"Increase Your Five Card Stud Poker Game Confidence"Play five card stud, a limit stud poker game, with 2-9 players at one table. Try to make the best five card high hand using only five cards. Many times the highest card will win the pot. Hands higher than two pair or three of a kind are rare because of only having five cards. How to play Each player antes before cards are dealt. The ante is usually 10% of the big bet in the game. If your playing $5-$10 limit the ante will be $1. The important thing is that all players agree on the amount. Once everyone has anted and cards have been shuffled, the deal can begin. The deal starts at the first player clockwise from the dealer and goes clockwise around the table. Important note: cards are ALWAYS dealt to the first person clockwise from the dealer. Each player gets TWO CARDS dealt one at a time. The first card is dealt face down, the second face up. If your first down card is turned up this card acts as your up card and you receive your second face down. If a player some how gets two up cards, it is a misdeal and the deal starts all over. After the first two cards are dealt, the lowest up-card brings in the bet. The bring in is a forced bet. This player has the option to either A. bring in the bet for an agreed upon amount or B. complete the bet to the small bet amount. In our $5-$10 five card stud game the lowest card can bring the bet in for $1.50 OR complete it to $5. Betting now goes clockwise from the bring in with each player calling the bring ins bet, raising it or folding their cards. Once betting on the first two cards is complete, the top card of the deck is burned and each player gets a THIRD CARD face up. On this third up-card the betting starts at the player with the best up-cards showing. This player can bet or check. Players in turn can do the same. If there is a bet they can raise the bet, call it or fold their cards. When all bets are complete, the dealer burns a second card and deals remaining players a FOURTH CARD face up. Betting starts at the play with the highest hand showing. Once all bets are complete, a third and final card is burned. A FIFTH CARD face up is dealt to players still in the hand. All players should have a total of five cards, one face down and four face up. The last betting round starts with the person showing the best up cards. When betting is finished, players turn their down card face up. The best high hand wins the pot! Recap of five card stud · Ante up, players get two cards one down and one up · Low card brings in betting round · Players get a third card face up, betting round · Players get a fourth card face up, betting round · Players get a fifth card face up, betting round · Remaining players turn their down card face up · The best five cards wins the pot! Where can you play five card stud? Poker rooms used to play the game but interest for it has died down. However if there is enough interest for the game the poker room will spread it. Some online poker rooms used to have the game but haven’t had it in a while. Your best bet is in a home game. Either your own or someone else’s. Five card stud strategies The first two cards you play, should be one of your five card stud strategies. You should play big cards and pairs as low as sevens, and you should play these hands very aggressively. Many times an ace high wins the pot. Having only five cards to work with, makes it difficult to make big hands. Straights, flushes, full houses and bigger hands are few and far between. If you have the highest card showing you should play it, as long as it's no lower than a jack. Don't worry much about your cards being suited, you don't want to try to make flushes anyways, they’re difficult to make. On your third card, if you started with the best hand, you probably still have the best hand. Unless someone has a pair showing that beats your hand. But your third card is a good place to bet/raise if you feel you have the best hand, because the betting amount doubles on the fourth card. Betting/raising will help you gain information about your opponents hands. If you get raised or re-raised you will know you're beat and can throw your hand away. Five card stud strategies on the fourth card are you really need to decide if you have the best hand or not, and the information you gained on the last two betting rounds should help you make that decision. It's also where the betting round doubles so you want to be sure you will win the pot. If you have the best hand you should make a bet on your fourth card. One thing to look out for is if one of your opponents pairs their first up card. If they pair their first up card, it could mean they just made trips, and unless you have trips, you're in a bad spot. That's just something to look out for. On your fifth card if no one has a pair showing, or if you have a pair that beats theirs then you have the best hand and should bet. If the situation above is reversed and you're beat, you shouldn't call your opponents bet and pay them off, you should fold and wait for a situation where you have the winning hand. The only time when you would want to call is if you think your opponent is bluffing, but use discretion here if your opponent only shows down winners, then you can fold, knowing you were beat. I hope this page gives you a good feel for the game and helps you win some pots. Good luck! |
