7-Card Stud

7 card stud is one of the oldest poker games. Today, Texas Hold’Em is the most trendy and popular poker game, but you’ll still find many dedicated poker players who love 7 card stud poker. 7 card stud requires strategy, skill and experience to be a real winner. You’ll likely run across only a few really good 7 card stud players in your entire life. Here are the basics of the game.

Betting Limits
All stud poker games are defined by their betting limits. The game's betting limits tell the player pretty much everything they need to know about the nature of the game, the expectations of the players, and the amount of money you should have before you sit in.

Buy-In And Bankroll
Your minimum buy in to play in a 7 card stud game is typically 10 times the low limit. (For example, you’d have to pay $20 to buy into a $2-4 game.) .

The Ante
Ante in Stud is mandatory and changes depending on the betting limits. The low games usually require a 10% ante, and high games have 25% ante. With a 10% ante, a $2-4 game would require a .20 ante.

Dealing
The dealer deals clockwise starting on their immediate left. They deal one card at a time around the table until each player has two pocket cards (face down) and a single up (the "door" card).At this point the dealer indicates which player will open the betting, determined by the lowest door card. If there's a tie for low door, suit resolves it: spades over hearts, followed by diamonds, and finally clubs is the lowest.

Betting And Playing The Game
Once the initial cards have been dealt, the game begins. There are three cards per player on the table, so this phase is called “third street. The player holding the lowest door card must open with a bet equal to twice the ante or fold. The next player (going clockwise) can call, raise or fold. During the third street phase, all bets and raises are at the low limit.

Each player receives another open card. In this phase the opening bidder is the person with the highest hand as determined by the open cards. The opener can check, or bet at the low limit, unless his hand is an open pair. If the high hand is an open pair at this point, the opener can bet at the high limit, fixing the bets to this amount for this round.

Next comes fifth and sixth street, which works just like fourth street. High hand opens. Bets are fixed at the upper limit. Seventh street (also called the river) is the last card dealt. It is dealt face down and all bets and raises are at the high limit.

The final players left in the game enter the showdown. The opener reveals his hand first. Highest hand wins.