Playing a Game of Seven Card Stud
Before the popularity of Texas Hold'em exploded during the earlier part of the new millennium, Seven Card Stud was the most popular poker game variant being played in casinos and other public poker playing establishments. It is still an highly popular and widely played game today, but it currently does not enjoy as much fame or exposure as its community card variant cousin, Texas Hold'em; which is the poker variant played in the World Poker Tour and the Main Event in the World Series of Poker.
Seven Card Stud is, as its name might suggest, a stud poker variant. In this poker game, each player is dealt out seven cards each, in a particular sequence of face-up and face-down "streets." As with most other poker game variants, Seven Card Stud begins with a forced bet. The kind of forced bet used for this particular kind of poker game is usually an ante and then after the first three cards have been dealt, there is sometimes another forced bet used, called the bring-in.
An ante is a kind of forced bet where each player has to put the same amount of money into the pot. After the ante, three cards are dealt to each player; two concealed or "hole" cards, and one upcard. Before the first betting round begins, a Seven Card Stud poker game will also have a bring-in. The bring-in is a kind of forced bet where a player -for Seven Card Stud, usually it is the player with the upcard with the lowest rank- puts a small amount into the pot. After the bring-in, the betting round can begin, with the betting actions proceeding in the normal clockwise rotation.
When there is a bring-in in a Seven Card Stud game, it is considered an "open," which is to say that it is considered to be the first bet in a betting round. When a betting round has been opened, players can no longer check, or forego a betting round. All players after the bring-in must therefore at least match the bet made during the bring-in.
When all of the players have placed the same amount into the pot and the betting round is completed, the next card can be dealt, which is often called the "fourth street." This fourth street is normally dealt face-up in Seven Card Stud, as with the fifth and sixth streets, which are also dealt out singly, between rounds of betting. The seventh and final street is dealt face-up, and after the last betting round, if there is more than one player left, there is a showdown, and the pot is given to the player who holds the winning hand.