HPD study room · Seven-Card Stud High
Seven-Card Stud rules: follow the streets, then choose your best five
Seven-Card Stud gives each player a hand that gradually becomes visible. Some cards stay private; others arrive face up. At showdown, the strongest five-card high hand wins. There is normally no shared board to rescue you, and the player who starts the betting can change when the next exposed card arrives.
Ellis, our silver-haired teacher, has brought an accordion book to the HPD study room. Ace, our navy spade, wants to open every fold at once. Patience is not his best skill. Ellis keeps one finger on the current street. That is a useful habit in Stud: identify the information available now before using a card that arrives later.
This lesson covers ordinary Seven-Card Stud High with fixed-limit betting. The fourth-street pair option and insufficient-cards procedure below are specifically labeled PokerStars rules. A separate, labeled WSOP 2026 rule handles a later-street exposed-hand tie. All example amounts are imaginary study units, not cash stakes. Table rules still determine antes, bring-ins, limits and raise caps.
Choose a route through the lesson
- Read the deal timeline if you are new to Stud
- Check who opens and how much can be bet if the streets look familiar
- Try six exact-card exercises before opening their answers
- Use the review checklist to inspect a completed hand
The deal timeline
A street name counts the cards a player has received. Third street is therefore the beginning of the hand, not a third betting round. A hand that reaches seventh street has five betting rounds. It can finish earlier when only one player remains; the missing streets are not dealt merely to finish a diagram.
- Before the deal. Players post the required ante. Treat this as its own entry in a hand record, separate from the first betting-round contribution.
- Third street. Each player receives two cards face down and one face up. That first visible card is often called the door card. Determine the bring-in, then complete the first betting round.
- Fourth street. Each remaining player receives another face-up card. There are now two hidden cards and two exposed cards per player. Reassess the opener from the exposed hands.
- Fifth street. Another card arrives face up. This is the usual switch to the larger fixed-limit amount. Do not carry a fourth-street bet amount forward by habit.
- Sixth street. A fourth exposed card arrives. Each remaining player now has six cards in total, with four visible to everyone. Determine the opener again and complete the betting.
- Seventh street. The final card normally arrives face down. Each player has three private cards and four exposed cards. A final betting round precedes showdown when multiple players remain.
| Street | Cards received so far | Ordinary fixed-limit increment |
|---|---|---|
| Third | 2 down + 1 up | Small bet |
| Fourth | 2 down + 2 up | Small bet; see the named pair option below |
| Fifth | 2 down + 3 up | Big bet |
| Sixth | 2 down + 4 up | Big bet |
| Seventh | 3 down + 4 up | Big bet |
Keep an exposed row in its original deal order when writing a history. Sorting a copy by rank can help you compare hands, but the chronological version tells you which card changed the action. If a queen arrives on fifth street, it cannot explain a fourth-street opening bet. At a live table, leave your exposed cards arranged as the dealer requires.
The bring-in is decided before the hidden cards matter
On third street in Stud High, the lowest door card supplies the bring-in. The player either posts the required bring-in or starts with a full small bet, under the stated rules. An ace is high for this comparison. A hidden pair of aces does not excuse a player whose door card is the lowest.
PokerStars breaks a tied door-card rank with suits in this ascending order: clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades. Use that order only for this forced-action decision. If two players show equal-ranked low cards, the one with the lower suit brings in. Continue clockwise from that player; do not rearrange everyone else by card rank.
An ante and a bring-in do different jobs. Everyone may have paid an ante, but that does not mean everyone has matched the third-street wager. Record the ante separately, then track how much each player has put into the current round. If a player has already put in part of the amount they need to match, their next contribution is the difference, not the full displayed total again.
The WSOP 2026 live-action rules call an increase from an incomplete bring-in to the full small bet a completion, rather than a raise. This vocabulary helps explain a history, but it does not supply a universal raise cap. Check the game rules before counting how many further raises are permitted. Short all-ins and an all-in ante also need the applicable house procedure.
Later streets begin with the strongest exposed hand
Starting on fourth street, compare what each remaining player has face up. A visible pair beats an unpaired ace-high row. When neither row is paired, compare the highest card, then the next card if needed. On later streets, visible trips can outrank a visible pair. Private cards do not enter this opening-order comparison.
There is a trap here for Hold’em players. Four exposed hearts are not a completed five-card flush. Four consecutive exposed ranks are not a completed five-card straight either. Both may suggest possible private-card holdings, but guesses about those holdings cannot select the first player to act. Compare the exposed cards actually present.
The player with the strongest exposed hand has the first decision; that decision can be a check. Being the opener does not force an additional bet on every street. Once someone bets, later players respond in clockwise order. A raise can bring the action back to players who have already acted, so a list of seats is only the starting order, not a guarantee that each player acts once.
For a tie in exposed poker value, the WSOP 2026 Stud rule 219 uses position: the tied player who received cards first acts first. That is the rule used in exercise 4. Do not reuse the third-street suit ladder here. At another table, confirm its own positional procedure rather than inventing a suit-based answer.
The normal face-down seventh card does not alter anyone’s exposed row. If the same players remain eligible to act, the visible-hand comparison is unchanged from sixth street. A new private full house can change a showdown result without making its owner the first actor. Folded players and players who cannot take further betting action still have to be handled correctly in a real hand record.
Read the two fixed-limit amounts correctly
Our classroom game uses a small bet of 4 units and a big bet of 8 units. Those are betting increments, not a small blind and big blind. On an ordinary early street, a bet of 4 followed by a raise of 4 makes the new round total 8. Later, a bet of 8 followed by a raise of 8 makes the new total 16. Write both the increment and the total when a history is easy to misread.
Starting on fifth street, this fixed-limit lesson uses the big bet. That switch does not depend on whether someone improves. A player can miss completely and still face the larger increment. Conversely, an excellent hidden hand does not by itself authorize a larger fourth-street opening bet.
The exposed-pair option needs a named rule
Under the PokerStars Stud High rules, any exposed pair on fourth street enables an optional big bet. The opening bet or a raise can use that larger increment. Once a big bet is made, the larger amount applies for the rest of that fourth-street betting round. The pair makes the option available; it does not automatically double a bet that nobody has made.
A private pair is not an exposed pair. If your two hidden cards match but your visible cards do not, that fact alone does not activate the option. Also, the option is available because a pair is showing somewhere in the hand, not only to the player holding it. Exercise 2 makes that distinction concrete by having the player with the exposed pair check first.
This is a Stud High rule in the named profile. PokerStars Stud Hi-Lo keeps fourth street at the lower increment even with an exposed pair. Razz also needs its own rules. In a mixed-game session, recheck the game name before carrying a familiar betting option into the next rotation.
Best five of your seven, with no borrowed cards
At a normal showdown, choose the strongest five-card high hand from your own seven cards. There is no required quota of face-down and face-up cards. The final private card is usable but not compulsory. You can leave out an impressive-looking ace if another five-card combination is stronger.
The familiar high-hand order applies: straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair, then high card. An ace can be high in an ace-high straight or low in A-2-3-4-5. It does not bend around the end of the rank sequence to join a king to a deuce. Exact suits matter for making a flush; they do not rank two otherwise equal showdown hands.
Start by naming a category, then lay out the exact five cards that make it. If you claim a flush, find five cards of one suit in that player’s available cards. If you claim a full house, find three of one rank and two of another. This simple audit catches a surprising number of errors caused by remembering the general shape of a hand rather than the cards themselves.
An opponent’s exposed ace is visible information. It is not an ace you may add to your hand. The same applies after that opponent folds. Stud’s word “board” often refers to a particular player’s exposed row, not a community board. When reviewing a screenshot or written history, label whose row you are reading before combining any cards.
Ties stop at the fifth card
Compare the selected five-card hands completely. A pair needs kickers; two pair needs its fifth card; a flush can require comparison all the way down its ranks. Once those five-card values match, unused sixth and seventh cards cannot break the tie. A higher unused card is just unused.
Equal winning hands split the relevant pot. Exercise 6 uses 120 units, so the equal split has no remainder. Odd-chip assignment is a separate house procedure, not permission to declare a different hand winner. Likewise, when a real hand has side pots, identify who is eligible for each pot before deciding which player receives it.
The rare shared seventh card is an exception
A full Stud table can need more cards than remain available late in the deal. PokerStars describes a shared, face-up community card when there are too few cards to deal seventh street normally. Each remaining player may use that shared card with their own six. It substitutes for the individual seventh cards in that situation; it is not an extra eighth card added after everyone already received a private river.
Do not infer an ordinary flop, turn or community river from this exception. It also does not make anyone else’s exposed row communal. Live dealing rules can prescribe additional steps involving the remaining deck and burn cards. If that rare situation occurs, use the dealer’s published procedure rather than trying to construct a replacement deal from memory.
Six exact-card exercises
Each exercise is a separate deal. Cards can repeat between exercises, but no physical card appears twice within one exercise. Suit symbols mean clubs ♣, diamonds ♦, hearts ♥ and spades ♠. Read the question, decide on a reason, then open the answer. These are rule checks, not recommendations about whether a bet would be profitable.
1. Find the bring-in, then keep the clockwise order
Third street. Seats run clockwise Ava → Ben → Cara → Drew → Ava. All four can cover the required bring-in. Use the PokerStars door-card tie-break.
| Player | Private cards | Door card |
|---|---|---|
| Ava | K♣ Q♦ | 2♥ |
| Ben | 9♠ 9♦ | 2♣ |
| Cara | 7♥ 8♥ | A♠ |
| Drew | 5♣ 6♣ | 4♦ |
Who brings in? What is the starting order around the table? Does Ben’s private pair change either answer?
Show the bring-in and order
Ben brings in. The lowest visible rank is a deuce; 2♣ is below 2♥ in the stated suit order. Cara’s ace is high here, so it does not compete with the deuces for the lowest card.
The starting order is Ben → Cara → Drew → Ava, then back to Ben if the betting requires another response. Ben’s private nines have no role in selecting the bring-in. Ava is not automatically next merely because her door card is the next lowest.
2. A pair opens the option, but its owner checks
Fourth street in the PokerStars Stud High profile. Clockwise seats are Ava → Ben → Cara. The limits are 4/8 study units. Ava shows K♥ K♦, Ben shows A♣ Q♠, and Cara shows 8♥ 8♣. Everyone can cover the amounts discussed.
Ava checks. May Ben open for 8? If Ben bets 8 and both other players call without a raise, how many units enter the pot on this street? Ignore earlier contributions.
Show the opener, option and street total
Ava acts first because her exposed kings beat Cara’s exposed eights and Ben’s unpaired ace-high row. Ava is allowed to check. Ben may then bet 8 because an exposed pair makes the PokerStars fourth-street big-bet option available to the players in the hand.
After Ben bets 8, Cara calls 8 and Ava calls 8. The street adds 24 units. The big-bet amount now applies for the remainder of this fourth-street round. Ben does not need his own exposed pair to use the option. This answer must not be carried into Stud Hi-Lo.
3. Fifth street changes both the opener and the amount
A separate deal starts with the same fourth-street exposed ranks as exercise 2. The next face-up cards produce these fifth-street rows. Clockwise seats remain Ava → Ben → Cara, with 4/8 limits.
| Player | Fourth-street exposed row | New fifth card | Complete exposed row |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ava | K♥ K♦ | 2♣ | K♥ K♦ 2♣ |
| Ben | A♣ Q♠ | A♥ | A♣ Q♠ A♥ |
| Cara | 8♥ 8♣ | 8♦ | 8♥ 8♣ 8♦ |
Who acts first? Cara checks, Ava bets, Ben calls, and Cara raises. Ava and Ben then call, with no further raise. Using the required fifth-street increment, what is each player’s final street contribution?
Show the new order and contribution ledger
Cara acts first. Her three exposed eights outrank Ben’s pair of aces and Ava’s pair of kings. The starting order is Cara → Ava → Ben. Selecting Ben merely because aces are the highest pair would miss Cara’s stronger category.
Fifth street uses 8-unit increments. Cara checks; Ava bets 8; Ben calls 8; Cara raises to 16, putting in 16. Ava adds 8 and Ben adds 8. Each player has contributed 16 on this street, so the pot grows by 48 units. Cara’s earlier check did not count as a contribution, and Ava’s call is an additional 8, not another 16.
4. A later-street tie uses position
Sixth street, using WSOP 2026 Stud rule 219. The deal started with Ben, followed clockwise by Cara and then Ava. All three are still able to act. Their exposed rows are below; private cards are deliberately omitted because they do not determine this decision.
| Player | Exposed cards in deal order |
|---|---|
| Ava | Q♣ Q♦ 9♥ 3♠ |
| Ben | Q♥ Q♠ 9♣ 3♦ |
| Cara | A♣ K♦ J♥ 8♠ |
Which player opens the betting? Would the normal private seventh card change that opener if all three remain able to act?
Show the positional tie-break
Ava and Ben have equal exposed value: a pair of queens with a nine and a three. Both beat Cara’s unpaired ace-high row. Ben received cards first, so Ben acts first under the stated WSOP procedure. Ava’s club does not override that position.
The normal seventh card is face down, leaving these exposed rows unchanged. With the same eligible players and no dealing irregularity, Ben remains first on seventh street. The answer could change if a relevant player folded; it does not change simply because someone privately improves.
5. Choose five, then reject the borrowed ace
Showdown in an ordinary deal with no shared seventh card. The exposed row is written in street order, from third through sixth. Cara folded earlier; her visible cards were A♣ 5♥. Those two cards are not available to Ava or Ben.
| Player | First two private cards | Four exposed cards | Private seventh card |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ava | A♠ 7♦ | A♥ K♠ K♦ 2♣ | 9♥ |
| Ben | Q♣ J♣ | 10♣ 8♣ 4♣ 6♦ | 3♠ |
Name each player’s best five and the winner. Ava suggests using Cara’s exposed ace to complete a full house. Is that legal?
Show both legal hands
Ava uses A♠ A♥ K♠ K♦ 9♥: two pair, aces and kings, with a nine kicker. Her 7♦ and 2♣ are outside the best five. Ben uses Q♣ J♣ 10♣ 8♣ 4♣: a queen-high club flush. Ben’s 6♦ and 3♠ are unused. The flush beats two pair, so Ben wins.
Ava cannot borrow A♣ from Cara, whether Cara is active or folded. Ava’s tempting A♠ A♥ A♣ K♠ K♦ would require a card she was never entitled to use. The four face-up cards in Ben’s row also belong only to Ben; seeing them is not sharing them.
6. Same straight, different leftovers
Two players reach showdown, eligible for the same 120-unit pot. There are no side pots or deductions in this exercise.
| Player | First two private cards | Four exposed cards | Private seventh card |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ava | A♠ K♣ | Q♥ J♦ 9♠ 4♣ | 10♥ |
| Ben | A♥ K♦ | Q♣ J♠ 8♦ 3♣ | 10♠ |
Does the higher unused nine give Ava the pot? Does the spade ace break the tie? State the selected five ranks and the award.
Show the tie and equal award
Both players have an ace-high straight, A-K-Q-J-10. Ava uses A♠ K♣ Q♥ J♦ 10♥. Ben uses A♥ K♦ Q♣ J♠ 10♠. Neither hand is a flush, and neither has a better five-card category.
The 9♠ and 8♦ are outside those straights, so they do not become sixth-card kickers. Suits do not decide this showdown tie either. The 120-unit pot splits equally: 60 to Ava and 60 to Ben. No odd-chip rule is needed for these numbers.
Keep Stud High separate from its relatives
Razz awards the pot to the lowest ace-to-five hand, with no qualifying threshold. Stud Hi-Lo can split a pot between high and a qualifying eight-or-better low. Those changes reach beyond the showdown label: Razz changes which door card brings in and which exposed hand opens later. The same looking deal can therefore require a different first actor.
In this lesson, a low-looking collection of cards has no separate claim to half the pot. A wheel is evaluated as a five-high straight for high. You are not required to produce an eight-low or use a particular number of private cards. When reviewing a mixed-game record, write “Stud High” before the first card line so that a previous Razz or Stud Hi-Lo hand does not supply the wrong mental rulebook.
Review one completed hand
Tick a box after you can explain that point from the hand record. If one remains unclear, go back to the exact street that caused the problem. The goal is a readable explanation you can check, rather than a quick guess at a winner.
For a difficult hand, preserve two versions of the record. The first is chronological: who received each card, who acted, and the amount added. The second is a showdown comparison with five selected cards per player. Keeping those views separate prevents a winning river card from rewriting the decision that was available two streets earlier. Use the exercises between sessions or during study, not as help with an active hand.
Let the HPD spade choose the next shelf
The HPD spade is pointing toward three neighboring lessons. Choose Razz rules to see how the same street structure changes when low wins. Read Omaha Hi-Lo rules to study a different split-pot game and its exact card-use requirement. Or use the poker study routine to turn a completed Stud hand into a short review.
Ellis’s final check is small enough to remember: say the street, find the opener, check the increment, then name the five cards when the betting is over. If a hand still feels confusing, one of those answers usually tells you where to look again.