Poker: Five and Seven Card Stud
Five Card Stud:
In a stud game, cards are dealt down (called “hole” cards) and up to each player. Players will get five cards by the end of the game with which to make up a five card hand.
As mentioned, some cards are dealt up (depending on what variant you play). The official game of Five Card Stud has one card dealt down and one card dealt up at the start of the game. There’s a round of betting, and then another card is dealt up. This repeats twice more, followed by one final round of betting. Then, whatever player that is still in with the best five card hand is the winner.
The rounds go as such:
- Ante + Deal of One Card Up and One Card Down
- Round of Betting
- One Card Dealt Up
- Round of Betting
- One Card Dealt Up
- Round of Betting
- One Card Dealt Up
- Round of Betting
Seven Card Stud:
This game is played much like Five Card Stud, just with more cards (hence the name). Like in Five Card Stud, cards are dealt to each player up and down. The game starts with two cards dealt down and one card dealt up. There’s a round of betting, and then another card is dealt up. This is repeated twice. There is a round of betting followed by one more card being dealt down. One last round finishes off the game.
Keep in mind that while you get seven cards, you are only going to create a five-card hand. This gives you a bit more leeway for making a decent hand than Five Card Stud does, as you have more cards to choose from to make the best five card hand.
The rounds go as such:
- Ante + Deal of Two Cards Down and One Card Up
- Round of Betting
- One Card Up
- Round of Betting
- One Card Up
- Round of Betting
- One Card Up
- Round of Betting
- One Card Down
- Round of Betting