As you can see in the image above, to begin each hand a player is dealt the first two cards face down and then a third facing up. This is often called third street. The two face-down cards are called the "hole cards" and the face-up card is called the "door card." Based on these three cards, one would decide whether or not to continue with the hand. Like in any poker variation, starting-hand selection is extremely important in seven-card stud.
Each player gets dealt a total of seven cards, of which three are dealt face down and four are dealt face up. From these seven cards the player has to choose his best five-card combination. The hand rankings are identical to those in Texas hold'em or Omaha; a royal flush is the best possible hand and the worst hand is the high card hand (no pair).