Five Card Stud is one of the classic old poker games that is preferred by poker veterans. This game is often found at home poker games as opposed to casinos or online poker sites. Five card stud has a lot of tradition, and was the influence for many of the present day poker games such as Texas Hold'em and Omaha poker. This article will look at the history of five card stud, the full rules of the game, and the present day presence of the 5 card stud poker game.

In poker, players form sets of five playing cards, called hands, according to the rules of the game. Each hand has a rank, which is compared against the ranks of other hands participating in the showdown to decide who wins the pot.

Objective of Five Card Stud

Five Card Stud players have one goal in mind: to win the money in the middle of the table. There are two ways to do this - either by betting enough to scare everyone else out of the hand, or by having the best five card poker hand at the showdown. To become a winning player you should always maximize your betting when you have a good hand, and minimize your losses when you have a bad hand. Read on to learn the full rules of the game.

Structure of Five Card Stud

• The rules are the same as Five Card Draw - Jacks or Better except that a player needs a hand at least as good as three of a kind to win the pot. If the pot is won without a showdown, the winner must expose enough cards to prove that the hand is at least as good as three of a kind. This of course further reduces the scope for bluffing.
• A hand of 5 Card Draw begins with the player to the left of the dealer putting in (usually) half of the big bet at the table, called the small blind. The player to his or her left then puts in a full bet, called a big blind. In a poker home game these blinds can be set however you like with pretty common stakes being from 5c/10c to $1/$2.

Five Card Stud is typically played at a table with a maximum of nine players. The game starts with each player making a forced bet, called the 'ante'. This ensures that each pot has money in it. Most Five Card Draw games are played in a Fixed Limit structure, but some online poker sites also offer Pot Limit and No Limit games as well.

Tables are identified based on their betting stakes. For example, a $5/$10 Fixed Limit game would have a small bet of $5 (used on the first two rounds of betting) and a big bet of $10 (used on the last two rounds of betting). We'll explain all of this in greater depth later in the article.

Five Card Stud Rules

Ok, now we'll get into the rules, how everything is laid out, and how you actually play 5 Card Stud.

Shuffle Up and Deal

The game starts with each player posting an Ante, which is a small forced bet that is usually 1/5th-1/10th of the small bet at the table. For example, a $5/$10 fixed limit game would have an ante between $0.50 and $1. After all antes are posted, the dealer deals each player one face down card and one face up card. You deal clockwise around the table, starting with the player directly to the left of the dealer.

The Bring In

After the deal, whoever has the lowest face up card has to bet the 'bring-in', which is a forced bet made by that player. If two players have the same low face up card, the bring-in is decided by suit rankings (diamonds are best, then clubs, then hearts, then spades).

First Betting Round

After the bring-in, betting proceeds clockwise around the table. Each player has the option of calling the bring-in, completing the bet (basically a raise), or folding.

In Fixed Limit games, it's important to note that each round can only have three raises after the initial bet. The final raise is called the 'cap', and after that no other players can make a raise.

Second Betting Round

After the first betting round is completed, each player who is still in the hand receives another face up card. Whoever has the best hand showing (out of the two up cards) is the first player to act, and can either bet or check. Play proceeds around the table clockwise until everyone has either called the highest bet or folded.

Third Betting Round

The next card is dealt to each remaining player face up, and there is another betting round starting with the player with the best hand out of their three up cards. Once again, the betting round ends once every player has either folded or called the highest bet.

Fourth Betting Round

After this round, another card is dealt out face up, so every player now has one down card and four up cards. There is another betting round, and if at least two players are still in the hand there is a showdown, with the best hand winning the pot.

Showdown

If the hand goes all the way to a showdown, the players both flip up their hands, and the best five card poker hand wins. If you've never played poker before, here are the hand rankings:

Fixed Limit vs. Pot Limit

5 Hand Draw Poker Rules For Beginners

Although Fixed Limit and Pot Limit have the same game structure, the betting structure is quite different. In Fixed Limit, there is a rigid betting structure that determines when and how much you can bet. In Pot Limit, the betting is only capped at the pot size, and there aren't really any other restrictions.

Fixed Limit Five Card Draw poker allows a maximum of four bets in each round - a bet, a raise, a re-raise and a cap. After the cap (the third raise in a betting round), no more betting is allowed. In Pot Limit games, there can be an unlimited number of bets and raises.

Where to Play 5 Card Stud?

Not many sites offer Five Card Stud, but we took the time to find all of the best 5 card stud sites. That page lists each site and their advantages, but if you'd like to quickly sign up to the best 5 card stud site, check out TitanPoker.com. They aren't USA friendly, so if you'd like to find a USA friendly site with 5 card stud, head to the link above.

If your a USA player, check this page for a list of US friendly poker rooms with Five Card Stud

History of 5 Card Stud

5 Hand Draw Poker Rules Step By Step

Five Card stud was the earliest form of the stud poker game, and actually originated during the Civil War in America. It was popular among soldiers who would use the game to pass time at their war camps. Since then, it has diminished in popularity, but saw a resurgence in the 1970's during the early World Series of Poker tournaments that were held that decade.

Five card stud was a side event during the 1971-1974 WSOP events, and all four of those 5 Stud tournaments were won by Bill Boyd (he won a total of $80,000 for his efforts in those tournaments). After the 1974 WSOP, 5 card stud was dropped due to a lack of popularity, and it hasn't made an appearance in any WSOP tournaments since.

Besides the WSOP, 5 card stud made an appearance in the poker movie, The Cincinnati Kid, and was the game of choice for the showdown between the 'the Kid' and 'the Man'. Since then, Five Card Stud has slightly fallen off, and is only found at a few online poker sites, and very few live casinos.

Five Card Stud Variations

Besides normal five card stud, there are a few variations that are different poker games but based on the same format. Here they are:

Canadian Stud

Canadian Stud is played exactly the same as five card stud, but with the introduction of two new hand rankings. First of all, four card straights count as a poker hand. They're ranked higher than a pair, but less than two pair. Also, four card flushes are another poker hand. These are ranked better than a four card straight, but less than two pair.

Two Down/Three Up

This game is the same as normal stud, but instead of having four down cards and one up card, you have two down cards and three up cards. The first two cards each player is dealt are face down, and the next three are dealt face up.

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Astonishingly easy to learn and play, 5 Card Draw has very simple rules and a short learning curve meaning you can start learning the game and playing the game at a high level very quickly.

No community cards to share, no complicated betting calculations ... just straight-forward bets, one round of draws and the best 5-card hand wins at showdown.

5 Card Draw is still a popular choice for poker home games but you can also find it at a variety of online poker sites to to play for real money. If you've never played 5-card draw before or if you're a little hazy on how the 5-card draw rules work, here's a quick refresher.

How to Play 5 Card Draw

5-Card Draw Rules - Blinds or Antes?

A hand of 5 Card Draw begins with the player to the left of the dealer putting in (usually) half of the big bet at the table, called the small blind. The player to his or her left then puts in a full bet, called a big blind.

In a poker home game these blinds can be set however you like with pretty common stakes being from 5c/10c to $1/$2. Online, most real-money 5-Card Draw poker games are played at the very microstakes with blinds of 1c/2c or 2c/5c.

You will rarely find 5-Card Draw tournaments so most 5-Card Draw rules will focus on cash-games exclusively.

Another common way to start a game of 5-Card Draw - especially in home games - is to just have a set 'ante' that everyone must pay before the start of the hand.

Players can also set the rules for how the bets can progress. You can either play:

• Fixed Limit (bets are restricted to increments of the big blind)
• Pot-Limit (maximum bet at any time is the size of the current pot)
• No-Limit (any amount of chips can be bet at any time

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5 Card Draw Rules - The Deal

Once the ante or blinds are paid players may then receive their cards for the hand.

Each player then receives 5 cards all dealt face down. As mentioned there are no community cards in 5 Card Draw so all cards are dealt to each player individually.

The objective in 5-Card Draw is simply to make the best 5-card poker hand or, of course, have your opponent fold to a bet. Once you have your 5 cards you can arrange them in your hand accordingly to what set poker hand you already have or by which cards you're planning to get rid of.

In a poker home game, once an entire round of 5-Card Draw plays out the deal then passes on to the next player to the left. In a casino or online the dealer obviously doesn't change but a dealer button moves around the table to the left in sequence after each hand.

5 Card Draw Rules - The First Betting Round

Once all of the cards have been dealt to each play, play proceeds clockwise beginning with the player to the left of the big blind (in a blinds game) or the player to the left of the dealer (ante game).

Each player then has the option to either call, raise or fold. If the player in front of you folds, you have the option to fold, call the amount of the big blind (called 'limping in' or raise the bet.

If the player in front of you bets you can match that bet ('call') or raise.

Once the action has gone all the way around the table and returns to the small blind, the small blind can either fold, 'complete' the bet to the full amount of the big blind or match/raise any previous bets.

The big blind has the option to check (if no one has bet more than the original blind amount) or raise, or call, raise or fold if there has been a raise already.

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Rules of 5 Card Draw - The Draw

Once all of the bets have been matched in the first round of betting, the draw round begins.

Starting to the left of the dealer (who is in the position known as 'the button') players now discard as many cards as they wish. The dealer then deals however many replacement cards requested.

Players can discard none ('stand pat'), 1, 2, 3, 4 or all 5 of their cards.

Rules of 5 Card Draw - The Final Betting Round

Once all players have discarded their desired number of cards and received replacements for their discards, there is another round of betting beginning with the player to the left of the dealer (or the next closest player still in the hand).

Each player has the same betting actions as in the first round. When all players have called all bets or folded, there is a showdown (cards are revealed) between any remaining hands and the best 5 card poker hand wins the pot.

If you need a refresher on the Poker Hand Rankings, check our hand rankings below:

• Royal Flush (A, K, Q, J, 10 all of same suit)
• Straight Flush. (5 cards in sequence all in same suit - eg 7h-8h-9h-Th-Jh)
• Four of a Kind. (All four cards of same rank)
• Full House. (3 cards of one rank alongside 2 cards of another - eg. 6h-6s-6d-8d-8c)
• Flush (All 5 cards or one suit, any rank)
• Straight (A sequence of 5 cards of rank, any suit - eg, 2h-3d-4c-5s-6c)
• Three of a kind (3 cards or any one rank, two unmatched cards)
• Two pair (Two different pairs plus one unmatched card)
• One pair (One pair of equal rank, 3 unmatched cards)
• High Card (all unmatched cards ranked by the highest single card)

5 Card Draw Rules - Game Variations

5-Card Draw - Antes

As mentioned above, in some 5 card draw variations players all ante instead of putting up blinds. In these games a player is usually required to have at least a pair of jacks in his hand before he can bet at the pot.

If all players decline to bet players muck their cards, re-ante and receive a new deal.

5-Card Draw - Maximum Discard of 3 Cards

In some 5-card draw home games players opt to cap the amount of cards you can draw at 3. That means that you must keep at least 2 of the first 5 cards you are dealt.

5-Card Draw - Multiple Draws

In some 5-card draw rules you can have a second round of drawing after the second round of betting.

Play 5-Card Draw online, free!

For poker beginners who want to learn how to play 5-Card Draw, your best option is to try the free 5-Card Draw poker games at PokerStars. PokerStars offers the most game variety of any online poker site and gives you the opportunity to learn how to play in its lay-money games.

You will still need to register an official account at PokerStars (and be of legal age) but you aren't required to make any kind of deposit or financial investment to play. Simple look for the 'Instant Play' or 'Play Money' games tab in the lobby.

To sign up and create a new PokerStars account to access our $600 sign-up bonus, download the software via our review page link here:

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