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The Insider's Guide to Five Card Stud
Background
Five Card Stud is one of the oldest poker variants around, having originated during the American Civil War of the 1860s. Although it has fallen out of fashion, and it hasn’t been dealt at the World Series of Poker since 1974 (prior to that, all four Five Card Stud events had been won by the same player), no examination of poker variants would be complete without it, as it is the ideal training ground for some key stud poker concepts.
Five Card Stud was made famous by the movie The Cincinnati Kid, in which ‘The Kid’ faces off against ‘The Man’ in a high-stakes game of Stud. The final hand, in which The Man backs into a straight flush against The Kid’s full house, is one of the most ridiculous and improbable hands ever shown in a poker movie, as we will see.
How To Play
Five Card Stud is played with an ante, as are most stud games. After everybody has anted, each player is dealt two cards. The first card is face down and is known as the ‘hole’ card. The second card is face up, and is called the ‘door’ card. The player with the lowest door card must now make a compulsory bet known as the ‘bring-in’. This bet is normally set at two to three times the ante (so for example, if the ante was 50p, the bring-in would usually be between £1 and £1.50), but the player making the bring-in can choose to make a larger bet if they wish.
If two players have the same door card, then suits are used to break the tie. The suits are ranked in alphabetical order, from clubs (lowest), to diamonds, hearts, and spades (highest). The player with the lowest suit brings in. The action now proceeds clockwise around the table. Unlike a blind in Hold’em, the bring-in does not have the option to check or raise when the action returns to them. They can only act for a second time if somebody has raised the brin-in.
After the first betting round is complete, each player receives another card face up, followed by another betting round. Now, the player with the best poker hand showing (usually the person with the highest card) acts first. This process repeats until every player has five cards, of which four are face up and one is hidden. There is a final betting round, followed by a showdown. The best traditional poker hand wins the pot.
Five Card Stud is typically played with up to eight players. Unlike most other stud variants, Five Card Stud makes an excellent No Limit game, and that’s the variety we will discuss here.
Starting Hands
The first key concept that is crucial to success in all stud games is the importance of the upcards to your decision-making. Around the table, your opponents’ boards are telling you about the type of cards that are remaining in the deck, and if you’re not making use of this information, you’re giving up a huge edge to players that are.
Let’s say, for example, that you start with [A]-K. Your opponents are showing K, K, A, A, Q, J, 9. How does that affect your decision making?
Well, many of the cards that you need to improve your hand are already gone. There is just one ace and one king remaining, so it’s very unlikely that you’ll make a pair later in the hand. The upcards also tell you that you should be more scared of the opponents showing a Q, J or 9 because they could have a pair already, while it’s very unlikely that the Kings or Aces are paired up. So, in this hand, you’d be more inclined to fold if the Queen raised in early position than if an Ace or King did the same.
Now let’s change your hand to [Ah]-Kh, and the upcards to 10, 9, 9, 7, 7, 3, 2 with no hearts showing. The effect is enormous. Now, you’re not really scared of anyone, since you have a good chance to make a pair, or, if you’re really lucky, a flush.
I say really lucky, because it should be obvious that in Five Card Stud, because fewer cards are in play than in Hold’em or Omaha, the value of hands is very different. In fact, think about it this way. How often do you flop a flush or a straight in Hold’em, when you start with two suited or connected cards? How often is ace-high or a small pair still the best hand?
The answers to those questions tell you a lot about the hands you should start with in Five Card Stud. Draws to straights and flushes are much weaker than they would be in a seven-card game, since even if your hand is completely live you still have to hit three perfect cards in a row, probably calling bets after each card.
Conversely, strong ace-high hands, face cards, and pairs are very strong. Ace high will often be the best starting hand, and as in Hold’em, a hand like A-K is a significant favourite over a smaller ace-high such as A-Q.
Recognising Board Lock
Another key skill in all stud games is recognising ‘board lock’. This is a situation is which you are certain to be winning, because no matter what your opponent has in the hole, it cannot beat your hand. Such situations are fairly common in Five Card Stud.
For example, you have [8]-8, and your opponent is showing a 7. Note that there is no card he can have in the hole that gives him the best hand at this point. The situation is similar to having the nuts in Hold’em – and just like in Hold’em, that doesn’t mean that you should slowplay. It may be best to extract value right now, when it’s unlikely your opponent will fold, and before you catch something scary that might kill the action.
Playing The Later Streets
Because so much of your opponent’s hand is exposed, it can be relatively easy to read your opponent’s hand in Five Card Stud, at least if they are a straightforward player. Against such people, you should often be prepared to go to the end with any pair bigger than their door card. Even ace-high will win its fair share of showdowns, although it’s important to be cautious with ace-high and smaller pairs in multiway pots.
What makes No Limit Five Card Stud an interesting game is the sheer amount of bluffing that is possible. Your opponents, who will likely be used to games where the hand values are higher, might lay down hands like small pairs and ace-high if you develop a frightening-looking board and bet accordingly. In fact, almost every bet or raise results in a question that your opponent must answer. They raised with a king showing, and you reraised with a nine up. Does that mean you have a pair of nines, or does it mean you have an ace in the hole? If they have K-Q, you’ve put them to a difficult decision. It doesn’t matter what your other card is!
Mix in some well-timed bluffs with your genuine hands, and you’ll keep your opponents guessing and be very successful at Five Card Stud.
Box Out: Dealing Tips
There are a couple of dealing nuances unique to stud games. Follow these tips to add the professional touch to your game.
- In Stud, there is no dealer button on the table, since betting order is decided by the cards and can change throughout the hand. The dealer should always deal to the player on their left first.
- Burn a card before you deal each street, as you would before the flop, turn or river in Hold’em.
- Despite what you may have seen in The Cincinnati Kid, the dealer should keep their mouth shut during the hand. There is no need to announce pairs, possible straights or possible flushes. Likewise, players do not have to announce the value of their upcard when folding.
As you might expect, there are many variants to Five Card Stud. Here are some examples:
- Sökö – A Scandinavian version of Five Card Stud, with the addition of two new hand types to the mix. A four-card straight beats one pair, and a four-card flush beats a four-card straight. Two pair beats a four-card flush. The addition of these new hand types changes the value of flush and straight draws significantly, and requires appropriate adjustments to be made.
- Hi/Lo – In this variant, the pot is split between the best Ace to Five lowball hand, and the best traditional poker hand. We’ll discuss many Hi/Lo variants in future issues.
- Mexican – Also known as ‘Roll Your Own’, in this variant all cards are dealt face down, with each player choosing which cards to display on their board, and which to keep in the hole.
