Seven-card stud, also known as Seven-Toed Pete or Down-The-River[1] is a variant of stud poker. Until the recent increase in popularity of Texas hold 'em, seven-card stud was the most widely played poker variant in home games across the United States,[2] and in casinos in the eastern part of the country. Two to eight players is common, though eight may require special rules for the last cards dealt if no players fold. With experienced players who fold often, even playing with nine players is possible.
In casino play, it is common to use a small ante and bring-in. In home games, it is typical to use an ante only.
Seven-card stud is the 'S' game in HORSE and similar mixed game formats.
Seven Card Stud Poker. Compile the best five-card combination and defeat all foes. Plus any fifth card of a different rank, such as Q, Q, 7, 7, 4. Seven-card stud, also known as Seven-Toed Pete or Down-The-River is a variant of stud poker.Until the recent increase in popularity of Texas hold 'em, seven-card stud was the most widely played poker variant in home games across the United States, and in casinos in the eastern part of the country.
Rules[edit]
The game begins with each player being dealt two cards face down and one card face up. The player with the lowest-ranking upcard pays the bring-in, and betting proceeds after that in normal clockwise order. The bring-in is considered an open, so the next player in turn may not check. If two players have equally ranked low cards, suit may be used to break the tie and assign the bring-in (see high card by suit). If there is no bring-in, then the first betting round begins with the player showing the highest-ranking upcard, who may check. In this case, suit is not used to break ties. If two players have the same high upcard, the one first in clockwise rotation from the dealer acts first.
After the first betting round, another upcard is dealt to each player (after a burn card, and starting at the dealer's left as will all subsequent rounds), followed by a second betting round beginning with the player whose upcards make the best poker hand. Since fewer than five cards are face up, this means no straights, flushes, or full houses will count for this purpose. On this and all subsequent betting rounds, the player whose face-up cards make the best poker hand will act first, and may check or bet up to the game's limit.
The second round is followed by a third upcard and betting round, a fourth upcard and betting round, and finally a downcard, a fifth betting round, and showdown if necessary. Seven-card stud can be summarized therefore as 'two down, four up, one down'. Upon showdown, each player makes the best five-card poker hand they can out of the seven cards they were dealt.
Seven cards to eight players plus four burn cards makes 60 cards, and there are only 52 in the deck. In most games this is not a problem because several players will have folded in early betting rounds. If the deck does become exhausted during play, previously-dealt burn cards can be used when only a few cards are needed to complete the deal. If even those are not sufficient, then on the final round instead of dealing a downcard to each player, a single community card is dealt to the center of the table, and is shared by everyone. Discarded cards from a folded hand are not reused.
Unlike draw poker, where no cards are ever seen before showdown, stud poker players use the information they get from face-up cards to make strategic decisions, and so a player who sees a certain card folded is able to make decisions knowing that the card will never appear in another opponent's hand.
Variants[edit]
There are several variations of 7 Card Stud Poker in which each player is dealt a set number of cards. Not all of these variations can be found at poker rooms but they can be fun to play at home.
- 'Down the River' is the basic variation of 7 Card Stud Poker and this is the game played in poker rooms.
- 'Mississippi' removes the betting round between fourth and fifth streets, making only four betting rounds. This game also deals the fourth and fifth cards face up. This makes the game more closely resemble Texas Hold'em by having the same betting structure and the same number of down and up cards.
- Another is 'roll your own', in which four rounds of two cards each are dealt down, and each player must 'roll' one card to face up, followed by a round of betting. Except for the first round, the card rolled may or may not be from the round just dealt.
- 'Queens and after': in this variant, all Queens are wild, and so is whatever card that is dealt face up that follows the Queen. All cards of that kind are now wild, both showing and in the hole. The fun part is that if another Queen is dealt face-up, the wild card will change to whatever follows this Queen. The former card is no longer wild.
- 'Baseball': in this variant 3s and 9s are wild, and a 4 dealt face up gets an extra card.
- 'Low Chicago': Low spade in the hole gets half the pot. Similarly, 'High Chicago' means high spade instead of low. Just 'Chicago' can mean either.
- 'Acey Ducey': aces and twos are wild.
- One-eyed Jacks or Suicide King can be specified as wild.
- Razz is a lowball form of Seven Card Stud, with the objective being to get the lowest hand possible.
- In the variation called 'Seven-Card Stud High-Low', the pot is split between the holder of the highest and lowest hand if the low hand is topped by at least an 8. Alternative names to this variation are Seven Card Stud/8 and Seven Card Stud Split.[3]
Sample deal[edit]
The sample deal below assumes that a game is being played by four players: Alice, who is dealing in the examples; Bob, who is sitting to her left; Carol to his left; and David to Carol's left.
All players ante 25¢. Alice deals each player two downcards and one upcard, beginning with Bob and ending with herself. Bob is dealt the 4♠, Carol the K♦, David the 4♦, and Alice the 9♣. Because they are playing with a $1 bring-in, David is required to start the betting with a $1 bring-in (his 4♦ is lower than Bob's 4♠ by suit). He had the option to open the betting for more, but he chose to bet only the required $1. The bring-in sets the current bet amount to $1, so Alice cannot check. She decides to call. Bob folds, indicating this by turning his upcard face down and discarding his cards. Carol raises to $3. David folds, and Alice calls.
Alice now deals a second face-up card to each remaining player: Carol is dealt the J♣, and Alice the K♥. Alice's two upcards make a poker hand of no pair, K-9-high, and Carol has K-J-high, so it is Carol's turn to bet. She checks, as does Alice, ending the betting round.
Another face up card is dealt: Carol gets the 10♥ and Alice gets the K♣. Alice now has a pair of kings showing, and Carol still has no pair, so Alice bets first. She bets $5, and Carol calls.
On the next round, Carol receives the 10♦, making her upcards K-J-10-10. Alice receives the 3♠. Alice's upcards are 9-K-K-3; the pair of kings is still higher than Carol's pair of tens, so she bets $5 and Carol calls.
Each player now receives a downcard. It is still Alice's turn to bet because the downcard did not change either hand. She checks, Carol bets $10, and Alice calls. That closes the last betting round, and both players remain, so there is a showdown.
Since Alice called Carol's bet, Carol shows her cards first: Q♠ 2♥ K♦ J♣ 10♥ 10♦ A♦. She can play A-K-Q-J-10, making an ace-high straight. Alice shows (or, seeing she cannot beat Carol's straight, mucks her cards): 9♥ 5♦ 9♣ K♥ K♣ 3♠ 5♠. The best five-card poker hand she can play is K-K-9-9-5, making two pair, kings and nines. Carol wins the pot.
References[edit]
- ^Morehead, Albert H.; Mott-Smith, Geoffrey (1963). Hoyle's Rules of Games. New American Library. pp. 86.
- ^[1]
- ^https://www.fulltilt.com/poker/games/stud/high-low/?no_redirect=1
Seven card stud (also referred to as 7 card stud) is similar to Texas hold’em in so far as you use your best five cards out of a total of seven to make your best poker hand. All the hand values remain the same, as it is still poker. However, it is not a board game like hold’em that has common cards that everyone can use. Each player receives his own seven cards that are not shared. While hold’em is often a game of high cards, seven card stud is a game of live cards – so remember to keep an eye on what’s been mucked and commit this information to memory.
Please note: this lesson assumes that you already know the rules of poker and are familiar with how to play Texas hold’em – including an understanding of poker hand rankings and other basic concepts.
The Setup and Initial Deal
The typical setup of 7-card stud is as follows:
- A full table seats a maximum of 8 players
- It is played using a fixed-limit betting structure
- Everyone posts an ante to begin (blinds are not used)
- The initial deal consists of two private cards and one up card
An example of a seven-card stud game, when the antes are posted:
Seven-card stud can be played for all sorts of stakes. A $2/$4 game would generally have a $0.25 ante – and this gives the players something to shoot for right from the start.
The Bring In
The lowest face up card is forced to ‘bring it in’ meaning they are obligated to make a bet. The forced bet in a fixed-limit game is generally lower than the small bet. For example, in a $2/$4 game the forced bring in would usually be $1.
If two or more players share the lowest ranked card then suits are used to determine which card is lowest. From highest to lowest, suits are ranked as follows; spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs. The lowest card in the deck is therefore the . If that card appears as one’s up card, which is called your door card, that player is forced to make a bet.
The Betting Rounds
There are five betting rounds in seven card stud versus only four in hold’em. After the bring in has been posted the action moves clockwise around the table. Players can call the initial bet, raise, or fold. When an opponent folds his cards are mucked, including their door card. Remember the exposed cards – as you may need one of that suit or rank later in the hand.
Seven Card Stud Low
After this initial round of betting, called third street, each poker player who is still in is dealt another face up card called fourth street:
At this juncture another major difference between hold’em and seven card stud emerges. In hold’em the positional considerations stay the same throughout the hand. Beginning on fourth street the action starts with whomever has the highest board whether that be the highest card or a pair. if a player has an exposed pair showing on fourth street then they may be at the higher limit at this stage.
There is a round of betting and then another up card is dealt to each live player, called fifth street:
On fifth street the betting limit doubles. In a $2/$4 game, the minimum bet would be $4. Another betting round ensues and the sixth street card, which is the final up card for all to see, is dealt:
After another round of betting the final card, seventh street, or the river, is dealt:
Seven Card Stud Food Plot
The final card is dealt face down giving each active player a total of three down/private cards and four up cards for all to see. A final round of betting ensues and then the showdown.
As you can imagine there are many surprises at the river in seven card stud. This nuance of the game should alert the astute reader that your opponent’s betting patterns may well be worthy of more scrutiny than in hold’em.
Strategic Considerations
Hand reading becomes much more of an art in seven card stud than in hold’em since each player ends up with three private cards. In our example the player could be have A-T and have a straight. It’s also possible that a player could actually hold a full house or quads (four of a kind) without a pair showing.
The value of live cards is the main reason seven card stud is a more difficult game to master. In hold’em the board is always there to refer to as are your two hole cards. In seven card stud when an opponent folds his cards you need to remember them as you may need one of that suit or rank later in the hand. This concept of “live cards” is critical to playing stud well.
Related Lessons
By Tom 'TIME' Leonard
Tom has been writing about poker since 1994 and has played across the USA for over 40 years, playing every game in almost every card room in Atlantic City, California and Las Vegas.