Stud poker is popular for many reasons, primarily because of its long history in American lore and its prominence in film and television programming featuring poker. It is also popular because new poker players wanting a challenge have brought Stud back into prominence as a part of almost every mixed game setup, whether mixed tournaments or mixed cash games.
Poker players understand that games like Five-Card Stud and Seven-Card Stud are played as peer-to-peer poker games, wherein there is no house or casino edge. Players compete against each other and pay only rake to the house. However, many people see Stud games throughout casinos, as table games like Caribbean Stud Poker and Mississippi Stud Poker are quite popular. While the play mimics that of peer-to-peer Stud poker, there is a house edge via the dealer’s participation in the hands and bonus bets.
Let’s explore the popular Stud variants and the differences among them.
Five-Card Stud Poker: Simple Yet Challenging
There are few poker games more traditional than Five-Card Stud. The American Civil War launched it into widespread favor among the military and their friends and family. It has returned to the fore in recent decades with the popularity of mixed games.
New players who want to learn how to play Five-Card Stud poker can start with a 52-card deck. The dealer gives each player one face-down card and one face-up card. A bring-in bet usually starts the first betting round, followed by another face-up card. Another round of betting and another face-up card prompt more betting. The final card finishes the hands, and the best five-card hand wins.
Seven-Card Stud Poker: the Classic Version
The history of Seven-Card Stud dates back many years as well. It is an alternative to Five-Card Stud with more betting rounds. While it also uses a 52-card deck, there are more opportunities to bet and more face-down cards to spice up the action.
The basics of Seven-Card Stud start with the dealer giving each player two face-down cards and one face-up card. The next three rounds, with betting between each of them, present face-up cards for all to see. The seventh card is face down, providing a total of three down cards and four up cards. After a final round of betting, the best five-card hand wins. There is more strategy involved in this Stud version, as detailed in our Seven-Card Stud poker guide.
Caribbean Stud Poker: A Casino Favorite
Many casinos offer Caribbean Stud Poker as a table game. This means it is not located in the poker room and is not a peer-to-peer game. Players compete against the house, which means the house has an advantage – an advantage that increases when players use things like bonus bet options. There is usually a chance at a jackpot with those bonus bets, but the house has a distinct edge.
It is a regular poker game in the sense that it is played with a traditional deck of cards, and each player receives five cards. How to play Caribbean Stud Poker, however, is that the player competes only against the dealer. The players’ cards are face-down, and the dealer has four face-down cards with just one face-up card. Players can then fold and lose the ante or bet and try to beat the dealer.
When comparing Caribbean Stud vs 5-Card Stud Poker, there are many differences, including strategy. Considering there is only one round of betting after receiving cards, there is only one shot at using any strategy, which must be based on the singular face-up card of the dealer. Strategy for Five-Card Stud, however, is multi-faceted based on several betting rounds and the face-up cards of all opponents.
Mississippi Stud Poker: An Exciting Twist
As with Caribbean Stud, Mississippi Stud poker is another version of the game that is not played in a poker room but as a table game. There are extra bets, like jackpot or bonus bets, and each player competes against the dealer instead of each other.
How to play Mississippi Stud poker is a bit more complicated than the usual table game. The dealer provides two face-down cards to each player and puts three community cards on the table, all face-down. The players can bet or fold based on their cards only. As the dealer turns over each card, there is another opportunity to bet or fold. As opposed to most poker games that consider the best five-card hand, Mississippi Stud plays the best two-card hand.
More Stud Poker Variants to Explore
With so many betting rounds and the mix of face-up and face-down cards, Stud has presented numerous opportunities for poker players to get creative. They have added some components and limited others in order to keep Stud Poker exciting and challenging.
Stud Hi-Lo Variations
Most Stud games in poker rooms, wherein players compete against each other, offer Hi-Lo (or high-low) versions of the games. This is especially true when Stud is a part of a mixed game lineup like H.O.R.S.E.
Players compete to win with the best high hand and low hand. High hand rankings are traditional, with the ace and king as the highest cards. Low hands qualify if there are five unpaired cards lower than an eight. A high hand can take the full pot if there is no qualifying low, but the pot can be split if one player wins the high and another player the low.
Razz Poker
Razz is common in mixed games and even as a stand-alone game. It plays for the lowest hand, the opposite of most poker games. It is usually a seven-card game, similar to Seven-Card Stud, with a bring-in bet and several betting rounds. To make the best five-card hand, the player counts from the ace, which ranks as the lowest card, upward. For example, the best hand is A-2-3-4-5. Straights and flushes are generally irrelevant.
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In the United States online poker market, it is rare to find Stud games in cash game lobbies. Players sometimes find Stud poker as a part of a mixed game tournament format, but it is not as common online as it is in live poker settings.
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