Five-Card Stud Poker

Five-card stud is a game of high cards and pairs. Anyone chasing a flush or a straight is doomed and a tight player is almost always going to win. In fact, in some old versions of five-card stud straights did not count as legitimate hands because they were considered to be the result of pure luck and/or bad play. However, this controversial rule is seldom enforced.

Five-card stud once used to be the most popular poker game, which is why it was featured in the classic movie The Cincinnati Kid. However, the game lost popularity, mostly due to the fact that action seems slow and nowadays one may be hard pressed to find a five-card stud game anywhere.

• General Rules of Poker

Before reading the specific rules of five-card stud one should read the general rules of poker games, that apply to all poker games, in general, regardless of variation. These are the general rules that apply to all poker games and most of them will not be repeated here, since it will be assumed that the reader is already familiar with them.

• The Deal

As in most poker games, in a home game the first dealer is determined by a random draw of cards. The dealer will shuffle and offer the deck to the player to his (her) right for a cut. The dealer then deals out two cards to each player, one card at at time in clockwise rotation. Every player will be dealt one card face down (known as the hole card) and one card face up. In most games the first card dealt is the hole card, followed by the up-card. However, in high-stakes games it is not uncommon to deal the up-card first and then the hole card second. This is an added precaution to reduce the risk of cheating, because every player only has one unknown cards, and should anyone gain knowledge of that one card, one would have a tremendous unfair advantage.

After the first round of betting is completed the dealer will deal another card face-up to each player that has not folded on the previous round; this card is called 3rd street and another round of betting follows. Next, the dealer will deal another face-up card (4th street) to each player that remains active and another round of betting follows. And finally the dealer will deal the last card face-up to each player (5th street) and the final round of betting follows.

• Antes and Betting Structure

A real five-card stud game is a no-ante limit game. This means that the players receive their initial cards without anteing-up and the bets are limited to the proper structure of the game. This game is often played for high stakes.

In a 10-20 game the only allowed best are $10 and $20. On the first round of betting the player with the lowest card, closest to the dealer (clockwise) must "bring it in", i.e. must make a forced bet of $10. This player does not have the option to check or fold - the only thing he is allowed to do is to bet the minimum, so this is done without looking at the hole card. The next player in clockwise rotation is next to act and has to option of folding, calling or raising. Any raise can only be done in a $10 increment. Each consecutive player acts according to those same rules. Players who wish to fold are only allowed to do so when it it their turn to act. When a player folds, he/she turns over his/her up card(s) on top of the hole card and thrown the lot into the discards. Once the cards have been folded, players can no longer request to see them or to ask which cards may have been folded by what player.

When all the remaining players have put an equal amount of money into the pot, the dealer deals the next up-card to each active player, in clockwise rotation, starting form the first active player closest to the dealer's left. On the second betting round, the player with the highest showing hand (a pair or high card) closest to the dealer's left, is first to act, and has the option of checking or betting. If the highest hand on the board is a pair, the only allowed bet is $20; but if the player with the highest hand does not show a pair, the only allowed bet (or raise) is $10. Players following have the option to fold, call, raise or re-raise.

When all the betting is concluded the dealer deals another up-card to each active player, starting with the first active player to the dealer's left. On the next round of betting the player with the highest hand showing is first to act and has the option of checking or betting. On this betting round the only allowed bet is $20, regardless what cards are showing on the board. Other players can act by the same rules that apply for the previous round.

When betting is concluded the dealer deals the final card face-up to each of the remaining active players. The only allowed bet on this round is also $20 and the same rules apply as on the previous round.

• The Showdown

When betting is concluded the last aggressor must show his (her) hand first. The other players are not required to show their hands, if they were outranked.

Other Variations of Five-Card Stud

In another variation the last card is dealt face down. This is not the classics five-card stud game, however. And in yet another version of this variation the payers then choose to show one of their two hole cards (whichever one they choose to), and another round of betting follows.