Stud Poker Rules

How a hand plays

1. Everyone posts an ante.
2. 3rd street: you get two cards face down and one face up (your door card). The lowest door card brings it in, then a betting round.
3. 4th street: one more card face up, then a betting round. From here on, the best hand showing acts first.
4. 5th street: one more card face up, then a betting round.
5. 6th street: one more card face up, then a betting round.
6. 7th street (the river): your last card, face down, then the final betting round.
7. Showdown: the best five-card hand from your seven cards wins.

Bring-in and acting first

• On 3rd street, the player with the lowest door card must start the betting with the bring-in. Aces count high, so an ace brings it in only if every door card is an ace.
• If two door cards have the same rank, suit breaks the tie. From lowest to highest: clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades. So 2♣ brings it in ahead of 2♦.
• The bring-in player can post just the bring-in or complete it to a full small bet. By default the table posts the bring-in for you; turn off "Post bring-in automatically" in your settings to choose (in Stud 8/b you always choose). Players after them can fold, call, or complete (or raise once someone has completed).
• From 4th street on, the player whose face-up cards make the best poker hand acts first. Aces count high here too.

Winning

• The best five-card high hand from your seven cards wins the whole pot.
• You can use any five of your seven cards, face up or face down.
• Equal hands split the pot.

Betting

• Fixed limit: every bet and raise is a set size.
• Small bet on 3rd and 4th street, big bet on 5th, 6th and 7th street.
• Each betting round allows one bet (or completion) and up to four raises.
• In cash games, a betting round that starts with only two players has no raise limit. In tournaments that applies only once the last two players are heads-up.
• There is no option to bet the big bet on 4th street when someone shows a pair: 4th street is always the small bet.

Good to know

• Your face-down cards stay hidden unless you show them at showdown, or everyone is all-in and the cards are turned up before the rest is dealt.

How a hand plays

1. Everyone posts an ante.
2. 3rd street: two cards face down and one face up. The lowest door card brings it in, then a betting round.
3. 4th, 5th and 6th street: one more card face up each time, each followed by a betting round. The best hand showing acts first.
4. 7th street: your last card, face down, then the final betting round.
5. Showdown: half the pot to the best high hand, half to the best qualifying low.

Bring-in and acting first

• The same as Seven Card Stud: the lowest door card brings it in on 3rd street, with aces high, so an ace brings it in only if every door card is an ace.
• Door-card ties are broken by suit: clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades, from lowest to highest.
• From 4th street on, the best high hand showing acts first.
• Super Stud 8/b uses a different rule. See Super Stud below.

Winning

• High half: the best five-card high hand from your seven cards.
• Low half: five different ranks, all 8 or lower, aces low. Straights and flushes do not hurt a low.
• You can use different cards for each half, and one player can win both halves (a scoop).
• If nobody has a qualifying low, the best high hand wins the whole pot.
• Equal hands split their half.

Betting

• Fixed limit: small bet on 3rd and 4th street, big bet on 5th, 6th and 7th street.
• Each betting round allows one bet (or completion) and up to four raises, with no limit in cash games when the round starts heads-up.

How a hand plays

1. Everyone posts an ante.
2. 3rd street: two cards face down and one face up. The highest door card brings it in, then a betting round.
3. 4th, 5th and 6th street: one more card face up each time, each followed by a betting round. The lowest hand showing acts first.
4. 7th street: your last card, face down, then the final betting round.
5. Showdown: half the pot to the best high hand, half to the best low hand.

Bring-in and acting first

• This works the other way round from Stud 8/b. On 3rd street, the highest door card brings it in.
• Aces count low for this, so a king is the highest door card, and an ace brings it in only if every door card is an ace.
• Door-card ties are broken by suit: spades are highest, then hearts, diamonds and clubs. So K♠ brings it in ahead of K♥.
• From 4th street on, the lowest hand showing acts first, with aces low. Unpaired cards count as lower than a pair.

Winning

• High half: the best five-card high hand from your seven cards.
• Low half: the best five-card low from your seven cards, aces low. Straights and flushes do not count against a low; pairs do.
• There is no qualifier: some low always wins, even 9-high or worse, so every pot is split unless one player wins both halves.
• You can use different cards for each half. Equal hands split their half.

Betting

• Fixed limit: small bet on 3rd and 4th street, big bet on 5th, 6th and 7th street.
• Each betting round allows one bet (or completion) and up to four raises, with no limit in cash games when the round starts heads-up.

How a hand plays

1. Everyone posts an ante.
2. 3rd street: four cards face down and one face up (your door card). The bring-in is set by the door cards (see below), then a betting round with all five cards in your hand.
3. Discard: everyone still in throws away exactly two face-down cards. You get nothing back, and there is no betting on the discard. You now hold two cards down and one up.
4. 4th, 5th and 6th street: one more card face up each time, each followed by a betting round.
5. 7th street: your last card, face down, then the final betting round.
6. Showdown: you have seven cards, and the hand is won exactly as in the regular version of the game.

Bring-in and acting first

Each Super game has its own rule for who brings it in on 3rd street and who acts first from 4th street on. The ace counts the same way for both.

• Super Seven Card Stud: the lowest door card brings it in, aces high. From 4th street, the best hand showing acts first.
• Super Stud 8/b and PL Super Stud 8/b - Capped: the highest door card brings it in, aces low, so an ace brings it in only if every door card is an ace. From 4th street, the lowest hand showing acts first, aces low. This is a house rule and differs from regular Stud 8/b.
• Super Stud hi/lo regular: the highest door card brings it in, aces low. From 4th street, the lowest hand showing acts first, aces low.
• Super Razz: the highest door card brings it in, aces low. From 4th street, the lowest hand showing acts first, aces low.
• Super 2-7 Razz: the highest door card brings it in, aces high, so an ace does bring it in. From 4th street, the lowest hand showing acts first, aces high.
• Door-card ties are broken by suit: clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades, from lowest to highest.

Winning

• Super Seven Card Stud: best five-card high hand, as in Seven Card Stud.
• Super Stud 8/b and PL Super Stud 8/b - Capped: split pot, high and an 8-or-better low, as in Stud 8 or Better.
• Super Stud hi/lo regular: split pot, high and low with no qualifier, as in Stud Hi/Lo Regular.
• Super Razz: lowest A-5 hand wins, as in Razz.
• Super 2-7 Razz: lowest 2-7 hand wins, as in 2-7 Razz.

Betting

• Fixed-limit Super games: small bet on 3rd and 4th street, big bet on 5th, 6th and 7th street. Each round allows one bet (or completion) and up to four raises, with no limit in cash games when the round starts heads-up.
• PL Super Stud 8/b - Capped is pot limit: the most you can bet or raise is the size of the pot. There are no blinds, only antes and the bring-in.
• In PL Super Stud 8/b the bring-in is always posted automatically. The first completion on 3rd street is from 2 to 3 times the bring-in. Antes count toward the pot size only from 4th street on.
• PL Super Stud 8/b - Capped also has a per-hand cap, shown with the game name. Once you have put that much into the pot in a hand, you are all-in for the rest of it.

Good to know

• You must discard exactly two cards. There is no option to keep all five, and your face-up door card cannot be discarded.
• If your time runs out on the discard, two of your face-down cards are discarded for you and the hand goes on. Timing out on the discard never folds your hand.
• Discarded cards are out of play. If the deck runs short later in the hand, they are shuffled back in.
• The Super Stud Mix rotates the five fixed-limit Super games: Super Seven Card Stud, Super Razz, Super Stud 8/b, Super Stud hi/lo regular and Super 2-7 Razz.