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Game guide · Seven-Card Stud

Seven-Card Stud rules: how to play

Poker's great classic. Every hand is yours alone, dealt one card at a time across five streets. Learn the antes and bring-in, the flow of a hand, and the memory edge that separates winners from the field.

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  • Players 2–8
  • Deck 52 cards
  • Difficulty Advanced
  • Betting Fixed-Limit
What is Seven-Card Stud

How Seven-Card Stud is played

Seven private cards, some shown and some hidden, and a pot won by whoever watches and remembers the most — the game poker grew up on.

The classic before Hold'em

For most of poker's history, Seven-Card Stud was the game — America's dominant poker variant through the mid-20th century and the staple of every back-room table, long before No-Limit Hold'em took over as the WSOP Main Event game. There's no shared board and no dealer button: each player builds a private seven-card hand, some cards face-down, some face-up for the table to study. (The lone exception is a full 8-handed pot that reaches 7th street — with the deck running short, one card is turned up in the center for everyone to share.) You still make the best five-card hand, using standard rankings, but the road there is completely different.

A game of memory and reads

Because up to four of every player's cards are exposed during the hand, Stud rewards a very different skill than Hold'em: attention. The winning player tracks which cards have been folded, notices which of their draws are still live, and reads the story each opponent's up-cards tell. There's no shared board to lean on — the information edge comes from watching, counting and remembering everything that hits the felt.

Interactive · How a hand plays

One Stud hand, five streets

There's no flop and no shared board in Seven-Card Stud — cards come to you one at a time. Deal through a full hand and watch which cards the table can see and which stay hidden in the hole.

Your seat POT 15
hole hole door 4th 5th 6th river
Three to a flush

hole card (hidden from the table) up-card (everyone sees it)

3rd Street 2 down + 1 up

Everyone antes, then the deal begins: two cards down and one up. You hold A♥ 9♥ in the hole with the K♥ showing as your door card — already three hearts, two of them hidden. A powerful, disguised start that the table can barely read.

The forced bets

No blinds — antes and a bring-in

Action doesn't start with blinds here — it starts with an ante from everyone and a forced open from the weakest board. Here's exactly who pays and who acts.

Everyone antes

Before a single card is dealt, all players post a small fixed ante into the pot. It's tiny, but with the whole table paying it there's always something worth fighting for from the very first card.

Lowest up-card brings in

On 3rd street the player showing the lowest up-card must post the forced "bring-in" and acts first. If two players tie for lowest, suit order breaks it — clubs are lowest, then diamonds, hearts, spades.

Then the highest hand leads

From 4th street onward the order flips: the best poker hand showing acts first each round. A visible pair or an ace can seize the lead — so who acts first keeps changing as the boards grow.

3rd street

Five players' door cards — who opens?

Seat 1
Seat 2 Brings in · acts first
Seat 3
Seat 4
Seat 5

The 3♣ is the single lowest up-card, so Seat 2 posts the bring-in and opens the action. The K♠ and Q♦ look strong, but on 3rd street it's the weakest board that's forced to pay.

Hand rankings

Standard poker hand rankings, start to finish

Stud scores hands on the same ladder as every high-card game — a flush still beats a straight, quads still beat a full house. The only change is that your five best come out of seven private cards, not a shared board. Our poker hand rankings chart lays out what beats what with examples and odds.

Open the full hand-ranking guide →
The winning edge

Live cards, dead cards, and a good memory

In Texas Hold'em everyone shares one board. In Stud, up to four of every player's cards flash face-up and then vanish into the muck. The player who tracks them knows which draws are still alive — and which are already dead. This is the single biggest skill in the game.

Live

Count your live cards

Say you're drawing to a heart flush and hold four of them. Nine hearts remain in the deck — but scan the table: if you can see no other hearts in anyone's up-cards, all nine are live and your draw is gold. Run the numbers on our pot odds calculator and chase it hard.

Dead

Fold to dead cards

Same flush draw — but now three other hearts sit in opponents' up-cards. Only six are left instead of nine. Those three are dead, your odds have collapsed, and that pretty draw is now a chip-burner. Let it go.

Read the story of a board

Up-cards tell a tale. A player raising with three suited cards showing is repping a flush; someone pairing their door card may hold trips. You can't see the hole cards — but you can weigh what the visible ones make possible, then act on it.

Remember what folds

When a player mucks, their up-cards are gone but the information isn't. A jack that folded on 4th street is a jack that can never complete your straight — or theirs. Bank every departed card; on 7th street that ledger decides close hands.

Worked example

Showdown: which hand wins?

Two players reach 7th street. Each turns over their three hidden cards. Read all seven for each, find the best five, and see why the "scarier" board doesn't win.

Nadia Ace-high flush
Winner
hole hole up up up up hole

Best five · A♥ K♥ 9♥ 7♥ 5♥

Theo Ten-high straight
hole hole up up up up hole

Best five · 10 9 8 7 6

Nadia wins. A flush beats a straight, so her ace-high hearts (A♥ K♥ 9♥ 7♥ 5♥) top Theo's ten-high straight (10-9-8-7-6). Note the lesson: Theo's board — 8♣ 9♦ 10♠ K♦ — screamed "straight," while Nadia showed only two hearts. The bigger hand was the quieter one. Still unsure which hand wins? Practice reading boards in our trainer.

How it compares

Seven-Card Stud or Hold'em?

Same hand rankings, two different worlds. One shares a board and rewards position; the other hides its cards and rewards memory.

Seven-Card Stud

No board — read the players

Every player builds a private seven-card hand with up-cards exposed along the way. There's no flop to share and no button, so your edge comes from memory: tracking exposed and folded cards, spotting dead draws, and reading the story each board tells.

  • Cards stay private
  • No button rotation
  • Antes + a bring-in
  • Memory & reads win
Texas Hold'em

Shared board, shared draws

Two hole cards and five community cards everyone uses. Position on the button is king, and reading the board's texture matters more than remembering folded cards. It's faster to learn and the information is largely public.

  • Five shared cards
  • Rotating button
  • Blinds, not antes
  • Position & texture
Talk the talk

The Stud words worth knowing

Stud has a vocabulary all its own — from the bring-in to dead cards. Learn this dozen and every hand at the table starts to make sense.

Ante
A small forced bet every player posts before the deal, so there's always money to fight for.
Bring-in
The forced opening bet on 3rd street, posted by the player showing the lowest up-card.
Door card
Your first up-card on 3rd street — the one clue opponents get about your hand from the start.
Hole cards
Your face-down cards (two on 3rd street plus the 7th-street river) that only you can see.
Streets
The betting rounds, named 3rd through 7th after the card count. 3rd street opens, 7th is the river.
Scare card
A visible up-card — an ace, or a pair showing — that threatens a big hand and can win the pot with a bet.
Live cards
Ranks and suits you need that haven't appeared in anyone's up-cards or the muck. Your draw is still good.
Dead cards
Cards you need that are already exposed or folded. Every dead card quietly kills your draw.
Rolled-up trips
Being dealt three of a kind on 3rd street (a pair in the hole plus a matching door card) — the dream start.
Fourth street
The second up-card. From here on the highest hand showing acts first, not the lowest.
Buried pair
A pair in the hole — completely hidden, so opponents can't tell you're already ahead.
Open pair
A pair among your up-cards. It's obvious to everyone and, in Limit, can unlock a bigger bet.
Avoid these

6 Seven-Card Stud mistakes to leave behind

Ignoring opponents' up-cards

Fix Before you act, scan every exposed card. In Stud the board is your opponents — reading it is the whole game.

Chasing dead draws

Fix If the cards you need are already showing or folded, your draw is dead. Fold it, however pretty your hole cards look.

Playing low door cards for value

Fix A weak door card facing scary boards is a fold. Don't defend a forced bring-in with a hand that's beaten on 3rd street.

Forgetting cards after they fold

Fix Note the ranks that muck each street. That memory tells you which of your outs — and your rivals' — are still live.

Overvaluing a hidden big pair

Fix A buried pair of aces is great on 3rd, but if you don't improve by 5th street, respect boards that are visibly outdrawing you.

Missing the double bet on an open pair

Fix Show a pair on 4th street and Fixed-Limit lets you bet big early. Failing to use it leaves value on the table.

FAQ

7-Card Stud rules: common questions

How many cards do you get in Seven-Card Stud?

Seven in total, dealt one at a time: two down and one up on 3rd street, a single up-card on 4th, 5th and 6th, and a final down card on 7th. You make your best five-card hand from those seven.

Is there a dealer button or blinds?

No. Stud has neither. Everyone posts an ante instead, and on 3rd street the player with the lowest up-card posts a forced 'bring-in' and acts first. There's no rotating button.

Who acts first each round?

On 3rd street the lowest up-card brings in and acts first. From 4th street onward it flips: the highest poker hand showing acts first, so the action order changes as boards develop.

Do the hand rankings differ from Hold'em?

No — the winning combinations are identical to Hold'em. What changes is the route: you assemble five from your own seven cards rather than sharing five in the middle.

Why is Stud considered harder than Hold'em?

There's no shared board to anchor to, and up to four cards per player are exposed and then folded. Winning means tracking and remembering all of that — a memory and observation skill Hold'em never demands.

Keep building

Where to go next

Razz

Seven-Card Stud flipped upside down — the lowest hand wins. Same deal, opposite goal.

Open course →

Texas Hold'em

Everything Stud isn't: one shared board, a rotating button, and cards you never expose. The fastest game to learn.

Open course →

Omaha (PLO)

Also community-card poker, but with four hole cards and draws so big the flush you feared in Stud is almost routine.

Open course →

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