Poker Dynamic

As I’ve mentioned before, Stud poker games are not really my thing. For this reason, it has taken me twenty-three posts to even address the issue of Five Card Stud. The game was originally created during the Civil War and is barely played in casinos now, but still has a popular following.

The basics of the game are familiar to Seven Card Stud. The major difference between the two games, of course, is that this game only uses five cards. In Five Card Stud, each player is dealt two cards to begin with. A face-down card that only the player can see and a face-up card that the entire table can see. Now in Seven Card Stud, each player gets three face-down cards that allows them to conceal most of their hand. But in Five Card Stud, the first face-down card you get is also the only one you get.

That means four of your five cards are face-up and can be seen by anyone. Strategy and the way players play will obviously have to adjust to this rule and much of the guessing-work done is taken out. The game almost truly becomes all about luck and less about skill.

The remaining three cards, after the initial deal, are dealt one at a time after betting rounds. Think of what happens in Hold ‘Em games except that every player gets his or her own set of cards.

If this sounds like a game that you would enjoy, go ahead and try it out. If not, I promise we’ll get back to talking about mainstream games soon.

Filed under: Five Card Stud