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How to be a ‘stud’ at poker

xas Hold’ em might be the most common styles of poker but the real fun lies in mixing it up! Stud poker is slowly catching up to it in terms of popularity and adoption in live tournaments. Here is a lowdown on stud poker”

What is stud poker?  

Stud poker is a style of poker where the players receive a mix of upward and downward facing cards during the entire betting round.  Unlike the hold’em style of playing Poker, Stud Poker doesn’t have a particular starting position thus, making it a fairer game than hold’em.  

How is it played?  

Based on the variation, the cards are dealt equally to each player. Usually the most common form of Stud Poker is 7-stud poker, where the first two cards are dealt face down and the third card is dealt facing up.  

The person who has the card with the lowest ranked house has to place the first bet as the ranking is based in an alphabetical order. The houses are ranked in an ascending order, as Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts, and Spades. This means that the person with a club card has to start first as he has the lowest ranked club.   

The next round of card is distributed face up and the same procedure is followed for the 5th and 6th round as well. In the final round the cards are dealt face down and only the player can see this card.  

They then have a betting round before a final showdown where the player with the best 5 card hand wins the game.   

Betting amount   

The betting amount for each round is predetermined and is mentioned in the game itself so a game with a betting of $2 in the first few rounds and $4 in the final rounds is called as 7 stud $2/$4 round.    

Variations: 

There are many variations in stud poker that have evolved over the years.  

7 stud poker   

As mentioned before, 7 Stud Poker is one of the most common forms of stud poker. Here each player is handed out 7 cards with a mix of upward and downward facing cards. The players have to make the best hand of five cards out of the seven and the best hand out of them wins the game. 

Razz  

Razz is the complete opposite of 7-stud poker. Instead of the highest hand the lowest hand wins the game. The various versions have different treatment to straights and flushes.  

High-Low split  

In this style of stud, the person with the highest and lowest hand spilt the pot winnings. In case the lowest hand is not determined the person with the highest bid wins the entire pot.  

Mexican stud   

This form of Poker has a stripped deck. Cards such as 8s, 9s and 10s are removed and a joker can be substituted for a numbered card.

Check out our online poker rooms section, where you can read reviews on the biggest and best poker rooms in the country, while also taking advantage of their bonuses and promotions. Check out these top poker rooms HERE.

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