Seven Card Stud is one of the most popular online poker games and also one of the most enduring. It is relatively simple to play and is an excellent starting point for introducing yourself to poker as a whole.
Seven Card Stud is not, unlike the majority of poker games, a community game – meaning there are no common cards. To begin, each player must post an 'ante' bet, to ensure there is money available in the pot. The dealer will then dealer deal two cards face down and then one card face up, going from the dealer's left. Whichever player has the lowest face up card is required to 'bring in', a forced bet that cannot be avoided if any more than two players have the same ranking of low cards. Cards rank in numerical value and by suit, with the suits being in ascending order clubs, diamonds, hearts and spades as the highest card. Once the player with the lowest face up card had brought in, the game continues to each player in a clockwise direction. Each player has the option of folding, calling or raising. When the bets are complete, the next card is dealt.
This card is often known as Fourth Street. One card is dealt to each player, face up, and whoever has the highest face up card resumes the betting first if he so chooses. The betting then continues in a clockwise direction until all players have at least matched the standing bet if they wish to stay in. Three more cards are then dealt, in turn, with once again the player with the highest placed card starting the betting.
The players are trying to make the best five-card poker hand from the seven cards they will be dealt. Normal poker scoring applies to this, though the suits of the cards make no difference to the value of a hand (this only applies to the first 'bring in' at the start of the game). When all the cards are dealt, the players reveal their hands and the winning hand wins the pot and goes home a happy man.
