Before Texas Hold'em became the so powerful in the world of poker, Seven Card Stud was the game to play. It is a game that requires patience, a great deal of attention and an analytical mind.

How to Play

Seven Card Stud is generally a fixed limit game played with between two and eight players. To start everyone has to post an ante, generally one quarter of the lower limit, which goes into the initial pot.

Third Street

After posting their antes, each player receives three cards, two concealed and one face up. This is called third street. The player now showing the lowest card must make a forced bet of either half the lower limit or the full lower limit amount. All the other players in sequence, beginning with the player to the left of the player who made the first bet, have to fold, call or raise.

If the starting player only bets the bring-in, the other players can choose to call this amount or complete the bet to the lower limit. In this round of betting, units are set at the lower limit. As with many limit games, you're only allowed a maximum of three raises before the pot is considered capped, and that betting round is closed.

Fourth Street

In the fourth street all players recieve a fourth card face up, and betting in this round begins with the player who shows the highest hand. They can check or bet with the minimum bet being equal to the lower limit. The exception to this rule is if a pair is exposed. In this case the active player can choose to bet either the lower or higher limit. If the player opts to bet the higher limit, all other bets and raises must be at the same level.

Fifth Street, Sixth Street and the River

Fifth street is now dealt face up to all the players. From this betting round on all bets must be made in increments of the higher limit. Sixth street is identical and the seventh card dealt to the players - the river - is a final concealed card. Following one final round of betting, any remaining players reveal their cards, and the player with the highest five card poker hand from their seven cards wins the pot.