Play Stud Poker Today - Win Real Money

As we already mentioned, there are plenty of variations of stud poker, which mainly differ in the betting limits, number of dealt cards, and decks. So, let's quickly go through the most popular ones.

Seven Card Stud

Without a doubt, Seven Card Stud is among the most popular stud poker variants, which features a game in which each player receives a total of seven cards, from where its name comes, dealt face up and down. The tricky part in the seven-card stud is that only the best five-card combination is used for determining who wins the entire pot.

Five Card Stud

Similar to the seven card, the five card stud gets its name from the number of cards dealt to each player. Five-card stud poker is the earliest form of stud poker, which is not that popular among betting lovers these days. However, 5-card stud poker is easier to master, so it is worth taking your time to give it a shot.

Seven Card Stud High Low

Seven card stud high low is a very interesting poker variation, which offers the same experience as seven card stud, but instead of the best hand winning the entire pot, it is split between the best and lowest ranked hands.

Caribbean Stud

Caribbean stud poker is a casino table game which is based on the classical five-card stud, but unlike the usual poker games, you play against the house, instead of against other players. Meaning that you will have to beat the house, making it one of the less preferred types of stud poker out there.

The whole betting structure of 7 card stud is orientated around getting the best combination of 5 cards hands to win the whole pot. There are five betting rounds each time in the following way:

Before the dealing, each player should place an ante (depending on the online casino you are playing in).

• The game begins after each player is dealt two hole cards (face down) and one door card (face up).
• First Round of betting.
• Each player is dealt one face-up card (Fourth Street).
• Second Round of betting.
• Another face-up card (fifth street) is dealt to each player.
• Third round of betting.
• Each player gets the sixth street (face-up card).
• Fourth round of betting.
• The final river card (face down) is dealt to each player.
• Final betting round.

Showdown (the player with the best 5-card combination wins the pot).

How to bet on 7-card stud limit games?

One of the reasons why the 7-card stud is that popular is because it is usually played in a fixed-limit betting structure. At first, that may sound a little bit complicated for those who have never played a fixed-limit game, but it's actually very simple.

Before cards are dealt, each player has to place an ante, which is usually equal to 10%-15% of the big bet.

Once the dealer deals the first 3 cards, the player with the lowest-ranking door card will have to place a bet equal to the ante or complete the bet, making it equal to the small bet.

The first three betting rounds in 7-card stud are considered small betting rounds, meaning that players can only

• Call,
• Fold,
• Raise the small bet (if the player with the lowest card just placed the ante).

Fourth street

When all the action in the third street is done, the game continues with the fourth street, when players get the next face-up card, when the player with the best card can bet, but again limited to the small bet.

As this is a fixed-limit game, players that want to raise can only do it a fixed amount, depending on the table (For example, on a 2$/4$ table, the raise can be from 2$ to 4$, 4$ to 6$..., only a small bet).

Big Bet Rounds

After the fourth street is over, the big bet rounds come, where the minimum bet is the big bet, instead of the small one. Once all rounds are finished, the player with the highest ranking cards wins. In 7 card stud, the standard poker hand rankings:

• Royal flush
• Straight Flush
• Full House
• Flush
• Straight
• Three of a kind
• Two pair
• Pair

There are some tactics that you can "steal" from professionals, which can give you a huge advantage against the remaining players.

Discarded cards

If you are planning on starting stud poker, you should really work on your ability to follow discarded cards, as they may be a game-changer.

As stud poker variants feature cards that are dealt face-up, you should memorize them and evaluate not only the potential of your hand but also the others.

Just to support those statements, let's say you have a straight draw, and you only need a 10 to make it. But, if all of the 10s were discarded, you can fold and not put any more bets, as your straight draw will not become straight.

On the other hand, if a remaining player tries to bluff, by representing a certain hand, you can easily read it. Let's again face a straight-draw example. If your opponent bluffs for a straight, the needed card is 8, and you have it in your hand. You will be able to win the pot if you followed the rounds and memorized that all the other 8s were discarded.

Reading abilities

Similar to knowing how to read the discarded cards, you may also take advantage if you develop your skills by evaluating what your opponent is waiting for if he has a straight draw or a flush draw.

How other players act

This is one of the most important factors that separate professional poker players from beginners and applies to any type of poker, no matter if it is a seven-card stud, five-card stud, Omaha, or Texas hold'em. You must pay attention to what other players are doing, and how they act, even if you are folded in a certain hand.

Nowadays, reading others has become a little bit harder, with the era of online poker. However, you can still benefit from developing your reading abilities.

For example, you can determine if your opponent is bluffing or not, just by seeing how fast he is betting, and how much he is betting. Pretty much every signal can be beneficial for you, but you need to learn how to spot any of them.