How To Deal 7 Card Stud Average ratng: 3,8/5 8271 votes
In hold'em, players receive two down cards as their personal hand (holecards), after which there is a round of betting. Three board cards are turned simultaneously (called the flop) and another round of betting occurs. The next two board cards are turned one at a time, with a round of betting after each card. The board cards are community cards, and a player can use any five-card combination from among the board and personal cards. A player can even use all of the board cards and no personal cards to form a hand ('play the board'). A dealer button is used. The usual structure is to use two blinds, but it is possible to play the game with one blind, multiple blinds, an ante, or combination of blinds plus an ante.

7 Card Stud is often played as an ante game with a Limit betting format. The ante (usually 10% of the big bet) will be paid by each player before the hand begins. The bet sizes will be decided beforehand as. In the showdown, each player turns up all of their hole cards and selects five of their seven cards as their hand. The player must separate these cards from the other two, which they discard. The player cannot.


Rounds of Betting
  • Opening deal- Each player is dealt two cards face down, which are known as hole cards or pocket cards.

  • First round of betting- Starting with the player to the left of the big blind, each player can call the big blind, raise, or fold. The big blind has the option to raise an otherwise unraised pot.
  • The flop- The dealer burns a card, and then deals three community cards face up. The first three cards are referred to as the flop, while all of the community cards are collectively called the board.

  • Second round of betting- Starting with the player to the left of the dealer button, each player can check or bet. Once a bet has been made, each player can raise, call, or fold.
  • The turn- The dealer burns another card, and then adds a fourth card face-up to the community cards. This fourth card is known as the turn card, or fourth street.
  • The Turn

  • Third round of betting- It follows the same format as the second round, but the size of the bets have usually doubled in limit games.
  • The river- The dealer burns another card, and then adds a fifth and final card to the community cards. This fifth card is known as the river card, or fifth street.
  • Flop
    The River

  • Final round of betting- It follows the same format as the second and third rounds.
  • The showdown- Using the best five-card combination of their hole cards and the community cards, the remaining players show their hands, with the bettor or last raiser showing first. The highest five-card hand wins the pot. (In case of a tie, the pot is evenly split among the winning hands.)
LimitOther Texas Hold'em Poker Rules
    These rules deal only with irregularities. SeeButton and Blinduse for rules on that subject.
  • If the first or second hole card dealt is exposed, a misdeal results. The dealer retrieves the card, reshuffles, and recuts the cards. If any other holecard is exposed due to a dealer error, the deal continues. The exposed card can not be kept. After completing the hand, the dealer replaces the card with the top card on the deck, and the exposed card is then used for the burncard. If more than one hole card is exposed, this is a misdeal and there must be a redeal.
  • If the flop contains too many cards, it must be redealt. (This applies even if it is possible to know which card is the extra one.)
  • If the flop needs to be redealt because the cards were prematurely flopped before the betting was complete, or the flop contained too many cards, the board cards are mixed with the remainder of the deck. The burn card remains on the table. After shuffling, the dealer cuts the deck and deals a new flop without burning a card.
    See Explanations,discussion #2, for more information on this rule.
  • If the dealer turns the fourth card on the board before the betting round is complete, the card is taken out of play for that round, even if subsequent players elect to fold. The betting is then completed. The dealer burns and turns what would have been the fifth card in the fourth card's place. After this round of betting, the dealer reshuffles the deck, including the card that was taken out of play, but not including the burn cards or discards. The dealer then cuts the deck and turns the final card without burning a card. If the fifth card is turned up prematurely, the deck is reshuffled and dealt in the same manner.
    See Explanations,discussion #2, for more information on this rule.
  • If the dealer mistakenly deals the first player an extra card (after all players have received their starting hands), the card is returned to the deck and used for the burn card. If the dealer mistakenly deals more than one extra card, it is a misdeal.
  • If you are playing the board, you must so declare before you throw your cards away; otherwise you relinquish all claim to the pot.

Five Card Stud is one of the classic old poker games that is preferred by poker veterans. This game is often found at home poker games as opposed to casinos or online poker sites. Five card stud has a lot of tradition, and was the influence for many of the present day poker games such as Texas Hold'em and Omaha poker. This article will look at the history of five card stud, the full rules of the game, and the present day presence of the 5 card stud poker game.

Objective of Five Card Stud

Five Card Stud players have one goal in mind: to win the money in the middle of the table. There are two ways to do this - either by betting enough to scare everyone else out of the hand, or by having the best five card poker hand at the showdown. To become a winning player you should always maximize your betting when you have a good hand, and minimize your losses when you have a bad hand. Read on to learn the full rules of the game.

Structure of Five Card Stud

Five Card Stud is typically played at a table with a maximum of nine players. The game starts with each player making a forced bet, called the 'ante'. This ensures that each pot has money in it. Most Five Card Draw games are played in a Fixed Limit structure, but some online poker sites also offer Pot Limit and No Limit games as well.

Tables are identified based on their betting stakes. For example, a $5/$10 Fixed Limit game would have a small bet of $5 (used on the first two rounds of betting) and a big bet of $10 (used on the last two rounds of betting). We'll explain all of this in greater depth later in the article.

How To Shuffle And Deal 7 Card Stud

How To Deal 7 Card Stud

Five Card Stud Rules

Ok, now we'll get into the rules, how everything is laid out, and how you actually play 5 Card Stud.

Shuffle Up and Deal

The game starts with each player posting an Ante, which is a small forced bet that is usually 1/5th-1/10th of the small bet at the table. For example, a $5/$10 fixed limit game would have an ante between $0.50 and $1. After all antes are posted, the dealer deals each player one face down card and one face up card. You deal clockwise around the table, starting with the player directly to the left of the dealer.

The Bring In

After the deal, whoever has the lowest face up card has to bet the 'bring-in', which is a forced bet made by that player. If two players have the same low face up card, the bring-in is decided by suit rankings (diamonds are best, then clubs, then hearts, then spades).

First Betting Round

After the bring-in, betting proceeds clockwise around the table. Each player has the option of calling the bring-in, completing the bet (basically a raise), or folding.

In Fixed Limit games, it's important to note that each round can only have three raises after the initial bet. The final raise is called the 'cap', and after that no other players can make a raise.

Second Betting Round

After the first betting round is completed, each player who is still in the hand receives another face up card. Whoever has the best hand showing (out of the two up cards) is the first player to act, and can either bet or check. Play proceeds around the table clockwise until everyone has either called the highest bet or folded.

Third Betting Round

The next card is dealt to each remaining player face up, and there is another betting round starting with the player with the best hand out of their three up cards. Once again, the betting round ends once every player has either folded or called the highest bet.

Fourth Betting Round

After this round, another card is dealt out face up, so every player now has one down card and four up cards. There is another betting round, and if at least two players are still in the hand there is a showdown, with the best hand winning the pot.

Showdown

If the hand goes all the way to a showdown, the players both flip up their hands, and the best five card poker hand wins. If you've never played poker before, here are the hand rankings:

How
Hand Rank:Hand:Example Hand:
#1Straight FlushT-J-Q-K-A of the same suit
#2Four of a KindA-A-A-A-K
#3Full HouseK-K-K-Q-Q
#4Flush2-6-8-9-A of the same suit
#5Straight5-6-7-8-9 Off Suit
#6Three of a KindJ-J-J-4-8
#7Two PairJ-J-K-K-A
#8One PairA-A-8-7-4
#9High CardA-K-5-4-3

Fixed Limit vs. Pot Limit

Although Fixed Limit and Pot Limit have the same game structure, the betting structure is quite different. In Fixed Limit, there is a rigid betting structure that determines when and how much you can bet. In Pot Limit, the betting is only capped at the pot size, and there aren't really any other restrictions.

Fixed Limit Five Card Draw poker allows a maximum of four bets in each round - a bet, a raise, a re-raise and a cap. After the cap (the third raise in a betting round), no more betting is allowed. In Pot Limit games, there can be an unlimited number of bets and raises.

Where to Play 5 Card Stud?

Not many sites offer Five Card Stud, but we took the time to find all of the best 5 card stud sites. That page lists each site and their advantages, but if you'd like to quickly sign up to the best 5 card stud site, check out TitanPoker.com. They aren't USA friendly, so if you'd like to find a USA friendly site with 5 card stud, head to the link above.

If your a USA player, check this page for a list of US friendly poker rooms with Five Card Stud

History of 5 Card Stud

Five Card stud was the earliest form of the stud poker game, and actually originated during the Civil War in America. It was popular among soldiers who would use the game to pass time at their war camps. Since then, it has diminished in popularity, but saw a resurgence in the 1970's during the early World Series of Poker tournaments that were held that decade.

Five card stud was a side event during the 1971-1974 WSOP events, and all four of those 5 Stud tournaments were won by Bill Boyd (he won a total of $80,000 for his efforts in those tournaments). After the 1974 WSOP, 5 card stud was dropped due to a lack of popularity, and it hasn't made an appearance in any WSOP tournaments since.

How To Plant 7 Card Stud Food Plot

Besides the WSOP, 5 card stud made an appearance in the poker movie, The Cincinnati Kid, and was the game of choice for the showdown between the 'the Kid' and 'the Man'. Since then, Five Card Stud has slightly fallen off, and is only found at a few online poker sites, and very few live casinos.

Five Card Stud Variations

Besides normal five card stud, there are a few variations that are different poker games but based on the same format. Here they are:

Canadian Stud

Canadian Stud is played exactly the same as five card stud, but with the introduction of two new hand rankings. First of all, four card straights count as a poker hand. They're ranked higher than a pair, but less than two pair. Also, four card flushes are another poker hand. These are ranked better than a four card straight, but less than two pair.

Two Down/Three Up

This game is the same as normal stud, but instead of having four down cards and one up card, you have two down cards and three up cards. The first two cards each player is dealt are face down, and the next three are dealt face up.

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