Players
Up to 8 players are allowed to play in the same game.
Ante
7-card Stud is played with an ante. Before any cards are dealt the antes must be
posted.
Deal
Each player receives 3 cards, two dealt face down and one face up. The cards you
are dealt first are your "hole cards" and cannot be seen by the other players.
This is indicated with grey background. After that there will be 3 more cards
dealt face up and one card dealt face down to each remaining player.
Bring-in
The player showing the lowest card in fixed limit and the highest card in pot
limit after the deal must make a forced bet (bring-in) that usually amounts to 2
x the ante or make a bet higher than that if the limit allows it. For the
purposes of determining the bring-in, ties in card rank are broken by suit, with
the order being spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs (in descending order). After
the initial bring-in or bet is made action continuous clockwise until betting is
completed for the round.
Betting order
In
7-card Stud there are 5 betting rounds. The first betting round takes place
after each player is dealt his first three cards. Then a 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th
card is dealt to each player and another betting round starts after each card.
The player showing the highest hand on the board is first to act in each round.
Showdown
If
no more betting takes place, after all the cards have been dealt out, there is a
showdown to determine the winner. The best 5 card hand wins the pot (kickers
count). If two or more players show the same hand they split the pot. If there
is an odd chip it goes to the player nearest the dealer box. If there was
betting on seventh street the player who made the last bet or raise must show
his hand first. If there was no betting the player showing the highest hand on
the board shows his hand first.
Special rules
If any player shows a pair on 4th street it is possible to bet/raise double the
limit in Fixed Limit games. A maximum of 3 raises is allowed, no matter the size
of each raise.
If there are not enough cards left in the deck to deal every player his 7th card a community card is dealt face up in the middle of the table. In this case all the players use the same card as their 7th card and no betting is allowed on this round.