Until recently Seven-card Stud was the game of choice for poker players from across the globe but popularity of this amazing games has dwindled over the past 10 or so years thanks to increase in popularity for games such as Texas Hold'em and Pot Limit Omaha.

Although Seven-card stud is not as widely spread in land based casinos in Europe and Las Vegas, it still has a strong following in the online poker community and is an integral part of the many mixed games. Indeed, at WSOP 2011 there will be no fewer than 10 separate bracelet-awarding tournaments that are either exclusively Seven-card stud or have seven-card stud as part of their rotation.

The game follows the same hand ranking rules as the likes of Hold'em and Omaha but players have the chance to see some of the cards dealt to their opponents, also known as “up cards.” It is the ability to see four out of the seven cards coupled with the fact there are millions of potential variations of cards being held that lean people towards saying that seven-card stud is the game you need the most skill but also the most luck in.

Some of the very best poker players in the world prefer or preferred to play seven-card stud or a variant of it. The late David “Chip” Reese was widely regarded as the best Stud player to have ever played the game, in fcat he often struggled to get a cash game of stud, stud hi/lo or even Razz started because he was so good at it. It is no coincidence that he won his three bracelets in Seven-card stud split, seven-card stud and HORSE, the latter having three different stud variants in it.

As mentioned, Seven-card stud is still a very popular game to play at the WSOP, in fact in last years $10,000 World Championship WSOP poker tournament there were 150 people who were willing to part company with the massive $10,000 entry fee to take part in it. The tournament was eventually won by Men “The Master” Nguyen, who defeated Brandon Adams to scoop the $394,807 first place prize.