7 Card Stud is a limit game. Initially every player posts an Ante. Each player is then dealt one card at a time until every player has 3 cards. The first 2 cards are dealt face down (hole cards) and the 3rd card (door card) is dealt face up.

There are five rounds of betting in 7 Card Stud. The first two rounds use the lower limit bets and the last 3 rounds use the higher limit bets. The exception to this is if a player holds a pair or better on 4th Street as seen below.

First round of Betting: "3rd Street"

Betting starts with the player holding the lowest Door Card. This first bet is known as the "Bring in". If two players hold the same value Door Card then the Bring in is decided by suit (clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades). Each player has the option to call, raise or fold.

Second round of betting: "4th Street"

Every player still involved in the pot is dealt another card face up. Betting on this round begins with the player holding the two strongest up cards. If a player holds a pair they can make a double bet. Betting then continues around the table as normal.

Third and fourth round of betting: "5th and 6th Street"

Every active poker player still involved in the pot is dealt another up card. The player with the strongest up card combination starts the betting on this round. From this point onwards all bets are Big bets.

Fifth round of betting: "The River"

Each active poker player still involved in the pot is dealt one final card face down. So, each player now holds 4 up cards and 3 down cards. Again betting begins with the player holding the 4 strongest up cards and continues clockwise around the table.

Showdown:

Once all betting is complete players reveal there down cards and the player with the best 5 card hand wins. The player who made the last bet reveals his/her hand first. In the case of players holding the same winning hands normal split pot rules apply.

Seven-Card Stud High-Low

Also known as "seven eight" or "stud eight or better", eight or better is the most common form of high-low split stud poker. Played as seven-card stud, but the pot is split between the player with the highest hand and the player with the lowest hand. To qualify for low, a player must be able to play an 8-7-6-5-4 or lower.

The objective of winning players is not winning every individual hand, but rather making mathematically correct decisions regarding when and how much to bet, raise, call or fold. By making such decisions, winning poker players maximize long-term winnings by maximizing the wins and minimizing loses on each round of betting.