In H.O.R.S.E. and similar modern mixed game poker formats, seven card stud is the "S" game in the acronym.

The game of seven card stud starts with every player getting dealt two cards face down and one card face up. After a betting round, another card is dealt face up to each player (after the dealers burn card), a second betting round follows, then a third card face up, betting round, a fourth card dealt face up,  another betting round, and finally the last card is dealt face down followed by a fifth betting round and a showdown if required where each player makes the best five-card poker hand they possibly can out of the cards available to them.

In European online poker rooms Seven card stud is renowned as a very loose and profitable game with lots of easy money available to players willing to grind with basic, simple strategies. This is because most players play seven card stud too loosely, they play poor starting hands for too much money. Against these loose calling players, bet big with strong hands, and don’t bluff or slow play as much.

As always, when learning a new poker game, take time to familiarise yourself with all the complexities and see how games develop without risking your own cash. Look for patterns, the speed of the game, betting strategies and how often people fold. Get a good feel for the table and the website/software, as well as a decent understanding of the rules before risking any real money! A good starting point for learning Seven card stud or any other poker variant, would be a decent poker school, preferably located on a poker website where you are allowed to play poker for free until you feel confident enough to risk putting some real cash on the line.

The following poker schools are highly recommended – bet365 poker school, Full Tilt Poker school, PKR poker school and the Victor Chandler Poker school all give a good grounding in the basic rules and strategies of seven card stud along with opportunities to play the tables for free until you feel ready to play real money tables for cash. Learn how to play seven card stud, understand hand rankings, get answers to frequently asked questions and access jargon busting poker glossaries for free.

•  H : Hold'em (Texas Holdem is a shared card or community card poker game. Each player is dealt two private cards (hole cards) and there are five face up cards shared on the table that can be used by everyone. The winner is the player who can make the best five card poker hand from the seven cards available in total.)
• O: Omaha (each player gets four private cards "hole cards" and there are five shared cards on the table. Exactly two hole cards together with three shared cards must be used to make the player's best 5 card hand)
• R: Razz (seven card stud played for lowball, using ace-to-five "5 High" ranking)
• S: Seven-card Stud high (seven-card hand, where some of the cards are dealt face up, players use any five of their seven cards to make the best 5 card poker hand)
• E: Seven-card stud high-low Eight or better, or hi-lo (like seven card stud but each player selects a five card high hand and five card low hand – pot is split equally between the highest and lowest hands)

H.O.R.S.E. made its main debut during the World Series of Poker (WSOP) in 2002 with a $2,000 buy-in tournament on by John Hennigan earning him a sweet $117,320 prize! Since then H.O.R.S.E. has been a regular World Series tournament fixture. In the 2006 and 2007 World Series of Poker events there were record breaking $50,000 buy-ins for the H.O.R.S.E. tournaments. Chip Reese won the event in 2006  earning him a cool $1,716,000. When Chip Reese died in 2007 the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy was created in his honour from the 2008 the World Series of Poker event onwards for the winners of the $50,000 championship event. H.O.R.S.E. is a limit game, including the Texas hold 'em. However, in some tournaments the final table is no-limit hold 'em finale. This event has spawned several prize pots of over $1million and in 2007 over $2million awarded to the lucky (and skilled) winner Freddy Deeb.

There are a couple of variations on the H.O.R.S.E. theme that are becoming popular; C.H.O.R.S.E and T.H.O.R.S.E.H.A.

• C.H.O.R.S.E basically adds Chowaha or Crazy Pineapple (like Texas Hold'em except that each player is initially dealt three hole cards and one is discarded after second betting round) into the existing H.O.R.S.E. mix.
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• T.H.O.R.S.E.H.A. is an 8-Game Mix  – Limit 2-7 Triple Draw, Limit Texas Holdem, Limit Omaha High-Low 8 or better, Limit Razz, Limit Seven-card Stud, Limit Seven card Stud Hi-Lo Eight or better, No limit Texas Holdem and Pot limit Omaha High .
   

Five Card Draw is probably one of the oldest poker variants being traced back to the Wild West as the most popular form of poker of the day (today of course five card draw poker has been usurped by Texas Holdem). The original five card draw (Wild West style) had just one betting round. Players were dealt five cards face down and then had to bet. A 20 card deck was used during this time with 10 to Ace in each suit. As five card draw poker grew in popularity, some changes were made to broaden the appeal, the draw was introduced along with 52 cards which meant more players and of course more possible winning combinations. The game spread from the West to the floating casinos of the Mississippi and the city of New Orleans. Five Card Draw remained the most popular poker variant until the beginning of the 20th century when it was overtaken by seven card stud and then later by Texas hold'em.

Five-card draw is played as follows:-

• Each player places their ante into the pot.
• Each player is dealt five cards.
• Each player either bets or passes.
• If every player passes, gather the cards in and start again.
• Remaining players either call, raise or fold.
• Each of the surviving players is given the option to "draw" (exchange some cards for an equal number from the top
• of the deck).
• Another round of betting commences after every player in the hand has either drawn or stayed.
• Remaining players show their hands following the betting round.
• Player with the highest hand takes the pot!
• 5 card draw poker can be played with fixed limit, pot limit or even no-limit betting.

Playing 5 card draw is awesome, feels like being in a cowboy film! The game is all about reading your opponents as well as knowing the poker hand odds. Being the last player can be an advantage in 5 card draw as you can see how many cards each of your opponents has drawn. However, many players will try and confuse you with the draw! For instance, players holding just a pair, will often draw just 2 cards (keeping the pair plus highest card) attempting to make you believe they are holding trips (three of a kind). Additionally, players actually holding trips, will often just draw 1 card only, letting you believe they hold two pair! Although a simple variant, 5 card draw poker involves lots of strategy, misdirection and bluffing. Its easy to see why this type of poker was the dominant game for so many years.

Generally, Razz is played with up to eight players, using limit betting (a fixed amount can be bet per player per round). Each player antes up and is dealt two hole cards and one card face up (the "door card"). The player with the highest (worst)door card has to place a mandatory first bet. Play continues in the same way as stud poker. After the first round of betting, another card is dealt face up. Then a further round of betting starting with the lowest hand showing (best hand). Play continues in this fashion, until the fifth card, when the betting increments double.

Razz owes most of its current popularity to the fact that it has been an event at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) since 1971. Razz is definitely the most popular style of lowball poker but in the overall popularity stakes lags well behind Texas and Omaha hold'em. In 2004 the WSOP Razz event was televised live and created a real buzz amongst poker players worldwide, the worst hand winning was a revelation to many players and the game soared in popularity. This resulted in Razz being added to most of the online poker rooms as part of their selection of poker games.

If you enjoy H.O.R.S.E. tournaments and ring games, then you need to learn and become proficient at Razz poker. One of the best ways to gain experience in Razz is to play online for free at one of the bigger online poker websites. Experience is essential before entering tournaments and risking your own cash – Even pro poker players will tell you that Razz can be one of the most frustrating games of poker there is! One of the best places to play Razz Poker Online and gain that necessary experience without doubt is the Full Tilt Poker website.

New to Texas Holdem poker? Texas Holdem poker is probably the best game for beginners to learn, the basics of Holdem can be learned in just a few minutes and most will be playing fairly confidently with just a few hours of practice. Online poker rooms are great places to learn the strategy of Texas Holdem as the majority offer a variety of tables where beginners may practice for free until they are ready for real money tables.

Texas Hold'em poker is played as follows:

1. Players will place out blinds and ante’s, (blinds are Short for "blind bets," these are the bets made before the cards are even dealt. In Hold'em, blinds take the place of the normal "ante") so there is an initial "pot" to get things started.
2. A standard deck of 52 playing cards is shuffled ready to deal.
3. Each player is dealt two cards face down (called "hole cards" or "pocket cards").
4. There is a round of betting (preflop betting round) where players can call, raise, or fold.
5. After the preflop betting, the dealer discards the top card of the deck (top card is dealt face down before any community card is dealt, known as "Burn Card").
6. The next three cards are dealt face up on the table (" the flop"). These are community cards that can be used by any player in combination with their two pocket cards to form a 5 card poker hand.
7.  Another betting round then takes place.
8.  Dealer burns again then deals another communal card face up onto the table ("the turn").
9.  Another round of betting.
10.  Dealer burns another card and places a final card face up on the table ("the river").
11.  One final round of betting.
12.  The "showdown". All of the players (if not already folded) reveal their hands. The players use a combination of their hole cards and the community cards to form the best five card poker hand possible.
13. The player with the best hand wins!

Like many poker games, Texas Holdem is an easy game to learn, but difficult to master! Apart from the "community card" aspect, Texas Holdem is similar to other poker games with the same winning hands Royal Flush, 4 of a kind etc. Interestingly, the worst beginning hand you can have in Texas Holdem is the 2-7 ("the hammer"). A "2" and a "7" off suit are the lowest two cards you can have that cannot make a straight (there's a total 4 cards between 2 and 7 with only 3 cards remaining).

Hands in the order of raking from best to worst hand are as follows:

1 – The best hand is the "Royal Flush" this is 10, J, Q, K, A all of the same suite
2 – Straight Flush – This is 5 running cards of the same suite e.g. 3,4,5,6,7 of Diamonds
3 – Four of a kind – any four cards that are the same e.g. A, A, A, A
4 – Full house – Three of a kind and a pair e.g. J,J,K,K,K
5 – Flush – Any mix of cards that are all the same suite
6 – Straight or Run – 3,4,5,6,7 of any mix of suites
7 – Three of a kind – any 3 cards of the same value e.g. 2,2,2
8 – Two Pair – e.g. 4,4 and 5,5
9 – One pair – e.g. 9,9
10 – High card – If there are none of the above hands at show down then the player with the highest card will win the pot

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The history of some of the variants of Poker played nowadays is slightly easier to trace, Texas hold 'em (also known as hold'em or holdem) dates back to the early 1900's but really caught on when it was introduced to Las Vegas in 1967 by a group of Texan gamblers. In Texas Holdem two cards are dealt face down to each player and then five community cards are placed face up by the dealer, a series of three cards is then introduced(referred to as"the flop", "the turn" and "the river"), players have the option to check, bet, raise or fold after each deal. This meant that Holdem had four betting opportunities (as opposed to the two in draw poker), players bet prior to "the flop", "on the flop", "on the turn", and "on the river". Many professional gamblers believe Holdem is a more strategic variant of Poker, the "thinking man's game". Today Texas Holdem is a contender for the most popular Poker game out there, but there are plenty of others.

Probably the second most popular of the modern Poker variants is Omaha (aka Omaha holdem or Omaha hold'em) is a community card (game where players share cards) poker game similar to Texas hold 'em, where each player is dealt four cards and must use two of them, plus three of the five community cards make his best hand. Seven-card stud is another popular poker variant (in fact seven card stud was he most popular poker game in the USA before the relatively recent increase in popularity of Texas hold 'em). Five-card draw is a poker variant that is generally regarded as the simplest variant and is common in home poker games but less so in casino and tournament games. Razz is an unusual form of stud poker where the aim of the game is to achieve the "lowball" hand, normally ace-to-five low. Players try to make the lowest possible five card hand from the seven cards dealt. Straights and flushes do not matter and the best possible Razz hand is 5-4-3-2-A (aka "5 high", "the wheel" or "the Bicycle"). Other examples of lowball poker include "Triple Draw" -essentially Draw Poker with three drawing rounds, played limit with either A-5 or 2-7 ranking (known as 2-7 triple draw).

There is also a popular new brand of Poker called H.O.R.S.E. which commonly played at the high stakes tables of casinos. Basically consisting of alternating rounds of play of Texas Hold 'em, Omaha eight or better, Razz, Seven card Stud, and Seven card stud Eight or better.

How does rush poker work?
Rush poker is quite a simple idea, imagine musical chairs mixed with a fulltilt cash game for a second. Rush poker is a normal poker game other than instead of staying on the same table until leveling out is required everyone is swapped after each hand so you will rarely see the same person twice as the field can be in the hundreds. This eliminates stale play and also allows more moves to be played preflop as someone is alot less likely to call your all in if you have just arrived.

Is rush poker any good?
From what we at Uk Poker Review have played it certainly has some advantages to standard texas holdem play, however you really will have to make up your own mind. If your not already a member of Fulltilt try it >  $600 Free Fulltilt Bonus from Uk Poker Review

Stay tuned for some video tutorials on how to get the most out of Fulltilt's Rush Poker game!

If your new to the world of poker then you maybe confused by all the types of games, a rebuy tournament is one which starts at a set time once a minimum number of runners has been established and the players get "rebuys" up until the first break, where they can often choose to have an addon. A rebuy is where you pay to get another set of chips if you lose your initial stack, this lowers risk and increases the action. However there are some negatives to a rebuy tournament.

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How does a rebuy tournament work?

Players purchase their inital stack for say £10 plus £1 fee and then up until the first hour or 2 the players can purchase another £10 worth of chips (this time without the fees) and all the money goes into the prize pool. If after say 3 rebuys a player has had enough they can choose not to rebuy and are eliminated. After a defined cut off time no more rebuys are allowed effectively turning the game into a Freezeout tournament. Add ons or one final rebuy are allowed at the break for most tournaments of this nature.

What are the benefits of a rebuy tournament?

The game is alot looser and so you have more ways to play the game. Also with the rebuy aspect of the game you don't bust out for one or 2 very daft moves. This means the game has more action and has more of a buzz than conventional freezeouts.

What are the drawbacks of a rebuy tournament?

As the action is alot faster you get more gamblers at the early levels and if they amass large amounts of chips it will be a long game. Also the fact that you can rebuy means that after say 3 or 4 rebuys you may only breakeven if you cash depending on how many times others have bought in.

Where can I find rebuy tournaments?

We play the majority of our rebuy tournaments at Fulltilt poker however if you want a smaller field then try Betfred.

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