Poker as you know has many variants, with Texas Hold’em as the most popular but the Seven card stud has also been steadily gaining popularity. Playing these different kinds of poker breaks the monotony of dealing with the same game over and over again most especially if you are playing online and doing it for amusement.

The Seven card stud is not that difficult to learn and as with any game, you have to know the basic rules first. One essential thing to know when playing seven card stud is that you have seven cards to choose from to form your final five card hand and you need not use any specific card out of the seven, just use any card that will give you the highest five hand.

The game starts with each player putting in an ante and after that the dealer gives, starting to his left, each players two cards face down, also called hole cards, and deals one card face up.

Players then look at their hole cards and the player that has the lowest card showing face up must place in a small bet known as bring in. A round of betting follows starting from the left of the player that made the ‘bring in’ bet. Players may call, raise or fold.

The fourth street or turn is then dealt face up to each player and each player again make their bet but this time betting starts with the player that has the highest card face up and this rule continues up to the last round of betting.

After the round of betting, the fifth card this time called the fifth street or river is dealt and once again still face up and then continues with another round of betting starting with the player who has the highest river. Then the sixth card is dealt face up and then more betting.

The seven and final card is dealt to the players face down followed by a final round of betting. Showdown then occurs with each player showing their best five card hand and the player with the highest card wins of course.