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Five card stud poker is a variation of poker you are more likely to see played around a table in someone's front room rather than in a casino. As a casino poker game, five card stud is becoming a little obsolete offline but in the online world you will still find it played in a number of poker rooms although these poker tables are nowhere near as popular as something like Texas Holdem. The waning popularity probably has much to do with there only being just the one non-visible card and no way for the player to improve their hand by drawing new cards which makes bluffing and building up the pot much harder than in other forms of poker. For home poker players it remains popular because it is much easier to learn than some of the other variations and there are numerous little additions and vaariations to spice it up a little (two unseen hole cards for example).

The basic gameplay and rules are as follows:

Set Up

The game of five card stud is played with a full deck of 52 cards between 2-10 players. Each player will receive 5 cards throughout the course of the game, 1 down card and 4 up cards. There are no community cards in 5 card stud. Before the deal all players must ante up (amount determined by the card room) unless they are playing the 50cent/$1 game after which play proceeds across four rounds of betting before the final showdown where players who are still in the game must show their down card and reveal their hands. Play procedes as follows:

1) Deal - The deck is shuffled, cut and the top card burned (discarded) to ensure no player accidentally saw it and thus gained an unfair advantage. All players are then dealt two cards. The first is dealt face down (the "hole" or "pocket" card) and the second face up for all to see. Aside from the hole card, all following cards will also be dealt face up.

2) Betting Round 1 - Following the first deal a round of betting takes place. The player with the lowest value visible card opens the betting with a "bring in" (a forced bet, typically half the minimum bet amount) and betting continues clockwise around the table. From that point onwards, betting will always start with the player holding the highest visible hand, or in the event of a tie, the player cloest to the dealer's left. Bets then procede for a maximum of 3 raises at the lower bet amount (in a $1/$2 game this means $1 increments are used). Players in the first round may either, call, raise or fold.

3) 3rd Card - Each player is now dealt a 2nd up card, the third card in their hand. Betting continues as before at the lower limit. However, if one player has a pair showing then betting may be raised to the upper bet amount.

4) 4th Card - Another up card is dealt to each player and betting continues as before. This time however, the upper betting limit is used.

5) 5th Card - The final card dealt is another up card. Betting continues as before at the upper bet amount.

6) Showdown - Following the last round of betting, all players who are still in the game must show their down card to determine the winner. The game winner will be the player with the best poker hand using all five cards as defined by normal poker rules. (see poker hands).

Five Card Stud Poker Tips & Strategy

Visible Cards: As there are so many visible cards in 5 card stud it is really important to play close attention to your opponents up cards. This does not only mean looking at what value hand they might have when combined with their down card either! For example, if a player has two kings in their up cards then you know they might have three kings if their down card also happens to be a king...but you can't see their down card so you have to assume. However, if another player also has two kings or there are two players each with a king in their up cards then you know for sure their best hand is just those two kings which makes them less of a threat! Equally, if you see no other kings in anyone else's up cards then you're supposition that the player may be holding three kings is just that little bit more concrete.

Big Hands: Playing for the big hands, even something like a flush or a straight is a high risk strategy in a game of 5 card stud poker and is likely to end up on a loser. As there are no community card and no opportunity to exchange cards as in something like Draw Poker, you are really chancing to luck to try for anything above 2 pair/three of a kind. Most hands will be won with a high card or pair and this perhaps is why the game is not so popular now in casinos...people like the big hands and the big pots.

Bluffing: - With so many visible cards in the game it is very difficult to bluff successfully. For a start, you had better be sure that whatever you are trying to bluff on isn't already foretold by the visible cards in other players hands. If you are trying to bluff you have three queens and two are in other players' up cards then you'll end up a loser. Bluffing is harder here than in some other poker games.

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