About Seven Card Stud

For a long time I believed that Stud was the game for me. They say that everyone has a variation of poker that is best suited to their ability, approach and natural feel for the game and I thought that Stud was that game. It looks easy enough as you can see most of your opponent’s cards and if you cannot beat what you can see you should fold! The fact that seven card Stud is a limit betting game helps those with a skill edge reduce the variance. Writing this reminds me why I liked the game so much.

Seven Card Stud was the game of choice for a long time before the poker boom. It is still worth learning today as many of the WSOP events have smaller fields and winning a bracelet in a smaller field is more attainable with the same benefits to your poker career and prestige to be earned. The coverage of Holdem on Television has reduced Stud to one of the minor games but it is still regularly played in Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio at very high stakes by the top professional poker players. Seven Card Stud puts the S in Horse quite literally so if HORSE is a game you wish to improve then Stud is a useful game to master.

A widely held and generally accepted belief is that in ring games Stud and Omaha games are easier to beat than Texas Hold ‘em. This is because of the vast array of poker training sites and information available helping players to improve their holdem game. Even in 2010 there are weaker players who may be excellent at Texas Hold ‘em getting bored or wanting to learn a new game that offer profit earning opportunities for those who put in the effort to succeed in Stud.

Players are dealt two cards face down and one card face up. Across the table the player with the lowest ‘up’ card has to make a bet known as the ‘bring in’. If two players have the joint lowest card the player with the lowest suit must make the bring in bet. The suits are ranked Spades, Hearts, Clubs and Diamonds. In some games the first player sitting in a clockwise direction from dealer would make the bring in rather than relying on the dealt cards suit. The players are dealt a further three up cards and one final down card before showdown. There is a popular version of Stud called Mississippi Stud which removes the betting rounds after the fourth and fifth up cards are dealt.

The biggest difference to Texas Holdem is the presence of the up cards. You can now discount what you can see before making any decisions on draws that you would not be aware of if the cards were all face down. You also have the benefit of being shown over half of your opponent’s cards. Whilst with three down cards there is still the possibility of concealed monsters more often than not most of a good hand and sometimes all of it will be revealed.

There is a useful saying in Stud – “If you cannot beat what you can see get out of there”. If there are multiple players in the pot then you can discount every card that you can see from their potential holdings. If you hold concealed pocket Kings but see AA in your opponent’s cards then fold quickly. Quick thinking is required when playing Stud due to all of this extra information you are required to process in each hand.

Seven Card Stud is a High game so you do not need to concern yourself with hitting a low hand. In this sense the winning hands are similar to Texas Hold ‘em but your perception of their value must change to reflect Stud hands. Play your draws slowly and pay particular attention to any potential flush or straight opportunities your opponents may hold perhaps partially or fully revealed by their set of up cards.

It takes time to learn Stud but it is a fun game to learn if Texas Holdem is becoming a little stale for you.

By Malcolm Clarke

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