Five Card Stud
Rules for Poker

Five Card Stud is an open game in which most of the player’s cards can be seen face up on the table in front of them. Five Card Stud can be played by as few as two players and as many as eight.

The Cards

Five Card Stud is played with a standard deck of 52 cards. Cards rank A, K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and A, where the Ace can be counted low in a straight, ranking below the 2, or high ranking above the King.

Deal and Play

To begin the hand, each player places an ante to the pot. Beginning with the player to the Dealer’s left, each player is dealt one card face down and one card face up. The face down card is called the player’s ‘hole card’ and he/she can look at it but must not reveal it to any other player.

The 'Bring In'

From here there are a number of variations, however the standard play adopted in formal play is that the player showing the lowest card, starts with a compulsory bet called the ‘bring in’. The bring in is typically just half the minimum bet. The player who posts this bet has the option of posting just the minimum half bet, or place a full small bet. If the opener just places the minimum half bet, subsequent players have the option complete the bet (by placing a minimum), call the bring in by placing half the minimum bet or fold. However, if the opener chooses to open with a full minimum bet, then subsequent players can call, raise or fold. Discounting the bring-in, only one bet and three raises are allowed in any betting round. In this first betting round, no big bets are allowed.

Third Street

Following this, the Dealer then burns the top card of the deck, and then deals to each player another card face up. Then, beginning with the player showing the best hand, each player takes it in turn to check, bet, raise or fold. Since there are only two cards showing, only pairs or high card count for this purpose. Incomplete straights or flushes do not count for this purpose. If there is a tie between any players for highest hand, then the tie is resolved by comparing suits which, for this purpose, rank Spades, Hearts, Diamonds and Clubs. In this round of betting, big bets are allowed if any player is showing a pair.

Fourth Street

Following this, the Dealer then burns the top card of the deck, and then deals to each player another card face up. Beginning with the player showing the best hand, each player takes it in turn to check, bet, raise or fold.

Fifth Street

Following this, the Dealer then burns the top card of the deck and then deals to each player a fifth card face up. Beginning with the player showing the best hand, each player takes it in turn to check, bet, raise or fold.

The Showdown

Beginning with the last player to have bet or raised, each player takes it in turn to reveal their hole card, thus revealing their entire 5-card Poker hand. The Dealer then announces the winner by identifying the highest ranking hand. The player with the highest ranking hand wins the pot. If two players tie with the same hand, the tie is resolved by identifying the highest high card. If this does not resolve the tie, the pot is split evenly between the winning players.