Seven Card Stud
Overview
Fixed-limit Seven Card Stud for 2–8 players. Each player is dealt seven cards across five streets — some face down, some face up — and makes the best five-card poker hand. The pot is play chips only. The match continues until one player holds every chip.
Objective
Win pots by making the best five-card hand, or by being the last player left after everyone else folds. The last player with chips wins the match.
Setup
•
A standard 52-card deck. Nothing is burned.
•
Each player starts with 500 chips.
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Lobby stakes (defaults in parentheses): ante (5), bring-in (5), small bet (10), big bet (20).
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Pair on fourth opens big (on by default). When any live player is showing a pair on fourth street, the bet for that street is the big bet.
The hand
1.
Antes. Every seated player posts the ante. The ante goes into the pot and does not count as a bet.
2.
Third street. Each player receives two hole cards, face down, then one door card, face up.
3.
Bring-in. The lowest door posts the bring-in, or whatever that player has left. Ace is high, so a deuce is the lowest rank. Suits break ties from low to high: clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades. The deuce of clubs is the lowest card in the deck. Action starts with the player to the bring-in's left. A player may call the bring-in or complete it up to the small bet.
4.
Fourth street. One card face up. The small bet, or the big bet when a live pair is showing and the house rule is on. The highest visible hand acts first.
5.
Fifth street. One card face up. The big bet.
6.
Sixth street. One card face up. The big bet.
7.
Seventh street. One card face down. The big bet. If the deck cannot give every player still in the hand a private card, everyone shares one face-up community card instead. An eight-handed game always hits that rule on the river; a shorter table usually gets a private card.
8.
Showdown. Each remaining player makes the best five cards out of seven. Hole cards are turned up. The best hand wins the pot. Side pots pay all-in players only up to what they put in.
Between streets, choose Continue once every bet has been matched. After the pot is awarded, choose Next Hand.
Who acts first
On third street, the seat to the left of the bring-in. On every later street, the best hand showing — upcards plus a community card, never the hole cards. A tie goes to the seat closest to the dealer's left. The dealer is last.
Betting
Give up the hand. The last player left takes the pot.
Match the current bet, including a bring-in.
On third street, raise a live bring-in up to the small bet.
Open a street that has no bet yet, for that street's limit.
Raise a full bet by the street's limit.
Push in a short stack. A short all-in does not reopen betting unless it covers a full bet.
A street allows four bets: the open, then three raises. Checking around, or calling the last bet, ends the street.
Showdown
Standard poker ranks: straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair, high card. Ace is high, and it plays low in an A-5 straight. The best five cards win. A tie splits that pot, with any odd chip going to the earliest winner in the paying order.
Folding down to one player awards the pot without a showdown.
Winning the match
A player with no chips is out. When one player remains, that player wins.