5-card Stud poker is not the popular game it once was. Some internet poker rooms, however, do still offer this game. It never does any harm to have another game in your armoury. If you find a loose 5-card game, you want to be able to take advantage of it! 7-Card Stud remains a popular game in internet poker rooms and can provide many profit making opportunities for the skilful player.
5-Card Stud
Here are the Basic Rules for 5-card Stud:
1. Each player places an ante in the pot (an ante is a small compulsory bet made by every player to get the pot started).
2. Each player is dealt 2 cards - the first face down (the hole card) and the second face up so that all the other players can see it. (Each player can, of course, look at their own hole card!)
3. There is a betting round - often, in internet games, the player with the lowest card showing is forced to act first and make at least a small bet known as the "bring-in" bet.
4. Each player is dealt 3 more cards, with a betting round after each. In each betting round the player with the best hand showing acts first.
5. After the final betting round, the remaining players show their hole cards and the best hand wins the pot.
It's that simple - there is no exchange of cards, no communal cards, no need to make your best 5-card hand out of seven cards - you have to make do with the five cards you are dealt. You can also see 4 out of the five cards each other player has.
Basic Strategy for 5-Card Stud:
The obvious thing to take account of in 5-card Stud is what cards your opponents have showing. By the end of the hand, each player will have 4 of their 5 cards showing, so you will have a good idea of what each player is likely to have, especially if you have paid attention to their betting behaviour as well. As a simple example, if a player bets when he is dealt a 9 having not previously bet, this may well indicate he has another 9 "in the hole." Also, because most of your cards are showing, you may need to be careful not to give your hand away when you pair your own hole card. Often a player will delay betting in order to disguise thier hand. For example, if a player has an ace showing and an ace in the hole, he may not bet straight away, but may bet when he receives his next card, pretending that he has a lower pair than he actually has.
Because there are so many cards showing, you need to take these into account when deciding whether to continue in the hand. For example, your hole card may be an Ace, but if all the other Aces are already showing in other people's hands, you obviously cannot then get a pair of Aces.
If all players remain in the hand, your task is not too difficult. The problem comes when some players fold. Their cards are no longer visible and you may need to remember what they had. Not only will this help you decide whether you will get the hand you need, but it will help you assess whether your opponent are bluffings. If, for example, a player bets heavily after receiving a King on the last card, you need to know how many Kings have already gone to help you decide whether that player is bluffing or not.
One of the attractions of playing 5-card stud is that when you have the best hand, you often know that you have the best hand. For example, if your only opponent has 4 8 J and Q showing (not all of the same suit), you know that the best hand they could possibly have is a pair of Queens. If you have a pair of Kings, you know that you cannot be beaten. You can feel free to bet as much as you like knowing that you will win the pot. Having a hand that cannot be beaten is known as having "the nuts." (If one of your Kings is your hidden card (i.e. it is "in the hole") this is a huge bonus since your hand is disguised and your opponent may call if he has a pair, not knowing he is beaten.)
5-card Stud is therefore an excellent game to play against poor players. If you can bet when you have the nuts and be confident of getting callers, it is like a licence to print money!
In 5-card stud, there are very clear bluffing opportunities. For example, a player with an ace showing may decide to bet pretending he has another ace. If can be difficult to call such a bet if, for example, you have a pair of Kings with one King in the pocket. The problem is that if he does have the ace, not only is he beating you, but he knows he is beating you, and may bet very heavily indeed during the next betting round if you do call.
One of the important things in stud is to have a good card in the hole. If you have an Ace in the hole and you get another Ace, then not only will you have a pair of Aces which will probably win you the hand, but no-one else will know you have a pair of Aces. If you have a pair of Aces showing, everyone else will probably fold (unless they already have you beaten) - so you won't make much money from the hand.
If you start with a pair of Twos, this may seem like a good hand - and you may well have the best hand. It may end up as the best hand - but unless you improve, you cannot (usually!) know that you have the best hand - so you can't confidently bet very much!
A high card will often win a hand in 5-card stud as will a pair. Occasionally someone will get 2 pair or 3 of a Kind. Straights and Flushes are not very important in 5-card Stud - you cannot get a flush or straight before going through the first 3 betting rounds - so drawing to a straight or flush is likely to be far too expensive.
7-Card Stud
The rules of 7-Card Stud
In 7-card stud, each player ends up with 7 cards (believe it or not!). This does not change the fundamental poker hands since each player can only actually use 5 of these cards to make his hand. He uses the best 5-card hand he can make out of the 7 cards he has been dealt.
Here's the sequence of play in 7-card Stud:
1. Each player places an ante ( a small compulsory bet) in the pot.
2. Each player is dealt 2 cards face down and a third card face up.
3. There is a betting round. In internet play, the player with the worst hand showing is usually forced to act first and make a small "bring-in" bet to get the action started.
4. Three more face up cards are dealt to each player, with a betting round after each card - in each round, the player with the best hand showing acts first.
5. A final card is dealt face down to each player.
6. There is a final betting round and then a showdown.
(Note: When a player folds, he turns all his visible cards over, so you can no longer see them!)
Basic Strategy for 7-card Stud
One of the things about 7-Card Stud is that you can still end up with a great hand even if you start with nothing. This leads many novices to fall into the trap of calling bets even though they have nothing, in the hope that they will improve their hand and win. Sometimes they will - but mostly they will not - and they will have to go through several potentially expensive betting rounds to find this out!
Usually you should only call (or raise) an early bet if you already have three of a kind, a pair or three cards of the same suit. You may sometimes call a small bet if you have three cards to a straight (e.g. J Q K), especially if all three cards are high cards.
Usually in 7-card, you will need at least Two Pair in order to win the hand. On average, at a full table, the winning hand may well be 3 of a kind or better. A straight is good but far from guaranteed to win. A flush will usually win, but it won't be unusual for a flush to be beaten by a full house. With a full house you can usually be pretty confident of winning (unless, for example, someone has a high pair showing and is betting heavily).
Clearly, in 7-Card Stud, you can get some idea of what other players have by looking at the cards they have showing. If, for example, they have 4 of a suit showing, there is clearly a very good chance they have a flush. You must be careful, however, since by the end of the hand a player will have 3 hidden cards - and he could possibly have 4 of a kind even if he has nothing worthwhile actually showing.
The key to playing 7-Card successfully is to be prepared to fold your hand early if it doesn't quickly improve. For example, you may start with 6 7 8 of different suits. If you don't get the 5 or 9 on the next card, then your hand is pretty useless if anyone bets and you should fold. Trying to draw to an unlikely straight is a big mistake in 7-Card Stud (unless you can stay in the hand by checking). You have to remember that even if you get your straight, there is a very good chance you will still be beaten.
In judging how likely you are to draw the hand you need - or how likely your opponents are to draw the hand they need, you need to take account of all the cards that have been shown during the game. Some cards will still be on show. Other cards will have been discarded when players folded. You must remember what cards these were.
Consider, after each player has received 4 cards, you may have four hearts. Normally, your chances of getting your flush by the end would be quite high. However, if 8 hearts have already appeared in other people's hands, your chances of getting your flush have been reduced to almost zero. Similarly, after 4 cards another player may have two Aces showing. However, if the other two Aces are in other people's hands, he can't possibly have three Aces.
