Objective: To hold the best possible 5 card poker hand out of seven cards held. (See Hand rankings to determine best hand).

Dealing

After the ante has been placed in the pot by each active player the dealer deals each player two cards face down ("hole" cards) and one card face up ("door" card). This is followed by the first betting round. All remaining players are dealt one card face up ("4th street"). 2nd betting round now takes place followed by the dealer dealing one card face up to all remaining players ("5th street"). The third round of betting follows. Each player is now dealt another card face up ("6th street") which is followed by the forth round of betting. Each remaining player is now dealt the last card ("river" card) which is followed by the last betting round and the "showdown" where every remaining player shows his hand to determine the winning hand with the bettor showing first.

Ante

The ante is an amount decided upon before the start of the game. This must be posted by each player at the start of each new hand.

Betting

In a full round of 7 card stud there are 5 betting rounds not including the ante. On the first round of betting, the low card by suit is required to initiate action with a bet equal to half the lower limit. Suits are ranked: spades (highest), hearts, diamonds and clubs (lowest). On subsequent rounds, the high hand on board initiates betting action. If hands are tied, the player to the left of the dealer acts first. In all cases, the dealer will inform the players as to who acts first.

Each bet and raise during the first two rounds of betting is set at the lower limit of the stakes structure. For example in a €5/€10 game, all bets and raises are €5 for the first two rounds. The exception to this rule is if any player displays a pair with their 2 face-up cards on 4th Street. In this circumstance, all players have the option to bet either the lower limit or the higher limit. If a player bets the higher limit, then all subsequent raises must be made at the higher limit.

Each bet and raise during the last three rounds of betting is set at the higher limit of the stakes structure. For example in a €5/€10 game, all bets and raises are €10 for the last three rounds.

The maximum allowable number of bets per player during any particular betting round is four. This would consist of (1) a bet, (2) a raise, (3) a re-raise, and (4) a cap. Once the pot is capped, players will have only the option of calling or folding. There is no limit on the amount of raises once the hand becomes heads-up.

In this game the player with the highest hand AND the player with the lowest hand split the pot. To qualify for a low hand your highest card must be 8 or lower. Aces can be either high or low and straights and flushes don't count against the the player for the low hand. Players can tie for a low hand and in this case the low half of the pot is divided equally between the two low hand winners.