Official 5 Card Stud Poker Rules
Stud poker is one of the simplest of all poker games, is fun to play and easy to learn. Best of all, poker, unlike every other game in the casino, is not a game of chance, but a game of skill. This means that with a little practice and good strategy, a player can win consistently.
5-Card Stud is played with one deck of 52 cards. Each player is dealt two cards facedown. There is a round of betting, then the dealer gives each player a card face-up. A round of betting follows, then one more upcard is dealt, and there is another round of betting. Each player's final upcard is dealt, there is a last round of betting, and then a showdown to determine who has the best 5-card poker hand.
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Most games in a casino or cardroom will have what is called “structured betting.”
For example, if you are in a “$3-$6 5-Card Stud ” game, the first betting round will be $3 bets, and after that the bet will go up to $6. Usually a bet and three raises are allowed in each round, to ensure that people don't get too crazy at the table.
If I bet $3 in the first round, you raise me $3, another player re-raises $3, and I re-raise $3 again, the dealer will then declare that we are “capped” at $12. The exception to this rule is if there are only two players left; then, they can raise the pot as high as they want.
One note on winning hands; for a single pair, a “kicker” is your highest single card, and may be the only thing that lets you win. Say you have the following hand: Q-Q-A-4-7 and another player shows this hand: K-6-Q-Q-9 – both of you have a pair of Queens , but your Ace kicker will beat his King for the win.
Kicker's work on identical two-pair hands also; and for all other hands, just remember that a flush with high cards (like J-9-2-4-7 of spades) will beat a flush with low cards; (3-4-8-9-2 of spades.) Same applies for straights and full houses. A full house of 5-5-5-2-2 beats a full house of 2-2-5-5-5.
That should be a good reminder of what we're looking for, so now let's take a look at how the game is played.
Rules of the Game
We'll sit down at an imaginary 5-Card Stud game and learn the rules as we play a hand. First we need to buy some chips. The buy-in for most 5-Card Stud games is 10 times the minimum bet. We're sitting at a $3-$6 table, so we give the dealer $30 and they give us 30 one-dollar chips.
Now everyone must “ante up” to get their cards. This means placing a small wager, in this case, $1.00 into the pot. After everyone places their ante in the pot, the dealer is going to deal out 2 cards facedown. Before each deal, notice that the dealer takes one card off the top of the deck and discards it – this is called “burning” a card and is an old rule to designed to prevent cheating.
We look at our downcards and see J-T.
Since we are seated to the dealer's left, we go first. We have a long shot at a straight (7-8-9 -T-J or 9 -T-J -Q-K) so lets go ahead and add $3 to the pot. Usually the starting bet must be equal to the minimum bet.
Player #1 raises $3 more, putting a total of $6 in the pot; Player #2 calls the bet by placing $6 in as well. Player #3 folds. Because we don't have a good hand yet (but we're halfway there) we don't want to raise, but we want to call this bet. Since we already put $3 in, we need to add another $3 to make a total of $6.
At this point, the dealer will collect “the rake” – usually about 3-6 dollars which goes into a lockbox for the house. This is how the casino makes money to pay for the dealers, free drinks, space in the casino, etc.
Now the dealer will burn a card, and deal us each a face-up card.
Our Cards – J-T -9
Player #1 – ?-?-A
Player #2 – ?-?-T
From here on out, the person with the highest cards starts the betting. Player #1 has an Ace, so she starts, and bets $3. Player #2 calls $3, and the safe thing to do is for us to call again. Remember, even though we're trying for a straight, we don't have one yet.
The dealer burns and deals:
Our Cards – J-T -9-Q
Player #1 – ?-?-A-2
Player #2 – ?-?-T-T
Player #2 now has the best cards showing, with a pair of Tens, so he can either bet or check. Checking means he “passes” but if someone else bets, she's going to have to call their bet, or fold. Now, you might wonder why someone would check when they have good cards. Wait and see…
Player #1 bets $6, and we call the bet for $6. Now the action is back to Player #2, who checked earlier. He must either bet or fold, or he can raise $6, which is exactly what he does.
This is called a “check-raise” and people who have strong cards will do this to try and make their pot even bigger. Just think, if he had raised in the first place, everyone else would have just called, and he would only have gotten $18 in bets. But by checking, letting someone else raise, and then re-raising, he built the pot by $36.
After everyone calls this bet, the dealer will deal the last upcards.
Our Cards – J-T -9-Q-K
Player #1 – ?-?-A-2-6
Player #2 – ?-?-T-T-J
Player #2 still has the best cards showing; two pair, Jacks and Tens. He bets $6. Since we just made our straight, which is higher than either of the other players upcards, we want to raise, but before we do, let's consider what the best possible hands they might have are. Player #2 could have a hidden pair of Aces, giving her 3-of-a-kind, which our straight would beat. Player #2 is a bigger threat because he might have a full house, but, we know that there's only one other Ten, and two Jacks in the deck, so we're probably safe. So, let's raise $6, for a total bet of $12.
Both other players call our raise, and it's time for the showdown.
Everyone turns over all their cards. Here's what is shown.
Our Cards – J-T -9-Q-K
Player #1 – A-A-A-2-6
Player #2 – Q-Q-T-T-J
Player #1 had 3-of-a-kind early on, but her hand never improved after the first upcard. Player #2 had also had great cards but never caught a Queen or another Ten to get a full house. We win with our 9-T-J-Q-K straight, collecting a pot of $103.00 If you win a big pot like this, it's good form to tip the dealer with a few chips.
The game may end before the showdown if all players except one fold; this player wins the pot (and isn't required to show their hole cards) but in any case, once the pot has been awarded, that hand is done.
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