Bloggers / Matthew Pitt / 14 January 2009 / Leave a comment

Seven Card Stud was the most commonly played poker variant in casinos and home games across the United States of America but the increase in popularity of Texas Hold'em in recent years, has stopped the growth of Stud in its tracks.

The most striking difference between Stud and games like Hold'em or Omaha, is there are no community cards dealt at the table. Instead, each player receives some cards face-up and some face-down and from the seven cards they receive, they must make the best five-card holding they can.

In a typical game, everyone has to pay a forced bet known as the ante. This ante varies in size but in a typical online game, with stakes of $1/$2, the ante will usually be $0.05. Once everyone has anted up, they all receive three cards, two of which are face-down and one face-up.

The player with the lowest ranking up-card has to make a forced bet called the bring-in. This bet, at $1/$2 stakes can be for $0.25 or a raise of $0.50. Once the player has brought-in, the action moves in a clockwise direction like the majority of poker games.

After everyone has completed the round of betting, they each receive another card face-up, also known as 4th street. Now the highest hand on the board acts first and if there is a pair on show, the player can make a double-sized bet if they wish.

Again, once betting is finished, everyone receives another card face-up. This is mirrored once more for 6th street before everyone still in the hand receives their final card face-down. As you can see, on the surface the game is very easy and a quick mnemonic to help you remember how to deal the cards is two-four-one (two down, four up, one down).

The reason I have mentioned this age-old game is the fact there is still an awful lot of money to be made from it as most people are concentrating on the more popular Texas Hold'em and Omaha games. Stud games all over the internet are full of the older generation of players, who are often weak-tight or loose passive, which are the perfect type of opponents to take cash from!

Also, simply trying a different poker variant can really help your usual game as you are having to concentrate on the action, rather than playing 15 tables in a robotic style. Stud in particular is great for your memory as, in order to become successful, you need to be able to remember all of the discarded cards that have been on view! Mastering this alone will help your usual game as you will be able to remember betting patterns and tells more easily.

Related Readings

The importance of the up cards in seven card stud - Marcus Bateman
7 Card Stud - Ben Grundy
Introduction to Razz - Chris Edwards
H.O.R.S.E-ing around - WSOPE
The importance of not giving free cards in Omaha eight or better - Marcus Bateman