With so much of the poker world focused these days on no limit Texas hold'em, you may be wondering why you should be interested in learning and playing an "old school" game like limit seven card stud. The answer is simple: Because you can win. With so many people devoting so much energy to Texas hold'em, seven card stud has enjoyed a real rebirth as a game where the well informed player (you) can profit at the expense of those less adept.

In a larger sense, it's always a good idea to add new games to your poker repertoire, because you never know when you'll find yourself in a situation where a given game is the only game in town. Plus, such study helps you think more broadly and analytically about poker in general, and that's never not a good thing.

With all of that in mind, let's broaden our horizons with a quick overview of what George Percy famously called "the Waiting Game," a game that rewards patience, memory, and the powers of deduction, the game of seven card stud.

THE BASIC GAME

In seven card stud, every player is dealt two cards down and one card up. Whoever has the lowest up card, or door card, makes a mandatory minimum bet. Each player in turn after that has the standard poker options to call, raise or fold. After the betting round is completed, each remaining player gets another up card. Now there's another round of betting, but this time (and for the rest of the hand) the highest hand leads out, with everyone following clockwise in turn. Upon completion of the betting round, players are again dealt an up card, and betting proceeds as before. Then a sixth up card is dealt, followed by another betting round, followed by a seventh card – this one dealt face down – followed by a final round of betting and then a showdown. The winner of the pot is determined according to standard poker values: flush beats a straight, pair beats a bluff, etc.

Seven card stud is generally played fixed limit, which means that the amount a player can bet or raise is determined by the limits established by the house or the players. In a $5 and $10 fixed limit game, for example, you can only bet or raise in increments of exactly $5 during the first three betting rounds, or streets, and only in increments of $10 on the last two streets.

Now let's take a quick look at the different starting hands in seven card stud.

THREE OF A KIND. The best starting hand is one containing three of a kind, or trips, rolled up, as they say. Sadly, you'll get this hand less than once out of every four hundred deals.

PAIR. Far more commonly – about one time in six – you'll start with a pair plus an unpaired third card. If your hole cards match, you're said to have a buried pair, and if you have an up card that matches a down card, you have a split pair or open pair.

THREE TO A STRAIGHT. As with pairs, you'll start with three to a straight about one time in six. Higher straight cards are better than low ones, because then your hand can improve either to a straight or to high pairs.

THREE TO A FLUSH. You'll start with three suited cards fairly rarely, only about once every 19 hands. This hand is usually playable, especially if you have high cards of your flush-draw suit.

THREE HIGH CARDS. If you have a hand containing three cards ten or higher, you can sometimes take a flier on a hand, but only if there's not a lot of first round betting and raising.

EVERYTHING ELSE.Most of the time, your starting hand will consist of three cards that aren't paired, straighted, or suited. These are the hands you should routinely fold, for they rarely improve into winners.

Note that your first choice is key – and choosing not to play is usually the best way to go. Get in the habit of playing only the quality starting hands described here. Most seven card stud players are too loose – they play too many hands of low quality and low potential. In a sense, every hand of seven-card stud is like a race. If you only play when you have good cards, it's like having a big head start every time you race.

Advanced strategy for seven card stud is as complex as for any other poker variant, but here are eight simple rules you can use to stay on track while you're getting to know the game.

PLAY SUPER TIGHT TO START.

This will be the hardest part, because, after all, it's more fun to play hands than to fold. But stick to good starting hands and fold everything else. You may find such tightness tough, but it will definitely pay off by keeping you out of expensive pots when you don't have strong cards.

WHEN YOU GET THE GOODS, BET THE GOODS.

If you have a particularly strong starting hand, like trips or a high pair like aces or kings, you may be tempted to slow play that hand and let the other players catch up. However, in most seven card stud games you'll get plenty of action from players with worse hands, so you don't really need to worry about drawing them in. Concentrate on building a pot and then winning it with the best hand. Bet your best hands, fold your worst ones... that's the one-two punch of seven card stud!

ARE YOUR CARDS LIVE?

Before you make any betting decisions, be sure to look around the table and see what cards are exposed. Obviously if you have two aces and the other two aces are already out against you, you're not going to improve to trips. Likewise, if you have a hand like (J-T) 9 (where the cards in parentheses are your hole cards) and you see a lot of queens and eights out there, it's unlikely that you're going to build a straight. Make sure your cards are live before you get involved in a pot.

KNOW YOUR FOES.

Study your opponents closely. Learn which ones have starting requirements – that is, they only play quality starting cards like you do. Learn which ones will chase – try to complete hands even when the odds are against them. Knowing your foes makes all the difference. Someone who only plays good cards is much more likely to have the hand he's representing than someone who chases a lot.

FOURTH STREET: FIT OR FOLD.

When you get your fourth card, it should work well with the other three, improving your straight or flush draws, for example. If that fourth card doesn't help, this is an excellent time to get away from your hand – fold it, and wait patiently for the next deal. Remember that you're running a race, and if you catch a bad card, or brick, on fourth street, someone else has probably taken the lead. Don't chase; fold!

REMEMBER WHAT CARDS HAVE BEEN PLAYED.

The real challenge of seven card stud is remembering what cards have already fallen. As players fold their hands, their up cards disappear into the muck, and that valuable information is no longer there to be seen. Get in the habit of memorizing everybody's starting cards (it's easier than you think) so that you can gauge whether your cards – or your foes' – are still live.

READ YOUR OPPONENTS' BOARDS.

Pay close attention to everyone else's up cards as the hand develops, and try to build (and then update) a picture of the hands you think they have. If your opponents show four to a straight or four to a flush, of course, there's an excellent chance that they have a completed, or made, hand. Can you beat a straight or a flush? If not, you should probably credit them with a made hand, and fold.

BEWARE THE BLUFF.

Of course players do bluff. They bet when they don't have a hand, and sometimes their bet pays off. Mostly, though, bluffing is not a necessary part of your seven card stud strategy. Just stick to your basic "when you get the goods, bet the goods" plan of attack, and save your bluffs for later in your stud career, when you're no longer a beginner – but then again your opponents aren't either. That's when the bluff can be used to deadly effect. For now, though, concentrate on waiting for good cards and making them pay off.

Okay, that’s enough to get you started in your stud career. It’s an easy game to play well. Just play strong hands strongly and fold the rest, and you’ll do just fine. Have fun, and always remember, go big or go home!