Stud Poker

If you're new to the world of poker, you might not be familiar with Stud poker. While Texas Hold 'em is definitely the dominant poker variant, Stud enjoyed a similar reputation in casinos during the 70s and 80s. 

Not many casinos sport Stud Poker tables as they prefer Texas Hold’em’s fast-paced and thrilling games. However, numerous online casinos offer Stud tables with plenty of high-stakes games. If you are wondering how to play Stud Poker and quickly upskill your poker game, you are at the right place. Let’s quickly dive in and explore what is Stud poker and how to play Caribbean Stud Poker, Mississippi Stud Poker,7 Card Stud Poker, 5 Card Stud Poker, and more.

What is Stud Poker?

Stud Poker is a popular variant of poker that involves a unique style of dealing with a combination of face-up and face-down cards. Players must carefully analyze all the visible cards to determine the strength and potential combinations for each opponent's hand.

Poker, especially with variants like Texas Hold'em, is associated with bluffing and anticipating your opponent's moves. Players need to try to figure out their opponents' cards based on their moves throughout the game. The skill lies in judging other players' hands and planning your moves strategically.

Stud, on the other hand, is not purely based on intuition, as you can always see some of your opponents' cards on the table. Knowing your opponents' cards gives you a fair amount of information about the remaining hidden cards. Since these hidden cards must be among the opponents' hands, Stud comes down to guessing which opponent has what type of card as the rounds progress.

Furthermore, your opponents can also see your cards and decide on their movies. All of these factors make Stud Poker a pretty intense and strategic game.

Stud Poker Card Game Rules

If you want to know how to play Stud Poker, it is important to know these Stud Poker rules by heart. Here are the basics that remain the same for all Stud variants:

In every Stud Poker game, you receive a combination of face-down and face-up cards as the rounds progress.

Betting progresses from rounds of low to high bets after each new card is dealt on the table.

After the first round where face-up card cards are dealt, the player with the weakest card has to start the betting action.

Players can either call, raise, or fold according to the strength of their cards to up the betting action.

In case of a showdown, the best five-card hand wins the game based on the hand rankings.

How to Play Seven-Card Stud Poker?

Objective

Seven-card Stud Poker is the most famous Stud variant due to its intense gameplay and steady buildup as the rounds progress. Here, we have discussed the rules for playing Stud in detail, including the dealing process, progression of the betting rounds, hand rankings, and showdown. Let’s quickly dive into these Stud Poker rules and overall gameplay.

The Deal

Before the first round of dealing cards, each player places an initial bet known as the ante. The ante amount is usually a quarter of the small bet, but it can vary according to the players' preferences. After placing the ante, the dealer starts dealing the cards, beginning with the players on their immediate left. In 7-card Stud Poker, the first two rounds consist of face-down cards and the third round consists of a face-up card.

Gameplay

Now that we know the dealing process, let’s get straight to the actual gameplay. Once the dealer completes the first betting round, the player with the weakest card has to make a move. They can either choose to “bring in,” i.e., bet an amount equivalent to the ante, or choose to “complete,” which is to bet an amount equivalent to the small bet.

As this part is crucial to starting the game, the player cannot fold and surrender yet. They must either bring in or complete the bet to start the game. Once they make their choice, the action begins in the clockwise direction.

The dealer deals two face-down cards and a face-up card, with betting taking place in each round. The player with the best showing hand has to make the move on all coming streets. The betting continues until everyone gets their fifth face-up card and the game now progresses to the next level. From this point, players can now make big bets and bring more excitement to the table.

In the next betting round, the dealer deals a sixth face-up card, after which the remaining players are dealt with a seventh and final face-down card. An additional bet is placed after the dealer deals the seventh card.

In the rounds leading to the final round, players can choose to fold or bet based on their strategies. If the game reaches the seventh round, there is a showdown between the remaining players. Each player selects their best five cards to form a hand. The winner is then determined based on the hand rankings explained in the later section.

Hand Rankings in Stud Poker

Poker hand rankings are crucial for determining the outcome of Stud Poker games, particularly during showdowns. Here's a brief overview of all the poker hand rankings to ensure you always know which hands are the strongest when revealing your cards at the end of the game.

Royal Flush

A Royal Flush is the best hand in poker and consists of a ten, jack, queen, king, and ace of the same suit, such as all diamonds. It's important to note that all the cards must be from the same suit to form a Royal Flush.

Straight Flush

A straight flush is a hand in which five cards from the same suit are in sequential order. For example, 3-4♠️5♠️6♠️7♠️makes a straight flush.

Four of a Kind

As the name suggests, four of the five cards in the hand should be numerically the same. For example, 5♦️5 ♠️ 5♣️5♥️ 9♠️ make a four of a kind.

Full House

A full house is a hand that contains three cards of the same kind and two cards of another kind. For example, K♦️K♠️ K♣️7♦️7♥️ make a full house.

Flush

 A flush is when you have five cards from the same suit in any order. For example, 3♠️5♠️7♠️9♠️J♠️ make a flush.

Straight

A straight flush is when you have sequential cards from the same suit, while a straight is similar but without the requirement of being from the same suit. For example, a straight could be made up of 7♠️8❤️9♦️10♣️J❤️.

Three-of-a-Kind

When three numerically same cards are present in the hand, it is a three of a kind. For example, 10♥️ 10♣️ 10♠️ 5♣️2♥️ make a three-of-a-kind.

Two Pair

Two Pair is when your hand has two different pairs of numerically similar cards and a kicker. For example, 7♥️ 7♠️ Q♠️ Q♣️ 9♣️ make two pair hand.

One Pair

The one pair hand contains one pair of numerically similar cards and three cards of any rank or suit. For example, J♥️ J♠️ 9♣️ 6♦️ 4❤️ make one pair.

High Card

A high card is the highest card in your hand. The ace is the highest values card in the deck, followed by the King, the Queen, the Jack, and the number cards in descending order. An example of a high card hand is K♦️J♣️8♦️5❤️3.

5-Card Stud Poker Rules

Five card stud poker is a less-played variant of Stud, mostly due to not being as exciting as other Stud variants. However, there is a strong audience that loves the classic 5-card Stud Poker due to its simplistic nature. Here are the rules to play five-card stud poker:

The game begins by dealing a face-down card followed by up to 4 face-up cards in subsequent rounds.

Like the 7-card Stud Poker, the player with the weakest face-up card starts the betting.

Betting takes place after each new card is dealt to the players.

The player with the best 5-card hand wins the entire pot.

The best hand is decided based on the hand rankings mentioned above.

Seven-Card Stud Poker Rules

The 7-card Stud Poker is considered to be the best Stud variant for a variety of reasons. None of the other Stud variants has such an intricate balance between slow folding action and less dependency on luck as the sole factor. Here are the rules on how to play Stud Poker with 7 cards.

The dealing begins with 2 face-down cards and a face-up card.

In subsequent rounds, each player can receive up to 3 more face-up cards. If the game goes to the final round, the players can also get a seventh and final face-down card.

Betting occurs between each round of dealing cards, and the bet increases gradually with subsequent rounds.

In case of a showdown, the player with the best hand takes it all.

Other Stud Poker Variants

Due to its long history and popularity, Stud has a ton of interesting variants originating from different places like the Caribbean and Mississippi. These variants differ from each other on factors like the number of cards used in the game, how the pot is split, and the inclusion of community cards. Let’s discuss some of these popular Stud Poker games in detail.

Mississippi Stud Poker

Mississippi Stud Poker is a unique and interesting Stud variant, mainly due to the inclusion of community cards. The variant is almost obsolete from the casinos but you may play Mississippi Stud online.

To play Mississippi Stud, a community card is shared by everyone at the table, and each player can use it in their final hands. In a classic Mississippi Stud Poker game, there are three community cards, and betting takes place in between each round of dealing. The winner depends on the strength of the hands, with the Royal Flush being the one with the best payout. The payout amount, however, depends on the Mississippi Stud rules fixed by the house.

Caribbean Stud Poker

To play Caribbean Stud Poker, each player competes against the house, not each other. The dealer deals the cards to the players and themselves. The player's cards are always face down, but one of the dealer’s cards is face up.

In classic Caribbean Stud Poker, the dealer is disqualified if they do not have an Ace-King hand or higher. In such cases, players win money on the ante bet and the raise from the betting rounds. If the dealer wins, players lose both ante bet and raise bets. Other outcomes are possible depending on the game's progression.

Six-Card Stud

The Six-Card Stud is a lesser-known Stud variant. The game is similar to seven-card Stud Poker, but with six cards. Players receive two face-down cards and one face-up card, followed by betting rounds. Another face-up card is dealt, followed by betting, and then a final face-down card if the game reaches the last round. After the final betting round, there is a showdown, and the best hand wins the pot.

High-Low Stud

In the High-Low Stud, also known as Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo, the game is played the same way as 7-Card Stud Poker. The main difference is in how the pot is won. In a game of High-Low Stud, the pot is split between the player with the highest hand and the player with the lowest hand. However, the lowest hand must have 5 cards with a rank of 8 or higher.

Razz

Razz is nothing but a 7-card Stud Poker played for the lowest hand. The players aim to have the lowest hand combination with straights and flushes, not counting against the hand. The Razz or Stud Low is great if you are bored with the classic Stud games and want to play something that challenges your intuitional moves.

Stud Eight or Better

In a Stud eight or better game, the betting and dealing follow the same process as in a 7-card Stud Poker game. However, the pot is split between the player with the highest hand and the player with the lowest hand. To qualify for the low hand, a player's hand must consist of five unpaired cards with a rank of 8 or lower. If no player qualifies for the low hand, the player with the highest hand wins the entire pot.

Mexican Stud

In Mexican Stud, each player chooses which card to reveal to the rest of the opponents. The game starts with an initial deal of four face-down cards and a round of betting. In the following rounds, players take turns choosing which cards to reveal, followed by more rounds of betting. Finally, there is a showdown to determine the highest hand, and the winner takes the entire pot.

Stud Poker Vs Draw Poker - What's the difference?

Stud Poker and Draw Poker are quite similar in terms of determining the game based on the strength of the hands. While Stud Poker involves a mix of face-down and face-up cards, Draw Poker games only use face-down cards. Typically, Draw Poker games make more use of community cards than the traditional Stud Poker variations.

In addition, you can't discard your cards in a Stud Poker game. In contrast, Draw Poker allows you to discard one card and draw a new one. This is also where Draw Poker gets its name.