Seven Card Stud - Betting

In poker you hear it said often that it is all about the cards. Cards are really your defense. It is your chips that are the true weapons. In the end, its about who has the chips. Knowing how to use your chips is one of the most over looked aspects of the game. There are so many styles of play and so many different ways to play hands that players get lost in the cards and do not become proficient in how to play their chips. Every since the poker boom and the explosion of internet poker rooms, new players have learned two weapons. The bluff and the all in. Both of these, as any veteran poker player will tell you, are far over used. In Texas Hold’em this might get you by sometimes but in Seven Card Stud, the bluff will get you busted and broke and there really is no all in move.

Let’s take a look at a basic betting in a hand of Seven Card Stud. It opens with every player seated at the table placing an ante. Why? Because it is like a cover charge. It is a fee to get your first 3 cards. It is a very low bet and at a standard live table it would be around $1 at a $200 table. As a standard it usually half of the table’s minimum bet. This does vary depending on where the table is and the betting limit of the table. So we place in our $1 ante and get our first 3 cards.

In Seven Card Stud, the third hole card is face up on the table. The player with the lowest showing hole card has the bet. Remember that aces are high 2s are low. In case of a tie for low card, the first low card, closest to the dealer or button in casino play, gets the bet. This has now, since the "boom" been more often referred to as the bring in. There is an option given to the bring in player. If you are in that position, you can either bet the bring in or make a standard bet. The bring in player has to place one of the two wagers. Folding or checking is not an option if you are in that position. Once the bring in is made, betting continues as normal with following players having the standard options to fold, call or raise the bet.

The following 3 cards are dealt one at a time face up to each player. There are two ways betting continues from here. The original rule is that the player with the best hand showing is the leader in betting in each individual round. This means that a hand showing ace - jack in the second round of betting may lead that round but in the next round a different player may be showing 5 - 8 - 5 ( pair of 5 ) and will initiate the betting for that round. However, a more commonly used rule is that the player with the bring in will lead the betting throughout the hand and if that player folds it passes to the bring in players left. Even though Seven Card Stud tables are 99% limited betting, a player that gets a pair showing, can double the maximum bet but only in the round that the pair is received.

Now at the final card called the river or net, the betting stays with the player that lead the last round of betting because the final card I face down and can not change the hand that is shown by the face up cards. If the lead off player is no longer in the hand, due to folding of being all in due to chip shortage, then the bet goes to the player with the next highest ranking hand showing.

Checks and raises are allowed in ever round with the only exception being to the bring in player for the first round of betting. The game of Seven Card Stud lacks the big thrill of the high no limit bets and the all in play but at the end of the hand, the pots have the potential to be quite big depending on the number of players and raises that are in each round of the betting. Folds are not seen as often after the initial deal as in Texas Hold’em and the lure to chase hands is stronger once players get past that point. The number of players that stay in average higher in Seven Card Stud so that pot does get the chips. If you are chasing, be careful that the net doesn’t catch you. If you have a middle of the road hand, watch out for a lot of raises, they can eat your chip stake away before you realize it.