Why does the board disappear for Stud?
Stud games do not use community board cards, so the table view focuses on player cards and dead cards.
Poker game guide
Seven Card Stud Calculator
What the game is
Seven Card Stud has no shared board. Players build the best five-card hand from their own seven-card hand, with visible up cards and hidden down cards.
Rules of Seven Card Stud
- Seven Card Stud is played with stud-style individual cards and no community board, so players do not share flop, turn, or river cards.
- The deal starts with each player receiving two face-down private cards, called down cards or hole cards, and one face-up card, called the door card.
- After the first betting round, each remaining player receives one more face-up card on fourth street, fifth street, and sixth street.
- The final card, seventh street, is dealt face down. A player can finish with seven total cards: three down cards and four up cards.
- At showdown, each player makes the best five-card high hand from that player's own seven cards.
- Dead cards are cards you can see that are no longer available to be dealt, such as exposed up cards or cards from folded hands.
Example calculations
- Enter Player 1 with A♠ A♥ down and K♦ 7♣ 2♠ up against Player 2 with Q♣ J♣ down and Q♥ T♥ 9♦ up to compare a made pair against a live draw.
- Add dead cards from folded hands to measure live outs.
- Study later-street equity after several exposed cards are known.
Strategy examples
- Dead cards are central in Stud because exposed cards affect live outs.
- Use unknown down cards when you know a player has hidden cards but not their exact ranks.
- Compare street-by-street equity as more up cards appear.
Calculator preview
Preview the Stud calculator
The Stud calculator link opens the full table view with Seven Card Stud already selected, so you can move from the rules on this page straight into a real hand study.
Use it to enter the same kind of cards shown in the examples, adjust known board cards or dead cards when they matter, and see how each card changes the numbers.
The results help you compare equity, ties, and how much the next card can change the shape of the hand.
Clicking through is the fastest way to preview the real Stud calculator workflow before you start building your own examples.
Screenshots
Stud FAQs
Can I mark unknown down cards?
Yes. Stud-style games support unknown down-card placeholders in the table view.