It's Called 7 Card Stud

The name of the game is 7 Card Stud. Do you know what that means? Names of poker games are a little different than the names of other games. Gin. What does that mean anyway? You can’t exactly put the cards in a glass with a little tonic and lime. OK the way some of us play it we would be better off doing that but still, it is just a name.

7 Card Stud means just what it says. To complete your hand you are dealt a total of 7 cards. Now I know your saying "but only 5 of them count". Well your right but you get to chose which 5 cards from the 7 cards you are dealt. The total is still 7. Cards of course mean that you are playing with cards. I don’t think that one needs any further explanation. But, for the smart internet edit that said "but only 5 of them count", cards are small pieces of cardboard covered in a wax coating with numbers 2-10 , 3 face cards and an ace on them. There are 4 suits with complete runs of this pattern. Ok that’s enough on the cards. Stud is also simple. When used in this form it means limited and unchanging. You get 7 cards and no more. You can not change the 7 cards you are given. 7 card stud, it’s that easy.

Now with that cleared up, we have to say that among these 7 cards, the first three

are the most important. This is debated but I’ll tell you that part in a moment. With the first 3 cards, you are making a choice as to whether you think you can build on them to have the best hand. Pairs , aces, face cards, 3 cards flushes are good starts. Three of a kind is best but rare. In stud poker, it is not uncommon for high card to win. Even small pairs win more often in stud poker than most versions of the game.

Your next 3 cards will come and it is here that the game gets expensive. If you have a good starting hand and bet it, you are throwing in a good amount of chips against the other players getting 4 more cards. Of the 3 cards they have, they will only have to use on of them to make their final hand. In theory it is like betting against your opponents pre flop in hold’em or omaha. It can cost you but it can also cost them. That is why if you are not confident with the first 3 cards you fold them away. It is far to easy for your fourth card to give you hope. It will bait you. In fact, among old style stud players, the fourth card and fifth card dealt in 7 Card Stud are called bait cards. By the time you have 5 cards I your hand your thinking "I can hit this straight". Then comes what they called the hook card. It leaves you with a 4 card straight or a baby flush. Right about here you are either praying or telling yourself " well im in for $100 already and I know my card is coming". Your hooked.

They call it the river now. The final card put in play. This is where the debate about the most important card in 7 Card Stud comes in. It is a 7 card game and on more than a few occasions, the final card has changed the hand’s outcome. Once, in 7 Card Stud, it was called the net. With this final card, either you caught your hand or you got caught. When it comes, you get that sinking feeling and the thought of bluff it comes into your head. I would say the best players don’t get caught here because they wouldn’t be fishing anyway but that would not be true. Stud poker makes you see things that just never come to be. It happens in all versions of poker but something about stud magnifies that fantasy vision. You just can not resist the fishing trip. Once you catch it with the net , you are addicted to net fishing for a long time. After all, it is called "7" Card Stud.