What is Seven-card Stud
The Seven card stud, a variant of stud poker, was the most played poker game in the U.S. until the recent popularity of the Texas hold'em. The game can be played to two to eight players.
Play Rules
Before the game begins, each player is dealt with two hole cards and one card facing up. Where there is a bring-in, the player the lowest ranking upcard should pay the bring-in, and then betting follows in a clockwise manner. If two to four players have equally ranked low cards, the lowest suit between the cards assigns the bring-in.
Where there is no bring-in, the first betting round starts. The player with the highest upcard begins the bet. After the first betting round, another upcard is given to each player. This is followed by a second round of betting, starting with players with the best poker hands. Since there are only four cards dealt (with 2 holes and 2 upcards for each player), straights, flushes, or full houses will still not do. In all subsequent rounds, the player who has the best upcards acts first, and he/she may check or bet to the game's limit.
The second round is followed by a third upcard and then another betting round. After all, seven cards are dealt, a showdown follows if two or more players have not folded. Thus, the seven card stud can be sequence as a "two-down, four-up, one-down" poker game. During showdown, the player who makes the best hand, using five cards out of the seven will win the pot.
When eight players are in the game, holding seven cards each, plus four burn cards would need 60 cards, but only 52 cards are in the deck. In most games, this can be solved since several players would have already folded in early betting rounds. In the event where there were only few players who folded (which usually happens in a low-stake home game), you may want to limit the players to seven. If the deck runs out during the play, burned cards can be used to complete the deal. Still, when they're not enough, make the seventh downcard as a community card. However, players cannot use a card from a folded hand for later use.
The appeal of the game is how the players decipher the information they get from their opponent's faced-up cards and make strategic decisions based on probability calculations from there.