitted between the player with the highest hand and the one with the lowest hand.
Mississippi Stud
In 7 card stud poker variants, the Mississippi stud variant has only 4 betting rounds as it will remove the fourth and fifth street rounds. Moreover, the betting structure is quite same to that of Texas Hold’em, and the number of down and up cards is also the game.
Razz
Razz is a lowball variant of 7-card stud. The objective of this game is to get the lowest hand possible.
Down the River
The down the river in poker is one of the most standard 7 card stud poker variants. It is commonly found in most poker rooms.
Queens and After
In this variant of poker, all the Queen cards are Wild cards and the card dealt face-up following the Queen card is also Wild card. If the other card that is dealt after a Queen card, it is also Queen and all cards change to the card that follows the Queen.
Roll Your Own
Roll your own variant works with 4 rounds where 2 cards are dealt face-down. The players will roll one card face-up, and the betting round starts.
Low Chicago
In Low Chicago of 7 card stud poker a low spade in the hole covers half the pot. In High Chicago, a low spade will transform into a high spade.
Baseball
In the Baseball variant, the 3s and 9s are the Wild cards. When a player is dealt a 4 face-up, they will get an extra card.
Acey Ducey
In the end, all the Aces and deuces are Wild cards.
Final Words
With so many variants of the 7 card stud poker, the game can never get boring. While the rules in this game may vary slightly, the game is as exciting as Texas Hold’em or Omaha poker. If you are a new player, you can play poker by starting with Texas Hold’em poker and then move on to playing the other online poker variants.
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