To begin the game of Seven Card Stud every player around the table posts a mandatory amount of chips to buy into the game. This is known as the ante and it is done to provide each game with an opening pot for the players to play for as well as giving each player that added financial involvement in the game to motivate them to play. After all, if you were to play for free, you’d risk nothing and therefore not feel obliged to risk anything on your hand, which would make for a pretty poor game.

The value of the ante will vary, but is generally a small fraction of the lower table bet, or small bet, so if the game is being played for $1/$2, the ante will often come to 25c or thereabouts.

Once every player is in, the dealer deals each player three cards of which two are face down and one, called the Door or Third Street, is face up. Here the first round of betting commences and begins with the player who has the lowest ranking Door card, who cannot fold but must make what is known as the initial, or bring in bet. This bet is greater than the ante although not as much as the small bet, so in our $1/$2 example it will be around 50c although it is entirely up to the player to decide how much to bet here. Bets are then placed by the other players going in a clockwise direction around the table, who have the option of folding, calling or raising to a full, or smart bet, or re-raising the bet. There is generally a raise limit per round of three or sometimes four times. If the game comprises only two players as can happen in online games, there is no limit to the number of time you can re-raise.

The next round is then commenced with the dealer dealing each remaining player a fourth face up card, called the Fourth Street. In this and subsequent rounds, it is the player who has the highest showing hand (up cards) that commences the betting. One reason for this is because the player with a strong hand showing is less likely to fold at this point. All bets and raises adhere to the small bet, which will be $1 increments in our example $1/$2 game. However, a player may double the bet if they show a pair. This rule may vary depending upon the poker room, where either it is only the player showing the pair that can double the bet, or any player can double the bet when a pair is shown by any other player in this round. If the bet is doubled, then all ensuing bets must likewise be large.

The third round commences when all bets or folds have been made in the previous round. The dealer deals each player a fifth card, or Fifth Street again face up. Again, the player showing the strongest hand is first to act and all bets are now large from this round onwards.

The fourth round is similar to the previous where each player is now dealt a further up card called Sixth Street and betting is carried out the same as the previous round.

The fifth or final round sees each player get their final card which is face down, called Seventh Street, or The River. Each player’s hand now comprises three down cards and four up cards. Betting is the identical to that in the previous round and commences with the player who has the strongest showing hand.

Once all betting is completed, we get to the showdown where the final player to act reveals their cards first. The other players can then either show or hide, or muck their hands. As with other variations of poker, the player who holds the highest ranking five card hand wins the pot.