5 Card Stud

5-Card Stud: Seldom Seen, Still An Interesting Game

If any kind of poker has been swallowed up by the Hold’em storm, it’s 5-card stud. This basic-but-challenging game was, at one time, played in kitchen-table, back-room and riverboat games. Nowadays, it is almost impossible to find a five-card poker game. Seven-card stud could be available in a handful of rooms not the classic five-card version.

5-Card Stud : The Oldest Poker Game

Five-card stud is considered the very first version of stud poker played, with roots in the 1800s. Whereas it is directly linked to the United States throughout as well as after the Civil War, the game has also been popular in other countries, including Finland and other European nations. Usually, the game was played with set limits, as was 7-card stud. 

Ante Up

With both these stud kinds, competitors put a small bet in to start the game, as compared to the blinds of Hold’em. In traditional 5-card stud games, cards are dealt in this fashion:

  • Players get one card face down and one card face up
  • Typically the player with the lowest up-card must “bring in” with a sum set before the game starts
  • A roundof betting takes place then a third card is dealt face up
  • One more seriesof betting- then a fourth card is dealt face up
  • A round of betting takes place and the final card is dealt face up

Betting Rounds: Till the River Flows

The betting is begun by the player who has the best poker hand showing on up cards. The final card is typically referred to as “the river” just as it is in Hold’em. If a player elects to fold, he or she simply turns all cards face down and is out of the hand. A number of home games and poker-room action calls for the last card to be dealt face down, a variant on the original game. This adds a little more mystery to each hand. Both 7-card stud and 5-card stud have been played with a high-low split as well. A player may win with the best high hand, the best low hand (such as 2, 3, 4, 5, 7) or may win both in some variants of the game. Aces are occasionally designated as both high and low, to be used either way (similar to blackjack).

Five-card stud was part of the early World Series of Poker but has not been a part of tournaments at this level for more than 30 years.