Before Texas Hold'em really gained ground among poker players, 7 card stud was the most common poker variant. Especially on the American East Coast, it was difficult to rehash other games right up to the mid-1990s, while in Denmark, DM in Poker was held in 7 card stud right up to 2006.

Stud games differ from variants such as Hold'em and Omaha in that open personal cards are dealt - ie cards face up, which can only be used by one player. In 7 card stud, each player gets two closed cards and one open card from the start, then follows another three open - one at a time with a betting round between each - and finally another closed card. Thus, at the end of each hand, each player ends up with having seven cards - three closed and four open.

When more than half of a player's hand is known by the opponents before the showdown, there are a lot of strategic elements to master, to become real scratches to the game. Although 7 card studs are played as a fixed limit game, it is still important to be a good bluff. It is a good bluff when the information that the opponents can derive from the open cards matches the story you are trying to tell. If one you've raised from the start with a lady open, and on fourth card hits another lady, an opponent is probably more inclined to fold a pair of kings than if you just called with your open lady earlier.

As with Omaha, there is also a Hi / Lo variant, where the final pot is split between player with best hand, and the player with the lowest five card hand under 9. The lowest hand is counted from the top, so two-three-four Five-eight are beaten by three-four-five-six-seven. The best possible Lo hand is Es-to-three-four-five. If there is no qualifying Lo hand at the showdown, it is the player with the best Hi hand who wins the whole pot. It is possible to play both 7 card stud and 7 card stud Hi:

How to Run A 7 Card Stud

1. Ants are paid: Each player pays a small fee each hand to play with. It is called the ants and constitutes the pot.

2. Players are dealt cards: Each player receives two closed cards (face down) and an open card (face up).

3. First Betting Round: The player with the lowest open card expands. If two players' open cards have the same value, it is the suit of the card that determines it. The player with the lowest card can choose to make a full bid or to make the so-called "bring-in". Bring-in is half of a full bet. The other players can fold, call, and rise.

4. Fourth cards are given: Players who have not yet folded their cards now receive a fourth card (open) and a new betting round begins. This time it is the player with the best combination of open cards to lay out. Only the bring-in will be made in the first round of betting, so there will be no compulsory bids after the fourth card is dealt. You can easily check out rather than bid.

5. Fifth card is given: Another Next card is dealt faces up and another betting round takes place.

6. Sixth card is given: Another card is dealt face up and another betting round takes place.

7. River: A seventh and final card is dealt face down on the remaining players in the hand, and the last betting round takes place like the previous three.

8. Showdown: If there are two or more players who have not yet thrown their cards, then the winner will be settled at a so-called showdown. Each player makes the best five-card poker hand out of his own seven cards. The player with the best hand wins the pot.