5 Card Stud
One of the beauties of online poker is that it allows us at Silver Sands Poker to offer our players some of the great games that have fallen out of favor with the new poker crowd. With Texas Hold'ems overwhelming popularity, Five Card Stud is rarely, if ever, seen at the card rooms.
The consequence of this is that so many of today's players have zero experience with this very enjoyable form of the game.
We would like to change that and shed a little light back on some of the games that deserve to be played a lot more than they are being played right now.
First Round
The game begins with all players posting the 'ante' (a predetermined amount that each player contributes to the pot before the cards are dealt). At Silver Sands Poker the ante is 10% of the small blind on each table.
The size of antes for the games Silver Sands Poker offers are listed below:
R.50/R1 - R0.05 ante
R3/R6 - R0.30 ante
R5/R10 - R0.50 ante
R10/R20 - R1.00 ante
After the antes have been posted, each player is dealt one card face-down and one card face-up. The face-up card is known as the 'door card'. The player with the lowest door card is forced to make a 'bring-in' bet that is half of the smaller betting limit. In a R10/R20 stud game, the bring-in bet would be R5. If two or more players have the same lowest card, the person who brings it in is determined by suit. The rank of suits in ascending order is clubs, diamonds, hearts and spades. The player who makes the bring-in bet also has the option of completing for the full amount. In the example above, completing the bet would make it R10.
Action then moves clockwise from the low card on the table. If the low card does not complete the bet, players have the option of folding, calling the bring-in bet, or completing the bet. Once any player completes the bet, the smaller betting limit is used for all raises in the rest of the first round.
There is a maximum of three raises in each betting round.
Second Round
A card is dealt face-up to each player that still remains in the pot, this is 'Third Street'. On 'Third Street', the highest hand showing begins the action by checking or betting the smaller betting limit.
If any player pairs his door card, all players are given the option of making either a single or double bet. If a player makes a single bet, the other players may call the single bet, raise the single bet, raise the double bet, or fold their hand. If a player makes a double bet, all subsequent raises must be in the amount of the double bet.
Third Round
Another card is dealt face-up to those who remain in the pot, this round is also known as 'Fourth Street'. For this and all remaining round, the larger betting limit is used. The highest hand showing again starts the action by checking or betting.
Fourth Round
The final card, also known as the 'river card' or 'fifth street' is dealt face-up. The highest hand showing starts the action by checking or betting. After the final round of betting, players turn their cards over and the best five-card hand wins the pot. (The pot may also be won by someone who bets without being called at any time during the hand.).
Five Card Stud uses the traditional hand rankings for poker to decide a winner. To view rankings of poker hands, click here.
If two or more players hold a hand of the same ranking, the winner is the one having the higher cards. For example, an ace-high flush beats a king-high flush. If the poker hands remain tied, then the highest card not being held in common determines the winner.
In case of ties, suits are not considered when deciding the winning hand, if two or more poker hands are absolutely identical. The pot is split evenly between the two or more winning players, If there is an odd amount, it is awarded to the winning player closest to the left of the dealer.