Five Card Stud Poker Rules

How to play 5 Card Stud Poker

This game conjures images of old films and smoky card rooms. 5-Card Stud poker was the game of choice for the later years of the river boat gamblers, and the bars in many a depression era U.S. town. The sign: ‘Liquor in front, poker in the rear’, could often be seen in a bar or speakeasy window, indicating the presence of this game in a private room.

Play in 5 card stud begins with each player posting his or her blind, then continues with each player receiving one hole card and one face up card. The lowest face-up card then opens the round of betting. Third street is one more card dealt face-up followed by a round of betting, this time with the highest face-up poker hand starting the action. Both fourth and fifth streets are dealt face up and followed by rounds of betting, with the best five-card hand still in play after the completion of the final betting round taking the pot.

This game inspired one of the most famous quotes in film history, and maybe this quote sums up poker for many a player:

Lancey Howard: "Gets down to what it's all about, doesn't it? Making the wrong move at the right time."
Cincinnati Kid: "Is that what it's all about?"
Lancey Howard: "Like life, I guess. You're good, kid, but as long as I'm around you're second best. You might as well learn to live with it."

Five-Card Stud is a game imbued with a great deal of poker history, and whilst it may not be as ‘showy’ as the big bet poker games such as Texas Hold’em or Omaha poker, there is a whole world of subtle stratagems to explore and refine, even for the novice player.

Learn The Game

Below follows an breakdown of the game, we will detail all the necessary steps to help you feel at home on the tables. We have even enlisted the sage advice of some proven and accomplished players whose results and experience here at Ladbrokes speaks for itself, they have generously given their time to provide some helpful strategy, hints and tips.

If you wish to practice what you will learn below, but want to feel your way a bit further then we have a vast selection of free money poker tables available for you on the site.

Five card stud is unlike the more common games of Hold em poker and Omaha poker is a stud game, this means unlike flop based games where all the players share the community cards (or flop) in stud games players play only their own cards and no cards are shared.

The start of the game and the button

The white disc in front of one player is called the button and indicates who is the dealer for that particular hand.

At the beginning of every game each player will be required to post an ‘ante’ the amount of which is determined by the stakes at the cash table (ring game) or by the level of the blinds in the tournament. After these compulsory bets have been placed each player is dealt one card face down and then one card face up starting from the left of the dealer.

The player with the lowest face up card is required to ‘bring in’. This is a forced bet and much like the small and big blinds in hold em poker or Omaha poker, this is a compulsory bet that cannot be avoided if two or more players have the same ranking of low card i.e. 3 people have a deuce (2) then it is the player with the lowest suit who will be required to make the bring in. The ranking of suits is as follows spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs, with clubs being the lowest.

The action will then continue clockwise from the player who has made the bring in with each player having the option to fold, call or raise. Once all bets have been matched the next card is dealt.

Third Street

The next card is dealt face up to each player, this card is known as Third Street. A betting round will now follow with the player who holds the best (high) face up cards being the first to bet, this player however is not forced to be unlike the earlier round of betting and may choose to check, fold or bet. Once again the betting will continue in a clockwise fashion until all bets are matched, a player must at least match the standing bet to continue. Once all bets are matched the next card is dealt.

Fourth Street:

Another card is now dealt face up to each remaining player and a further round of betting will ensue, once again it will be the player with the best face up cards in terms of poker rankings that will open the betting. Once again all players have the option of check (if no bet has been made), call, raise or fold. Once all bets again have been matched then the next card is dealt.

Fifth Street

A final card is now dealt face up to each player; the player who had the best face up cards from the previous round will once again start the betting. Once again all players have the same options available to them: to check (if no bet has been made, to call, to raise or to fold. After all bets have been matched we come to the showdown. Note: that some variations of five card stud may have the last card dealt face down.

The showdown

The players who remain will now reveal their cards, the winning hand will be judged by the standard poker rankings and the highest hand will take the pot.

All stud games have no differentiation between suits when determining the value of the final hand (only for the purposes of the bring in does suit ranking have any impact on the game). There is no requirement as to any combination of face up or face down cards to form the poker hand but all hands must be of 5 cards, ties will be then decided by count back to the next highest cards. If a tie cannot be broken after 5 cards then the hand is declared a split pot and each player who has tied will receive an equal share of the pot.

The button now moves one place on and the next poker hand is ready to start.