How to Play Poker
Seven Card Stud
No shared cards at all. You get seven cards of your own, four of them face up for everyone to see, and make the best five.
- Ace of hearts, dealt face down
- King of diamonds, dealt face down
- King of spades
- Your cards
- 7: 3 down, 4 up
- Shared cards
- None
- Betting
- Fixed limit
- Who wins
- Best high hand
- In the mix
- HORSE, 8-Game
How a hand goes
Antes
Before the deal, every player puts a small ante in the pot. Stud has no blinds and no button.
Third street
Everyone gets two cards face down and one face up. The face-up card is the door card.
Your cards- Ace of hearts, dealt face down
- King of diamonds, dealt face down
- King of spades
Fourth street
One more card face up for each player, then a round of betting.
Your cards- Ace of hearts, dealt face down
- King of diamonds, dealt face down
- King of spades
- Seven of clubs
Fifth street
Another card face up. Bets now double to the big bet.
Your cards- Ace of hearts, dealt face down
- King of diamonds, dealt face down
- King of spades
- Seven of clubs
- Nine of hearts
Sixth street
Another card face up, and another round of betting.
Your cards- Ace of hearts, dealt face down
- King of diamonds, dealt face down
- King of spades
- Seven of clubs
- Nine of hearts
- Two of diamonds
Seventh street
The last card comes face down. One final round of betting.
Your cards- Ace of hearts, dealt face down
- King of diamonds, dealt face down
- King of spades
- Seven of clubs
- Nine of hearts
- Two of diamonds
- King of clubs, dealt face down
Showdown
Your hand is the best five of your seven cards, using the normal rankings. The best hand wins.
If the deck runs out
Eight players would need 56 cards and a deck has 52. If there are not enough left for seventh street, the last card is dealt face up in the middle and everyone shares it.
Who starts the betting
On third street, the player showing the lowest door card must start with the bring-in: a small forced bet. They can choose to bet the full small bet instead, which is called completing.
If two door cards are the same rank, the suit decides. From lowest to highest: clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades.
Ana
- King of diamonds
Ben
- Three of clubs
Lowest card
Brings it in
Cal
- Nine of spades
Dee
- Three of hearts
From fourth street on it flips: the player whose face-up cards make the best poker hand acts first. A pair showing beats ace-king showing.
Betting: fixed limit
- Third and fourth street
- Bets and raises are the small bet.
- Fifth, sixth and seventh
- Bets and raises are the big bet, twice the size.
- A pair on fourth street
- If anyone shows a pair on fourth street, players may bet the big bet early.
Who wins
Lily
- Ace of clubs, dealt face down, plays
- King of diamonds, dealt face down, does not play
- Nine of clubs, plays
- King of clubs, plays
- Four of clubs, plays
- Two of spades, does not play
- Seven of clubs, dealt face down, plays
- Ace of clubs
- King of clubs
- Nine of clubs
- Seven of clubs
- Four of clubs
A flush in clubs
Wins the pot
Omar
- Queen of hearts, dealt face down, plays
- Queen of spades, dealt face down, plays
- Jack of diamonds, plays
- Jack of clubs, plays
- Five of hearts, does not play
- Eight of spades, does not play
- Ace of diamonds, dealt face down, plays
- Queen of hearts
- Queen of spades
- Jack of diamonds
- Jack of clubs
- Ace of diamonds
Two pair, queens and jacks
- Plays in the hand
- Does not play
- Face down: only its owner sees it