The Game

Seven-card stud, often abbreviated to seven-stud or 7-stud, is probably the most traditional form of poker played in public cardrooms at present. It is played in both high-only and high-low variants; the former is usually assumed to be the default but can be specified as "stud high" if necessary. This article concerns the high variant of seven-stud; see Seven-card stud hi-lo for the high-low split-pot variant.

Unlike community card games such as hold 'em, in stud each player has a separate hand. Because of the presence of exposed upcards, a diligent player can obtain a good deal of information on what cards are already dead, or dealt to other hands. Thus stud rewards players who both observe their opponents' folded hands carefully and remember their contents.