Random Poker Thoughts

A very old form of poker still popular today because of its standard, familiar structure is 7-card stud. It attracts a major following in both casinos and Friday night home poker parties. Depending on the region of play, the rules of stud may be altered slightly, but all will have the rule of a maximum of seven players per table due to the fact that a deck contains only 52 cards, also the dealer is allowed to burn 4 in the course of a game. There are less rounds for betting so it is not unusual to find house rules include an ante or pre-flop requisite bet to elicit more hand participation as well as add more complexity to the game.

If you play holdem exclusively, you will have to learn a new strategy to play 7-card stud. Any one new to the stud games should carefully observe games as they are played and learn well the rules and strategies of betting before even thinking of sitting at the table to play a round or two. Learning strategies of stud as well as other forms of poker will always add to the enjoyment (and profitability) of any form of the game.

A Description of Betting Rounds in 7-Card Stud Poker

To begin, three cards are dealt to each player with two of them face down and one face up. Betting occurs next starting in a clockwise direction with the highest scoring hand betting first ( the high hand here would be two aces, max). The cards are dealt face up in the following three rounds, with the River (last) card being dealt face down which segues to the best scoring 5-card hand showdown. Betting rounds are going on between each deal except in the Mississippi version where sometimes four rounds of betting occurs with the last two cards dealt at the same time.

The Strategy Behind 7-Card Stud

There is usually a mandatory ante that marks the start of most stud games and it is not unusual for some games to demand that the player with the lowest scoring visible hand “bring in” (place a forced bet). The game continues with each player being dealt three cards, two up and the bring in hand holder must bet first. In case of a tie, the suit is the tiebreaker. At this point in the game, a player has the right to bet, fold or raise to the level of the house limits.

Next up, another card is dealt followed by a betting round beginning with the holder of the best hand (by now it would be three aces). For all remaining rounds, it is the player with the highest scoring visible cards who may choose to either bet or check at the rounds onset. The final arrangement of the cards after all are dealt looks like this: two cards placed face down, two face up, and the last card in the arrangement is placed face down.

Similar to the games of holdem and Omaha poker, the player whose hand consists of the highest ranked cards or card combinations wins. There are no community cards in stud poker, which is unusual as is the fact that the hands have a few face-up cards. Beyond that difference, the card rankings are the same with the Royal Flush leading the way, followed by the straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, pair, with high cards at the low end of the ranking scale. Sound strategies will use the strength of your hand as the base, with the visible cards and betting schematics of your opponents as major components. Do not forget to get a sense of how rich the pot is.

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