7 Card Stud Hand Rankings

One thing that you should always remember when you play seven card stud online is that poker hands are always five cards. In a seven card stud game, even though each player has seven cards, it is only the five best cards of the hand that are in play.

Based on this the following hand rankings apply, listed in descending order from best to worst.

Royal Flush – The best hand available when playing live or when you play seven card stud online! The Royal Flush consists of five cards in sequence and of the same suit from Ten through to Ace. This is the highest straight flush available and rightly places it at the top of the table.

Straight Flush – The Straight Flush, similarly to the Royal Flush, must contain five cards in sequence of the same suit. However, this time they can begin from Ace through to 5 up to 9 through to King and any five card suited sequence in-between. In a showdown with another player also holding a straight flush, the player with the highest top card wins the pot.

Four Of A Kind – As its name suggests, four of a kind consists of four cards of the same rank. This hand is also often known as quads. If competing against another player with four of a kind, the winner is purely decided on the rank of the quads. In the unlikely event that all four cards are community cards (available for all players to use) then the winner will be the player with the highest side card.

Full House – The Full House consists of a 'Three of a Kind' and a 'Pair' making up your five card hand. When you play seven card stud online you will notice that sometimes players will end up with the same hand. If two or more players hold a full house, then the player with the highest three of a kind wins. If the three cards are part of a community deck, then the ranking is decided by the highest pair.

Flush – A flush is a five card hand containing cards of the same suit. If multiple players hold a flush then the winning hand is the one topped with the highest card. If the top card is shared then it goes to the next highest and so on.

Straight – A straight consists of a sequence of five consecutive cards such as 3 to 7 or 9 to king. Unlike the straight flush, the cards do not have to be of the same suit. The player holding the highest card of the straight wins the hand. If more than one person shares the same straight then the pot is shared.

Three Of A Kind – As the name suggests, three of a kind consists of three cards of the same rank. If players share the same three cards then rank is decided by the highest of the side cards held by a player.

Two Pair – A two pair consists of two pairs of equal cards. The ranking of the two pair held is first decided by the highest pair followed by the second pair. If there is still no clear winner then the pot is decided by the remaining card.

Pair – A pair is simply two cards of the same rank. As with two pair, if multiple players share the same highest pair then the rank of the side cards decides the winner.

High Card – If none of the card rankings above are held by any player left in the game then the decision comes down to the highest card held. The highest single winning card is an Ace followed by king and so on.