Until very recently, Seven Card Stud was the game of choice amongst the poker cognoscenti. It seems difficult to believe now with the rapid spread of Texas Hold’em but 30 years ago, if you went to a casino to play poker, the chances are you would sit down in a 7 card Stud game.
The early origins of poker in America saw poker develop and mutate from its introduction by the French-Canadian settlers on the banks of the Mississippi and draw poker soon became the favoured choice, played in Saloon halls the breadth of the land. Eventually, that would change however.
The Civil War
During the American civil war, troops passed the time between shooting each other with games of cards, creating numerous modified versions of poker to help while away the hours. Of these variants, stud was the game that gained the strongest footing, spreading like wildfire until finally the present incarnation of 7 card Stud replaced draw as the most popular poker variant across America during the early to mid 20th century.
The appeal of 7 Card Stud is clear. With over half of your hand exposed, a vast amount of information available and five streets of betting, there is plenty of scope for players to demonstrate skill and guile, and the many streets of play ensure pots can be big and fiercely contested. 7 Card Stud hi/lo (or 7 card stud/8) is a popular version of the game, where the pot is split equally between the lowest and the highest hand.
Still Holding Its Own Against Hold’em
It took till the 1970s before Texas Hold’em began to overtake seven card Stud in popularity, and although Stud has taken a backseat to Texas Hold’em in recent years, it is still a very popular poker variant.
The $10k 7 card stud WSOP event is regarded amongst the elite players as one of the truest tests of poker skill and Stud forms one of the five poker disciplines used in the game of H.O.R.S.E.
7 Card Stud is one of the oldest variants of poker, and although it is less fashionable now than Texas Hold’em or Omaha, it is still keenly played in many casinos across America and features as one of the $10k “Championship” events at the World Series of Poker.