7 Card Stud High Games

Seven-Card Stud Hi has been called the "Rolls Royce" of poker and was the No. 1 poker game not long ago. Nowadays, the title is held by the ever-popular Texas Hold'em, but don't be fooled into thinking that Seven-Card Stud Hi is a vanishing game. On the contrary, there are millions of people who still swear by it.

It's also very popular at some online poker rooms where many have grown weary of Hold'em. Although there are some good Seven-Card Stud Hi players out there, the majority only know how to play Hold'em, so there is definitely some money to be made in Seven Card Stud Hi.

Of course, if you don't know how to play the game well, you will lose quickly. So it's best to take a few minutes to learn the basic rules and a little strategy first.

As you probably know, Seven-Card Stud Hi is not a community card game, but rather a game where every player's hand is unique to that player. Although Seven-Card Stud Hi can be played as a Pot-Limit game, it's really best played as Fixed-Limit. The rules are simple enough: Every player gets three cards, the first two face down and the last one, which is called "third street," face up. In Fixed-Limit, the player showing the lowest card opens the bidding.

When all players have acted, a fourth card, "fourth street," is dealt face up to every player and a new betting round begins. The difference is that the player with the best hand starts the action. This goes on until seventh street, which is dealt face down, and again the player with the best up hand starts to talk.

Finally, there's the showdown, and the player who can show the best five-card poker hand wins the pot.

Once you know the rules, you still don't want to jump in without some ideas about strategy. A mistake Texas Hold'em players often make in Seven-Card Stud Hi is they see fourth street way too often.

In Hold'em, it is often worthwhile to see the flop, even with a fairly mediocre hand - that is, if you can do it cheaply enough. This is because with the flop in Hold'em, you have already seen five out of seven cards, which is roughly 70% of the total hand. In other words, for a small sum you get to see a large portion of your hand, and you have a good chance of defining your chance to win.

Not so in Seven-Card Stud Hi where you pay for an extra card (fourth street) and still only see less than 60% of the total hand.

The secret and big difference between Seven-Card Stud Hi and Texas Hold'em is that in Stud you can judge whether the hand is worth playing right from the start.

The second biggest mistake is to continue to fifth street with a drawing hand when you miss your card on fourth street. For instance, say you started with three clubs and got a spade on fourth street. Unless you made a pair or got a straight draw, you shouldn't continue to play the hand. This might seem like strict requirements, but you even if you have four of the same suit on fourth street, your chances of making a flush on seventh street is just about 50%.

The third biggest mistake Hold'em players commit when they play Seven-Card Stud Hi is they fail to see the importance of the other players' face-up cards. You should always keep an eye on the other players cards, not just to see if the cards you need are in their hands but to also determine what they are holding or drawing to by looking at their up cards. This is something you will be able to do better and better as you gain more experience.

A last piece of advice: When you look online for a good Seven-Card Stud Hi game, try to find games that are loose. In those games you should be able to win in the long run just by using the above mentioned Seven-Card Stud Hi poker strategy.

Learn More About Seven Card Stud: Seven Card Stud Strategy, Seven Card Stud Rules
Other Stud Poker Games: Seven Card Stud, Seven Card Stud Hi Lo , Razz Poker