Reason #1 why the Wizard likes Bovada:

Excellent customer support

The thing that separates Bovada from the rest is its customer support. Many other online gaming companies outsource their support. It can be difficult getting a response from them, and if you do it is often slow and handled by somebody with little understanding of gambling or even of English. But Bovada’s support is handled by Bovada, and their support staff is actually knowledgeable and helpful.

I’m so confident that you’ll have a good experience with Bovada that if you have a problem getting paid and you can’t resolve it with them on your own, I’ll talk to them myself. I personally have known the Bovada management for about three years and always found them to be professional, friendly, and knowledgeable. I have also personally visited one of their call centers so I could see first-hand how they handle customer issues. (More on my mediation service.)

If you have a problem with any other casino besides Bovada, I can’t help you. I get complaints from players of other online casinos every day who have difficulty getting paid. However that isn’t my job nor my problem. If you play at Bovada after clicking through my site I’ll stand behind you 100%. Any place else and you’re on your own.

Visit Bovada

7 Stud Poker

Last Update: November 3, 2006

Rules

The game is played with a single 53-card deck, including a joker.
The player makes a bet of 1 to 5 coins, although anything less than 5 would be highly ill-advised.
Seven cards are dealt to the player, two up and five down.
The player may make an additional bet at this point up to his original wager. The player may also chose to "deal all", in which the other four cards will be immediately flipped over and the hand scored.
The player's third card will be turned over.
The player may make an additional bet at this point up to his wager made in rule 4. The player may also chose to "deal all", in which case the other three cards will be immediately flipped over and the hand scored.
The player's fourth card will be turned over.
The player may make an additional bet at this point up to his wager made in rule 6. The player may also chose to "deal all", in which case the other three cards will be immediately flipped over and the hand scored.
The player's fifth, sixth, and seventh cards will be turned over.

The player's hand will be scored according to his total amount bet and the pay table below. All pays are on a "for one" basis, in other words the player's original bet is never returned.

Hand	Pays
Pay Table in 7 Stud Poker
Royal flush	125
Five of a kind	100
Straight flush	50
Four of a kind	15
Full house	4
Flush	3
Straight	2
Three of a kind	1
All else	0

There is also a rather bizarre bonus bet. It pays if (1) the final hand is a four of a kind, straight flush, or royal flush; (2) does not include a joker; (3) contains at least one card in a chosen rank at the time the bonus bet is made; and (4) the player makes a bet at every decision point. How much each hand pays goes up as the player plays, but by how much I don't understand. The online rules are not very helpful.

Strategy

I have no clue.

House Advantage

I don't know. This game will be a tough analysis. I make no promises that I will ever get to it.