Level 1Rules
Poker Hand Rankings: From High Card to Royal Flush
Every poker hand ranked from strongest to weakest, with examples, odds and the tie-break rules that settle close showdowns.
Rules · Stud
Seven-Card Stud rules
The classic before Hold’em: no community cards, a mix of face-up and face-down cards, and plenty of information to read.
How a hand is played
- 1
Every player posts an ante. Each receives two cards face down and one face up (“third street”).
- 2
The player with the lowest face-up card must post the bring-in; betting continues clockwise.
- 3
Fourth, fifth and sixth street are each dealt face up, with a betting round after each.
- 4
Seventh street (the river) is dealt face down, followed by a final betting round and the showdown.
- 5
Each player makes their best five-card hand from their own seven cards.
Key rules
- From fourth street onward, the player showing the best hand acts first.
- Bets are the small bet on third and fourth street and the big bet from fifth street on (a pair showing on fourth street may allow a big bet in many rulesets).
- Ties for the bring-in are broken by suit, usually in the order clubs (lowest), diamonds, hearts, spades.
- Remember what’s been folded — dead cards change your outs.