Stud Poker Rules: How to Play Seven-Card Stud

Stud poker is a family of games where you’re dealt a mix of face-down (private) and face-up (visible) cards over several rounds, with no community cards to share. The most popular version is seven-card stud, the game that dominated poker rooms before Texas Hold’em took over. You ante, receive cards across five betting rounds, and make your best five-card hand from the seven you’re dealt. What makes stud distinct is the betting order — it’s driven by the cards showing on the table, not by fixed positions.

The deal: what you receive and when

Seven-card stud uses five betting rounds, called “streets.” Each street deals one card and opens a round of betting.

Street	Card dealt	Face-up or down
Third street	2 down + 1 up (dealt together)	Two hidden, one visible
Fourth street	1 up	Visible
Fifth street	1 up	Visible
Sixth street	1 up	Visible
Seventh street (“the river”)	1 down	Hidden

You end with three hidden cards and four visible cards — seven total. You pick your best five to make a hand. The face-up cards are the heart of the game: everyone can see part of everyone else’s hand and adjust accordingly.

Getting started: the ante and the bring-in

There are two forced bets in stud, and understanding them is the key to the betting order.

• The ante. Every player posts a small forced bet before any cards are dealt. This seeds the pot.
• The bring-in. After third street is dealt, the player showing the lowest up-card must post a forced bet called the bring-in and acts first. If two players tie for lowest, suit order breaks the tie (clubs lowest, then diamonds, hearts, spades — the classic “alphabetical” order).

The bring-in is what starts the action on the first betting round, taking the role blinds play in Hold’em.

Poker rules for betting order in stud

This is where stud differs most from Hold’em, and it’s worth learning precisely.

1. Third street: the lowest up-card brings it in and acts first. Action moves clockwise.
2. Fourth street onward: the player showing the best (highest-ranking) poker hand on their up-cards acts first, and continues clockwise.

Because up-cards change every street, the first-to-act player can change too. On fourth street a pair of showing kings acts before a lone ace; on fifth street someone who catches a third suited card for a possible flush might take the lead. You constantly re-read the table to know whose turn opens the round.

Stud betting rules and structure

Seven-card stud is traditionally played as a fixed-limit game. Bets come in two sizes:

• A small bet on third and fourth street.
• A big bet (double the small bet) on fifth, sixth, and seventh street.

For example, in a $5/$10 game, bets and raises are $5 on the early streets and $10 from fifth street on. The usual cap is one bet plus three raises per round. One common exception: if a player has an open pair showing on fourth street, either player may choose to bet the big amount early. The five betting actions themselves — check, bet, call, raise, fold — work exactly as they do everywhere else; only the sizing and order differ. See the full breakdown in poker betting rules explained.

A worked hand

You’re dealt (down, down) + up: (K♠ 4♦) 7♥. Another player shows the 2♣ — the lowest up-card — so they post the bring-in and act first.

• Fourth street: you catch 7♠, giving you a pair of sevens showing. That’s the best board, so you now act first.
• Fifth street: you catch 7♦ — three sevens (trips), now hidden strength plus a scary board. You bet the big amount.
• Sixth street: you catch K♥, pairing your hidden king. You now hold two pair plus trips — a full house is already made (7-7-7-K-K).
• Seventh street: dealt face-down; it doesn’t matter. Your best five are 7♠ 7♥ 7♦ K♠ K♥ — a full house, sevens full of kings.

Notice how much information the up-cards gave the whole table: opponents saw your paired sevens on fourth street and could fold marginal hands rather than pay you off. Concealment and reading are the twin skills of stud.

How stud compares to Hold’em

Feature	Seven-card stud	Texas Hold’em
Community cards	None	Five shared
Forced bets	Ante + bring-in	Small & big blind
Who acts first	Set by up-cards	Set by position/button
Cards per player	7 (3 down, 4 up)	2 (both down)
Betting rounds	5	4

Both are decided by the same hand rankings, so if you already know what beats what, you know how to score a stud hand. What you have to relearn is the flow: five streets, forced antes, a bring-in, and a betting order that follows the visible cards.

The takeaway

Seven-card stud is poker without community cards: ante up, take three cards on third street, then one card per street with betting after each, ending with your best five of seven. The bring-in starts the action, and from fourth street on, the strongest board acts first. To go deeper on the concepts stud shares with every game, revisit the betting rules, the forced-bet systems, or head back to the how-to-play hub.