Learning the rules to any poker game is probably best accomplished by playing the game in a friendly atmosphere. While the rules to Seven Card Stud might sound complicated at first blush, after a few casual rounds, most will pick the basics right up. At VIPpoker.com, you can find fun, challenging poker games that can go a long way towards ensuring one's enjoyment of the learning process.

Perhaps the most complicated aspect of the Seven Card Stud rules has to do with the betting structure. Unlike other poker games, Seven Card Stud starts off the betting with an ante. The ante is generally a percentage of the small bet. VIPpoker.com clearly states what the ante is for each limit.

After the ante, each of the players is dealt a total of three cards, two of which are face down, while the final card is dealt face up. This is where complications can set in. The person with the lowest exposed "door" card starts the betting off. If there happens to be a tie, however, suit ranking is used to determine the bettor--the order of ranking is clubs, diamonds, hearts, and then spades.

This first bet can be either half of the small bet or the entire small bet. This is left up to the bettor. Subsequent rounds of betting are started off by the person with the highest exposed door card. For these first two rounds of betting, all bets and raises are in increments of the small bet. For example, at a $5/$10 table the small bet is $5. The remaining bets are all in increments of the big bet--$10, in the above example. Sign up at VIPpoker.com and start having fun with this exciting game.