The first thing that the dealer must determine is how many buying rounds there will be. There will be a betting round following each buying round. The dealer must also determine what the cards will cost, coming up with four different prices for the four available cards to each player in each buying round.

Three cards are dealt face-down to each player, and two cards are dealt face-up to each player. The dealer then flips over three cards face-up in a line beside the deck, a price having been assigned to each of these cards. At a quarter table, for example, the price for the card farthest from the deck is a quarter, the second farthest card from the deck, two quarters, and the card closest to the deck, three quarters. A player also has the option to spend the highest price for a blind card from the top of the deck, typically for the cost of a dollar at a quarter table.

The first player to the left of the dealer decides which of the cards (if any...players are not obligated to buy cards) he or she wants to buy of the four including the option to purchase a blind card from the deck). The player then discards the card from his hand that he is replacing, replacing that card with the one that he has just purchased. The money spent to buy the card goes into the pot along with the antes. If the player is replacing one of his face-down cards, then he gets his new card face-down...if replacing a face-up card, then he gets his new card face-up. The only exception is if the player purchases a blind card from the deck, in which case the new card is kept face-down in the player's hand, regardless of whether or not the substituted card was face-down.

It becomes an advantage to spend the extra money on a blind card from the deck...when replacing a face-up card, that player now has four cards face-down, and only one card face-up that the other players can see. If a player purchases one of the three face-up cards, the dealer flips the next card from the deck face-up to replace the one just purchased.

The buying round then goes to the next player who has the option to replace one of the cards in his hand with a purchased card from the three face-up cards or a blind one from the deck. After the buying round has gone around the table, up to and including the dealer, a betting round ensues, opened by the player who has the best hand showing. For each buying round that the dealer called before the game, a betting round ensues. Best hand at the end of the buying and betting rounds wins.

Variations:

- Free Enterprise: This follows the same rules as Buy Your Card Substitution but is much tamer. It plays as regular Seven Card Stud with two down, four up, one down. The initial deal consists of two cards down to each player. The dealer then flips over three cards from the deck as in Buy Your Card Substitution. In order, a player decides if he wants to buy a card of the three. If he chooses not to, he is automatically dealt one FOR FREE from the deck face-up. Just as in Seven Card Stud, once every player has a face-up card, there is a betting round opened by the best hand showing. This is followed by each player, starting to the left of the dealer, again with the option of buying one of the three available cards or being dealt one for free from the deck.

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