Stud poker rules info

In Stud Poker, each player receives one or more cards face down-his hole cards-and his remaining cards face up. There is a betting interval after each round of face-up cards is dealt, and in Seven-card Stud-which today rivals the original five-card Stud for popularity-an additional betting interval after the deal of the last cards, which are dealt face down.

• Five-card Stud. Two to fourteen persons may play. There is no ante (except by special house rule). The dealer gives each player in rotation a face-down card, then each player in rotation a face-up card. The deal is then interrupted for the first betting interval.
  In each betting interval, the player with the highest Poker combination showing in his face-up cards has the first right to bet. In the first betting interval, this person must make a bet, whatever is the minimum established for the game; in any later betting interval this player may check.
  If two players tie for high card, or for the highest Poker combination showing, the one nearest the dealer's left (that is, the one dealt first) outranks the other for purposes of betting first. In the showdown, this factor is not considered and identical hands tie.
  Following the first betting interval, the dealer gives another face-up card to each active player in rotation; there is another betting interval, another round of face-up cards to the remaining active players, another betting interval, then a final round of face-up cards and a final betting interval. If two or more players remain after the final betting interval, there is a showdown in which each player turns up his hole card. If a bet or raise goes uncalled in any betting interval, the pot is taken and the deal passes in rotation.
  A player who drops must immediately turn down all his face- up cards. If he fails to do so he should be subject to penalty, for such failure often causes an error in dealing.
  It is the dealer's duty, after each round of cards is dealt, to designate the first bettor (as by saying, "First king bets," "Pair of sixes bets," etc.); and, after the third and fourth face-up cards are dealt, also to indicate holdings that may become straights or flushes ("Possible straight," "Possible flush.") A possible straight or flush has no effect on determination of the first bettor, except that in some games players agree that a four flush will beat a pair in the showdown, and in these games a fourflush showing in the final betting interval bets against a pair showing. In a very large game, if there are, not enough cards left in the pack to complete the dealing of the final round, the dealer may flash a card from the top of the pack (turn it face up on the table) and this card serves as the common fifth card of all hands.
• Seven-card Stud (also called Down the River, Peek Poker, or Seven-toed Pete). Two to eight may play. In the initial deal, each player receives two cards face down and then one card face up, all dealt one at a time in rotation. There is then a betting interval. Each active player then receives three more face-up cards and one more face-down card, in that order, with the deal interrupted for a betting interval after each round of cards is dealt.. In the showdown, each player turns up fall his hole cards and selects five of his seven cards as his hand; he must separate these five cards from the other two, which he discards. The cards then speak for themselves, as in any other form of Poker, and the player may not reclaim his two discards if he finds he could have made a better five-card combination.
  In other respects the procedure is the same as in Five-card Stud.

Irregularities in Stud Poker

1. Bottom card exposed. If a player can correctly name the bottom card of the pack, before any voluntary bet has been made, there must be a new shuffle and cut before the deal is resumed. (It is wise to keep a blank card on the bottom of the pack.)
2. Card faced in pack. If a card is found faced in the pack before the dealer has completed dealing the first round of face-up cards, or before he has completed dealing any later round of cards, the player to whom that card falls must take it.
3. Exposing a hole card. If a player exposes his own hole card, he should turn it down immediately and continue play without penalty or redress. If the dealer exposes a card in dealing a hole card, this card should remain exposed and the next card dealt to the player face down. If the dealer, by mistake, continues to deal face-up cards to that player, the player has no redress until he has received four cards (in Seven-card Stud, five cards) all face up; at this point he has the option of staying in or withdrawing from the pot any chips that he has contributed up to this time. The dealer must not intentionally serve any such card face up. If the player chooses to stay in and receives his last card face up, he may withdraw from the pot, withdrawing all chips he has put in, and the dealer must supply chips to replace them.
4. Incorrect dealing of exposed cards. If a dealer omits a player in dealing the exposed cards,. the cards already dealt must be shifted backward until the player has his proper card, and the deal proceeds. If the dealer commences another round of exposed cards before the betting has been completed, or deals too many exposed cards, the next paragraph applies.
5. Illegal exposure of a card. If during any betting interval a card of the pack is illegally exposed (either faced in the pack or prematurely dealt), such card is placed on the bottom of the pack but the deal continues and every player receives the card he would have received in regular rotation. For example: Five are still in the pot-A, B, C, D, E. Dealer mistakenly deals six cards. The sixth card is placed on the bottom of the pack. On the next round of dealing, dealer gives the first card to B, and so on in order, giving A his card last.