NUMBER OF PLAYERS Up to 7Before the current Texas Hold’em craze took hold in the mid-1990s, Seven-Card Stud was the undisputed king of poker. The scope for psychological play and strategic betting is immense. The downside, of course, is that Seven-Card Stud can feel s-l-o-w to new players unfamiliar with the game’s subtleties.
All players are dealt seven cards (two down, four up, one down). At the showdown, the highest five-card poker hand wins.
NUMBER OF PLAYERS Up to 7
INITIAL DEAL Deal each player two cards face down and one card face up.
FIRST BET The player with the lowest face-up card opens the bet.
SECOND DEAL Deal each player one card, face up.
SECOND BET The player with the highest pair or, if none, the highest face-up card opens the bet. If there’s a tie for high card, the card dealt first opens.
REST OF GAME One card is dealt face up to all players, followed by a betting round that is opened by the player with the highest visible poker hand. This is repeated until all players have four face-up cards (six cards total).
The seventh (and final) card is dealt face down, followed by a final betting round. At the showdown, the best five-card poker hand wins (each player’s two unused cards have no effect on the game’s final outcome).
STRATEGY TIPS Two strong pairs (or a three-of-a-kind) often win this game. But don’t wait for your hand to improve. Fold ‘em if you don’t have the makings of a winner after four cards. Experienced players often bet aggressively early on, to stop opponents from improving a weak pair to three-of-a-kind, or two weak pairs to a full house.
VARIATION 1: 10-4 GOOD BUDDY
Bust out your CB and trucker’s hat; this game honors (if that’s the right word) America’s eighteen-wheelers with no fewer than eight wild cards: 10s and 4s. Follow all other rules for basic Seven-Card Stud.
VARIATION 2: ANACONDA
This is a popular variation at home games. Not much skill is needed here, just an appetite for betting (there are nine rounds of betting in Anaconda!).
Deal seven cards to each player, face down, followed by a betting round. Each player then passes three cards, face down, to his left. Round of betting. Now players pass two cards to their left. Round of betting. Now one card is passed to the left. Round of betting.
Next, all players select their best five cards and place them face down on the table. On the dealer’s signal, all players turn up their top card. Round of betting, led by the player with the highest card showing. This process is repeated until all cards are face up, with a round of betting each time led by the player with the best hand showing. The best poker hand wins.
You may play Anaconda high-low. In some poker circles, the pass is handled differently: three cards to the left, two cards to the right, one card to the left.
VARIATION 3: ANACONDA ROLL ‘EM
Play the standard game until the final showdown. At this point, all active players stack their cards on the table, face down. The player to the left of the dealer turns up a card. The next clockwise player must beat the previous hand (keep turning up cards until he does) or fold. There’s a round of betting each time the previous hand is beaten. The last player standing wins the pot.
VARIATION 4: HOWDY DOODY
This high-low Anaconda variation adds wild cards into the mix. All 3s are wild if the hand they’re in is played high. All kings are wild if the hand they’re in is played low.
People love to hate Baseball. The game is similar to basic Seven-Card Stud, but includes wild cards and match-the-pot betting. Batter up!
In Baseball, all 9s and any face-down 3s are wild. In addition, any face-up 3 may be made wild by matching the value of the current pot. For example, if you’re dealt a face-up 3 and the pot’s current value is $8.25, simply pay $8.25 to the pot to make the card wild. You are not required to make a face-up 3 wild, though it may be tempting to do so—plus it makes the next 3 that much more expensive for an opponent to purchase.
The final curveball is that any player who is dealt a face-up 4 may choose to buy an additional card off the deck (dealt face down) for a preset amount, usually 50 cents to $1. The money goes straight to the pot. That player now has eight cards with which to make a five-card poker hand.
STRATEGY TIPS
You will rarely win Baseball with less than a full house. Four-of-a-kinds are more common. With so many wild cards, so are straight flushes. If you are dealt a face-up 3 early in the game, match the pot and make it wild. Even if you don’t exactly need a wild card, it’s a good defensive move—your pot-matching will double the cost to any opponent who’s dealt a subsequent face-up 3.
VARIATION 6: NO-PEEKIE BASEBALL
If you think Baseball is too wild, prepare yourself for the no-peekie version. The rules are essentially the same as Baseball, except that players may not look at any of their cards. Once all cards are dealt, the player to the left of the dealer turns up a single card. A round of betting follows. Moving clockwise, the next player turns cards up one at a time until they beat the previous hand. For example, if player one turns up a king, player two must turn up cards until the king is beaten (either by an ace, by a king plus a higher kicker, or by a higher poker hand such as a pair). After a round of betting, the next player must turn up cards and try to beat the previous hand, and so on. If any player turns up all his cards and still cannot beat the previous hand, he is out of the game (this is equivalent to a force fold). The game is won by the last player standing. In this game there are no hole cards, so all 3s are considered face up.
VARIATION 7: RAINOUT BASEBALL
This variation adds a little spice to the basic and no-peekie versions. Any time Q of spades is turned face up, the hand is dead, all cards are thrown in, and a new hand is dealt to all players who did not fold in the previous round. Players also should re-ante.
VARIATION 8: BISCUITS & GRAVY
Spice up the basic Seven-Card-Stud game with “biscuit and gravy” wild cards. Biscuits are 3s, and 8s are gravy. It’s commonly held, especially in the American South, that biscuits taste best with gravy, so these cards are only wild in combination. For example, nothing is wild in the hand K-J-8-5-2, whereas there are two wild cards in the hand K-8-5-3-2. You need a helping of gravy for each biscuit, and vice versa, so there are only two wild cards in the hand K-8-8-3-2.
VARIATION 9: BLACK MARIAH
To the basic Seven-Card-Stud game, add one simple twist: a hand may be won only by a player with the best five-card poker hand and the highest spade dealt in the hole (face down). The game is over—and the pot is captured—by a player who wins both. Otherwise the pot stays, all players re-ante, and a new hand is dealt.
Deal cards one at time to all players. When a card of matching rank is subsequently dealt (e.g., player three is dealt 5 of clubs, then player four is dealt 5 of hearts), the card is given to the previous player (the 5 of hearts is given to player three), followed by a betting round starting with the player who received the card in question. The deal starts again at the player who was stripped of the card, and continues until a player has four-of-a-kind. The pot is then split 50-50 between that player and the player holding the lowest hand. If a player has five or more cards, she may choose which five to use. If a player has fewer than five cards, the voids are considered unbeatable low cards. For example, the hand 6-5-3 is considered 6-5-3-0-0 and beats a natural 6-5-3-2-A.
VARIATION 11: BETWEEN THE SHEETS
This is a great end-of-the-night game, when players are willing to make large bets on the flimsiest of hunches. Start with an ante (typically 50 cents to $1), and deal two cards face up, with room for a third card in between. The player to the left of the dealer bets (ante minimum, pot maximum) whether the next card will be “in between” the two face-up cards. If the face-up cards are 4 and 8, for example, in-between cards are the 5, 6, or 7.
The dealer turns up the next card and, if the player bet correctly, he takes that amount from the pot. Otherwise his ante is thrown in, and the next clockwise player is dealt two more face-up cards and the process continues. If a player bets and wins the pot before all players have a turn, all players re-ante and the game continues. Otherwise, the game ends when a player bets and then wins the pot.
Aces are always high; however, if a player’s first face-up card is an ace, he chooses whether it ranks high or low.
If the in-between card “hits the goalposts” (matches the rank of either face-up card), the player loses his turn and contributes double his ante to the pot. For example, if the turn-up cards are 4 and 8, and the in-between card is 8, the player loses his turn and pays double his ante to the pot.
VARIATION 12: ACEY DEUCY
This is a gentler version of Between the Sheets. The first time around, table players may wager only up to half the pot total. Thereafter, the game ends when someone wins the entire pot. And if a player hits the goalposts, there is no double-ante penalty. She simply loses her turn and forfeits the original ante.
If Acey Deucy is the gentle version, Sheep Shagger is the evil one. Follow the standard rules, but add a third “upcard,” plus room for a second in-between card. For example: upcard–in-between card–upcard–in-between card–upcard.
The first “up–between–up–x–x” grouping is played exactly like Between the Sheets. The second “x–x–up–between–up” grouping requires its own bet (ante minimum, pot maximum), and the penalty for hitting the goalposts increases to a triple-ante penalty. So, if you bet $5 on the second grouping and hit the goalposts, you owe $15 to the pot.
Does the game have anything to do with the Windy City? Who knows. It’s exactly like standard Seven-Card Stud, except that the pot is split 50-50 between the player holding the best five-card poker hand and the player holding the highest spade in the hole.
VARIATION 15: CINCINNATI
Deal five cards to each player, face down, plus five communal cards on the table, also face down. After a betting round, turn up the communal cards one at a time, followed by a betting round. At the showdown, players may use any combination of community and hole cards to create the highest five-card poker hand. Ties split the pot evenly.
VARIATION 16: CINCINNATI LOW BALL
One of the most common variations of Cincinnati is low ball, played exactly like the standard game except that the lowest five-card hand wins the pot.
VARIATION 17: CINCINNATI LIZ
This is standard Cincinnati with a single wild card—namely, the lowest community card (aces are low in lowball games, otherwise 2s are low). That card is also wild for all players holding a card of matching rank.
VARIATION 18: CINCO DE MAYO
This game honors not Mexican Independence (that’s September 16), but the day that Mexican armies beat the French at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. As a result all red 5s are wild—it’s as simple as that. Viva la Revolución!
VARIATION 19: COWPIE
This is basically Pai Gow without all the frills. After the last round of betting in a normal Seven-Card-Stud hand, all players create a five-card hand and a two-card hand. The five-card hand must beat the two-card hand, and the latter must contain at least one hole card. There’s a final betting round, followed by the showdown. The winner of each splits the pot 50-50; if there are multiple winners, the 50 percent share is split evenly among them.
VARIATION 20: DAKOTA
Each player’s high hole-card is wild. Start by dealing three cards face down to each player. All players then turn up one card, followed by a betting round. Continue dealing cards face down and one at a time—with players turning up a card followed by a betting round—until each player has six cards. At this point, all players choose to receive a seventh card either face up (for free) or facedown (for the maximum bet amount). At the showdown, the highest five-card poker hand wins.
VARIATION 21: DIRTY SCHULTZ
It’s another “just like Seven-Card Stud” game, with a single twist: whenever a player is dealt a natural face-up pair, the next card dealt face up is wild for all players holding that card. There may only be one wild card, so if a subsequent natural pair is dealt face up, the new wild card replaces the previous one.
There are no wild cards if the second card of a natural pair is the last upcard in the round.
VARIATION 22: EIGHT-CARD STUD
At the end of a normal Seven-Card-Stud hand, deal an eighth card face down to all players. After a round of betting, players make their best five-card poker hands.
VARIATION 23: ENGLISH STUD
In English Stud, all players are dealt six cards total and compete to make the best five-card hands. Follow the basic Seven-Card-Stud game until all players have five cards. Before dealing the sixth, all players may pay (typically $1) to draw a single card from the deck, replacing an upcard with an upcard or a downcard with a downcard. After a round of betting, a sixth card is dealt to all players, followed by a final round of betting and the showdown.
VARIATION 24: FOLLOW THE QUEEN
It’s Seven-Card Stud, with queens always wild. And when a queen is dealt face up, the next card dealt face up is wild for all players, too. If another queen is dealt face up, the next face-up card replaces the previous wild card. If a queen is the last upcard, only queens are wild.
VARIATION 25: FOLLOW THE WHORE
Politically correct this game is not. It’s identical to Follow the Queen, except that queens are never wild. Only the card following a queen is wild. If a queen is the last upcard, no cards are wild.
VARIATION 26: FOOTBALL
No doubt this game was invented by hardcore fans of Baseball who wanted American football to have its own poker variant. The game follows the rules of Baseball, except that 7s (think: touchdown) are always wild, face-down 3s (think: field goal) are wild, and face-up 3s may be made wild by matching the pot. Face-up 10s (think: first down) allow you to purchase a new card off the deck for a preset amount (typically 50 cents to $1).
VARIATION 27: GOLF
Another sports-inspired game played just like Baseball, with the following exceptions. All 8s (think: snowman) are dead cards, which means they are useless for the entire game. Dead, too, is the card immediately following your 8 (think: shank on the next tee box). This penalty only applies to your own hand; it does not carry over to the next player in rotation.
VARIATION 28: GHOST
Six or fewer may play Ghost. Follow the basic Seven-Card-Stud rules, but deal an extra card face down in each round to a “ghost hand.” At the showdown, the player with the highest five-card poker hand must also beat the ghost hand. If this happens, that player wins the pot, and the game is over. Otherwise, there is no winner and the entire pot is carried over to the next hand.
VARIATION 29: THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY
This is similar to the basic game, with the addition of a single wild card (good), a single dead card (bad), and a single force-fold card (ugly). After the initial Seven-Card-Stud basic deal, the dealer takes three cards off the deck and places them face down on the table. The dealer nominates which card is good, which is bad, and which is ugly.
The game continues as normal until all players have a full seven-card hand. At that point, the dealer turns over the “good” card. If any player has a matching card(s) anywhere in his hand, his matching card(s) becomes wild. After a round of betting (initiated by the player with the highest visible hand), the dealer turns up the “bad” card. If any player has a matching card(s) anywhere in his hand, the card(s) becomes useless and must be thrown face-up on the table. Players who lose a card play at a disadvantage. After another round of betting, the dealer turns up the “ugly” card. If any player has a matching card(s), that player must immediately fold. End of story. A final betting round follows.
VARIATION 30: HOT DANG!
Follow the rules of the Good, the Bad & the Ugly, but with two modifications. After the initial Seven-Card-Stud basic deal, the dealer takes five cards off the deck and places them face down on the table, nominating good, bad, and ugly cards as usual, plus first and second auction cards.
Once all players have a full seven-card hand, but before the good, bad, and ugly cards are turned, the dealer turns up the first auction card for all players to bid on. The card is won by the player who bids highest. The auction winner pays the bid amount to the pot, takes the auction card, and replaces it with a card from her hand. This card is now up for auction. The process continues until nobody bids on a card, at which point the first auction ends and the second auction card is turned up, and the entire process is repeated. Once both auctions are over and after a round of betting, the “good” is turned and the game proceeds as normal.
VARIATION 31: H-BOMB
Play a standard Seven-Card-Stud hand until the showdown. At this point, the player to the left of the dealer may match the pot and thereby force-fold the player to his left. Moving clockwise around the table, the next active player may match the pot and force-fold the player to her left. The pot is won by the best five-card poker hand.
VARIATION 32: HAVE A HEART
Play the normal Seven-Card-Stud game, but each time a player is dealt a face-up heart, they take any card (face up or down) from any other player. The card taken is not replaced, and the victim plays at a disadvantage.
VARIATION 33: HEINZ
Think: ketchup. It’s the standard Seven-Card-Stud game, with all 5s and 7s wild. When a wild card is dealt face up to any player, that player must match the pot or fold.
VARIATION 34: HENWAY
Deal ten cards to each player. Next, split your ten cards into two hands of five cards each, one competing for high and one competing for low. All players then place their cards face down on the table, high hands to the left and low hands to the right. After a betting round, all players turn up one card from each of their two hands, followed by a betting round. At the showdown, the pot is split 50-50 between the high and low hands.
VARIATION 35: HIGH-LOW/8
High-Low Split 8 or Better—more commonly abbreviated as High-Low/8—is the most common variation of Seven-Card Stud, especially in casinos. It’s similar to the basic game, except the pot is split 50-50 between the highest five-card hand and the lowest five-card hand containing no cards above an 8. In standard high-low games it does not matter how low the low hand is. In this variation, a hand qualifies for low only if it contains no card higher than 8. For example, 8-5-3-2-A qualifies as low, while 9-5-3-2-A does not. If there are no qualifying low hands at the showdown, the high hand takes 100 percent of the pot.
It’s possible for the same player to win both low and high using his seven cards to make two different hands. For example, if you hold 7-7-7-4-3-2-A, you have both an excellent high hand (7-7-7-A-4) and a hand that qualifies for low (7-4-3-2-A).
Oh, the silliness. All players ante (typically $1), and receive one card face down, which they then place on their foreheads with one hand, so all other players except themselves can see it. If a player ever sees his own card, he is out of the hand and forfeits his ante to the pot.
The highest card wins the pot (ties split the pot evenly). Starting with the player to the left of the dealer, players decide whether to stay in the game based on (a blind guess) whether their card is higher or lower than the other players’ cards. Throw in your ante if you’re in; otherwise fold and take your ante back. The deal moves clockwise, using the remaining cards from the deck (do not reshuffle). The game ends once the deck is exhausted.
VARIATION 37: IRON CROSS
Deal four cards to each player, face down. Next, deal five communal cards, face down, in the shape of a cross. The cross’s center card is wild. After a betting round, turn up a cross card one at a time, followed by a betting round. At the showdown, players create the best five-card poker hands using four hole cards plus either the vertical or horizontal row of community cards.
VARIATION 38: LOWBALL
This is the quintessential low-hand poker game. It follows the normal Seven-Card-Stud rules, except all players are competing for the lowest five-card poker hand (as opposed to the highest). The traditional lowest low hand is 5-4-3-2-A (called “the wheel”). In this version of the game, aces may be played high or low, and straights and flushes do not count.
Players who cannot stomach, abide by, or otherwise accept the wheel play this variant, where the lowest low hand is 6-4-3-2-A, and straights and flushes count as high hands.
VARIATION 40: DEUCE-SEVEN LOWBALL
Aces are always high in this Lowball variant—so the lowest low hand is 7-5-4-3-2. Straights and flushes count as high hands.
VARIATION 41: LOW-OF-A-KIND
Follow the normal Seven-Card-Stud rules, but at the end of the game, the pot is split 50-50 between the player with the highest four-of-a-kind and the player with the lowest five-card poker hand. If no player has four-of-a-kind, the low-hand winner takes half the pot, and the other half is carried over to the next hand’s pot. The game ends when 100 percent of the pot is won in a single hand.
VARIATION 42: MERRY-GO-ROUND
Deal all players one card, face down. The player to the left of the dealer may pay $1 to swap cards with the player to his left. After a round of betting, deal a second card to all players. The player sitting two spots from the dealer may now pay $2 to swap her hand with the player to her left. After a round of betting, deal a third card, then a fourth, etc., each time allowing the next active player in rotation the option to swap hands with the player to his left for $3, $4, $5, etc. Continue until all players have seven cards. At the showdown, the pot is split 50-50 between the highest and lowest five-card poker hands.
VARIATION 43: MEXICAN STUD
This is basically No-Peekie Baseball without the wild cards. All players are dealt seven cards face down. The most important rule is also the simplest: Do not look at your cards! The player to the left of the dealer turns up one card, followed by a round of betting. The next player turns up a card (or cards) until the previous hand is beaten. For example, if the previous hand is K of hearts, the next player must continue turning up her cards until K of hearts is beaten by a pair, an ace, or a king with a high kicker. If you cannot beat the previous hand, it’s a force fold, and the turn rotates clockwise. Each time the previous hand is beaten, a betting round follows. The process is repeated until every player but one has force folded.
VARIATION 44: MEXICAN SWEAT
This is the same as Mexican Stud, but with a good, bad & ugly twist. After all players have seven face-down cards, there’s an initial round of betting, followed by the dealer turning up three cards from the deck. The first is good (wild for all players), the second is bad (a dead card; it has no value for all players holding it), and the third is ugly (a force-fold; all players holding this card must fold immedi-ately). The game proceeds as normal. If all players fold in the same hand, the pot is carried over and a new hand is dealt.
VARIATION 45: MISSISSIPPI STUD
Follow the standard Seven-Card-Stud rules until all players have two down cards and one upcard. Next, deal all players two face-down cards (not the usual one card), followed by a betting round. Deal the remaining three cards face up, one at a time, each card followed by a betting round. All players thus end the game with two cards in the hole and five cards face up on the table.
VARIATION 46: ONE-EYED JACKS & SUICIDE KING
The one-eyed jacks (seen in profile on most decks of cards) are the J of spades and J of hearts; the suicide king (pictured with a sword through his head) is the K of hearts. Add some or all of these as wild cards to a standard Seven-Card-Stud game for variety.
This is a common Seven-Card-Stud variation in casinos, although you can also play at home. Up to seven players compete against the dealer for the best five-card poker hand and the best two-card hand.
To a fifty-two-card deck, add a single joker, which may be used only as an ace or to complete a straight, flush, or straight flush. Otherwise the joker has no value.
Each player places a single bet on the table (there is no other ante; the minimum and maximum bet values vary in casinos; in at-home games, the range is typically $1 to $5). Deal each player (including the dealer) seven cards. Players may look at their cards; the dealer may not.
Players organize their seven cards into a five-card hand and a two-card hand. Follow standard poker rankings for the five-card hand, but note that 5-4-3-2-A is always the second-highest straight or straight flush, beating K-Q-J-10-9 but losing to A-K-Q-J-10. The best two-card hand is A-A. The final restriction: Your five-card hand must beat your two-card hand.
All players place their two hands face down on the table. When all players are ready, the dealer’s seven cards are turned face up. From this point on, the players may not touch their cards. The dealer creates two hands (following the same rules as the other players) and then reconciles with each player as follows:
If the player wins both hands, the dealer pays the amount of the player’s original bet.
If the dealer wins one hand and the player wins the other, no money changes hands.
If the dealer wins both hands, the dealer wins the player’s original bet. Ties are awarded to the dealer—which is a major advantage. So, if the dealer wins one hand while the other is tied, or if both hands are tied, the dealer wins. If one hand is tied and the player wins the other, no money changes hands. Given the dealer’s advantage in Pai Gow, it’s important to rotate the deal frequently in home games.
VARIATION 48: PASS THE TRASH
At the very end of a standard Seven-Card-Stud hand, just before the showdown, all active players pass three unwanted cards—the “trash”—to their left. After a final round of betting, it’s time for a showdown. The high poker-hand wins. (In some circles, Pass the Trash starts with seven cards dealt face down to all players, followed by a round of betting. Players then pass their trash, followed by a final round of betting and the showdown.)
It’s unclear whether this is a better drinking or gambling game—and as always, it’s dangerous to confuse the two! Play a standard Seven-Card-Stud hand, but place all antes and bets in a single stack. (It’s important to wait your proper turn before adding chips to the stack.) The player who knocks over the stack in the course of adding chips to it is automatically out for the round. At this point, the game proceeds as normal, with no further peg-leg action. If the stack does not fall prior to the showdown, the highest five-card hand takes the pot, and each of the active players pays the winner a penalty of $1.
VARIATION 50: POLISH
Deal each player two cards face down. Use a button to keep track of the draw; the button starts one player to the left of the dealer. The dealer turns up a card from the deck, and the player on the button may either accept or pass. If passed, the card is offered to the next player, who may also accept or pass. If passed a second time, the next player must take the card. The process continues (skipping players who’ve taken a card in the current round) until all players have taken a card. After a betting round, the button rotates one player to the left, and the draw starts again. The entire process continues until all players have six cards. The seventh card is dealt face down to all players. At the showdown, the pot is split 50-50 between the high and low five-card poker hands.
VARIATION 51: THE PRICE IS RIGHT
After the initial Seven-Card-Stud deal (all players should have two cards face down, one card face up), deal two face-down cards from the deck. Nominate one of these cards as “Door 1,” the other as “Door 2.” The top card on the deck is “Door 3.” The player to the left of the dealer is up first: he or she may purchase Door 1 for 25 cents, Door 2 for 50 cents, or Door 3 for $1 (adjust the amounts as desired), or pass.
If the card behind Door 1 is purchased, the Door 2 card is moved into the Door 1 slot, and the Door 3 card is moved into the Door 2 slot. The same repeats if the card behind Door 2 is purchased.
Repeat until all players have bought a card or folded. After a round of betting, start the process once again, until all players are holding seven cards or have folded. The high poker hand wins.
VARIATION 52: RAZZ
In Razz, the lowest hand wins. Aces are always low. Unlike some low-hand variations, flushes and straights have no effect on rankings, which means the best possible low hand is 6-4-3-2-A (or 5-4-3-2-A if you play the wheel).
VARIATION 53: RAZZMATAZZ
This is identical to the main game, except there’s a progressive Follow-the-Queen-style wild card element. At the start of the game, all aces are wild, and they stay wild unless a 2 is dealt face up. Once this happens, all 2s are wild (replacing aces) and stay wild unless a 3 is dealt face up, in which case 3s replace 2s as the wild card, etc.
VARIATION 54: SCREW YOUR NEIGHBOR
All players start with an equal number of chips (typically three, each worth $1 or $2). All players are dealt a single face-down card. Use a button to keep track of the turn; the button starts with the dealer and rotates one player to the left after each deal.
The player to the left of the button may keep her card, or swap with the player on her left—unless that player is holding a king (called a stopper). The player holding a stopper turns it face up and keeps it for the remainder of the game. In this case, the original player is stuck with his card. The dealer (playing last) keeps her original card, or receives the top card off the deck—unless that card is a king, in which case she must keep her original card.
At the end of the round, the player holding the lowest card forfeits one chip to the pot. In case of a tie, both players forfeit their chips to the pot. The game ends when all players but one run out of chips. The winner takes the pot.
VARIATION 55: SIX-CARD STUD
This is one of the few Seven-Card-Stud games suitable for eight players. That magical feat is performed by dealing cards two down, three up, one down to all players for a total of six cards (not the usual seven). Follow all other rules.
VARIATION 56: ST. VALENTINE’S DAY MASSACRE
This is a split-pot game. The player holding the highest-ranking heart—A of hearts is always high—in the hole splits the pot 50-50 with the high five-card poker hand.
VARIATION 57: UP THE RIVER, DOWN THE RIVER
Up to six may play this variation. After the initial Seven-Card-Stud deal, deal two face-down rows of five cards each (ten cards total). Nominate one row as “up the river” and the other as “down the river.” Play the standard game until just before the showdown. At that point, the dealer turns up one upriver card (wild for all players holding a card of matching rank) and one downriver card (dead and of no use for players holding a card of matching rank).
After a round of betting, turn up the next set of river cards and repeat. If you end the game with fewer than four cards, you play at a disadvantage. At the showdown, the highest poker hand wins.
If the standard game has too many betting rounds for comfort, deal the first seven cards face down to all players, followed by a single round of betting, before turning up cards from the river.
In some circles, this game is played as a five-card-stud variation (not seven-card).
VARIATION 58: WOOLWORTH
Players of a certain age will remember the Woolworth’s chain of “five and dime” drug stores. This game pays its respects by making all 5s and 10s wild. The catch? Take the value of your game’s most expensive chip (a quarter, in games of nickel, dime, quarter) and multiply it by five. That’s how much you pay to stay in the game when you’re dealt a face-up 5. Multiply the amount by ten if you’re dealt a face-up 10. You must immediately fold if you don’t pay. In all other respects the game follows the standard rules.