Stud poker generally refers to poker games that involve a
mixture of cards that are dealt face-down and face-up, with such
cards being dealt during betting rounds. Often stud games
feature non-positional betting, that is the player that bets
first in a round could change as the game progresses. A typical
variation is that the player with the best hand from his or her
face-up cards goes first during bidding. The common phrase used
to describe the cards that have been dealt face down are to
refer to those cards as hole cards. This is the basic origin of
the phrase, ace in the hole, in reference to player having a
great hand that is hidden from view.
Essentially, there a two very popular forms of stud poker,
Five-card and Seven-card stud. In casinos as well as home games,
Seven-card stud is the more likely variation to be played. The
betting structures to be used generally depend on the number of
betting rounds. Games with four or fewer betting rounds often
are played with no limit or with a pot limit play. However,
games with more betting rounds are likely to be played at either
fixed limit or spread limit. A very common practice is to make
the final round of betting the highest: so a traditional game of
$1/$5/$10 begins with $1 bets in early rounds, moves to $5 bets
at some predetermined point then goes to $10 for the final
betting round only.
General Stud Game Variations
Any stud game can be changed by designating a specific card as
wild (a traditional variation is to put the jokers into the deck
and use them as wild cards) or by making a predetermined card a
predictor (when a Jack is fist turned over, the next card to be
dealt and all other cards of the same denomination are also
deemed to be wild). Stud poker can also be changed by dealing
additional downcards, by
requiring a player to discard a hole card or two at some point,
or by restricting how many hole cards may be used to form the
final hand. One such example that includes two such options is
referred to as Crocodile Stud. In this variation, Five-card stud
is modified by giving each player one extra
downcard at the beginning of the
game then adding the restriction that players may use just one
of their hole cards in the final hand. Buffalo Stud is a similar
version for Seven-card stud, Likewise, each player receiving
three downcards instead of two
during the first round and then adding the restriction that a
player may use only one or two of their
downcards to construct their final hand. Other simple
variations include eliminating betting rounds by dealing
upcards two at a time.
Specific Variations
The traditional variation is Seven-card stud and the most common
form of that game appears on a separate tutorial. In addition,
Five-card stud, is also very popular so it too has its own
separate tutorial page. But there are several other games that
are played quite often and therefore have earned them specific
game titles.
Six-card Stud
Six-card stud is normally identical to Seven-card stud with one
betting round removed by virtue of dealing only thee
upcards. So in Six-card stud,
the normal deal is two down, three up, then one down. Some
choose to play this game with a one down, four up, one down
format with betting variations
to reduce the number of bets also part of the game. Alligator
stud begins with one hole card followed by one upcard, then a
betting round. Often, then next two upcards are dealt to each
player consecutively before moving to the second betting round.
The third and fourth upcards can be dealt in pair or
individually, then the sixth and final card dealt face down.
Razz
Razz
is a common variation of Seven-card stud with ace-to-five low
hand values forming the top hand. The game usually begins with
the player with the highest-ranking
upcard going first. In Razz,
aces are always low cards.
Mexican Stud
Various forms of Five-card stud are played with a stripped deck
and with wild cards. These games are often called Mexican stud,
Mexican poker, or heaven forbid, Stud
loco. One such variation is to remove the 8s, 9s, and 10s
from the deck and to add a single joker. In this game, a 7 and a
J are now consecutive, so that 4-5-6-7-J is a straight. Because
of the reduction in cards, a flush beats a full house. If the
joker is dealt face up it plays as a bug but is fully wild if it
is dealt face down.
Baseball
Several different home poker games are called Baseball. These
games often involve several wild cards with an option to pay
into the pot to purchase a wild card. One option is the Number
Nine variation of seven-card stud. Here 9s are wild, as well as
any two number cards that add up to 9 (a 2 and a 7, for example)
can be combined to make a single wild card. Aces generally count
as 1 in such wild card games. What makes this game very
interesting is that a player is not obliged to make or use a
wild card as such, so a nine can be played as a nine while a 6-3
combination can be one nine wild card, or a six and a three. Of
course, cards used to make wild cards cannot figure in the
resulting hand more than once
Auction
Auction is a variation in which an
upcard round forms an "auction" phase. In Auction, each
player may not receive an individual
upcard at the beginning of the game, instead an
upcard card is dealt to the
center and everyone may bid on the card. The highest bidder may
either take the card or force another player to take it as his
or her upcard. Upon winning the
bid, he or she places that bid amount in the pot. After the card
has been auctioned off, each player is then dealt
upcards as usual. Auction
variations exist as to when such an auction card will occur,
early as stated above, or later. Some play this game with two
such auctions, on cards one and
three of the four upcards in Seven-card stud.
