5 Card Stud is believed to be the oldest form of the card game we call stud. This originated during the American Civil War. Five Card stud was a popular game back in the days of the wild west. Its a favorite addition for film producers to add in scenes because of its visual simplicity
Although 5-card draw poker has mostly departed from the modern casino-poker and cardroom-poker scene, it can still be found in many home games, and-because of its important place in early poker history-in most of the movies which feature poker or poker scenes.
After all, who can forget Paul Newman turning over four Jacks in The Sting, when his opponent held four Nines (and had thought he had cheated by giving Newman four Threes, only to find he'd been out-stung)?
Most of the poker games in old Westerns also featured 5-card draw, in part because the game was indeed played much more often then, but primarily because the movie watcher probably knew very little about poker so could see a player's entire hand at once.
With games like Hold 'em and 7-card stud, the mechanics of showing viewers hole cards and up cards produced too great a challenge, especially when the movie really wasn't about poker, but about good guys and bad guys, winning and losing, and the post-game gunfight. As with all games, the hand ranks remain the same, a flush beats a straight, etc.
In casino play the first betting round begins with the player to the left of the big blind , and the following rounds begin with the player to the dealer's left. Home games typically use an ante, the 1st betting round begins with the player to the dealer's left, and the 2nd round starts with the player who opened the 1st round.
The dealer deals five cards to each player, ALL are dealt face down. In draw, no one sees any of anyone else's cards until the hand is over and it's time to see who has won. As a result, there is much less visual information available to the players about who holds what kind of hand. Although more subtle clues like the size of the bet, the nervousness of the player, and how many cards he drew becomes more important, as does bluffing.
The cards are deal one at a time, all face down. The remaining deck is placed aside, often protected by placing a chip or other marker on it. Players pick up the cards and hold them in their hands, being careful to keep them concealed from the other players, then a round of betting occurs.
After the initial round of betting, the players remaining in the hand have an option to replace cards. Each player specifies how many of his cards he wishes to replace, and discards them. The deck is retrieved, and after a burn card is dealt each player is dealt in turn from the deck the same number of cards he discarded so that each player again has five cards. It is important that each player discards the cards he wishes to replace before he takes any replacements, and that he takes the same number of replacements as he discarded.
A second "after the draw" betting round occurs beginning with the player to the dealer's left or else beginning with the player who opened the first round (the latter is common when antes are used instead of blinds). This is followed by a showdown if more than one player remains, in which the player with the best hand wins the pot. If one player has bet or raised, and is not called by anyone else, he wins the pot and does not have to show his hand to anyone else.
The rules governing how many cards a player can draw vary. In some games, a player can draw five completely new cards, although it's impossible to imagine a situation where this would be a smart play. In some games a player can draw four new cards if the lone card he retains is an Ace. This isn't a good play, either, for two reasons. First, to draw the four cards, the player must show everyone that he has an Ace, which is giving a lot of information away.
A standard house rule in some places is that a player may not replace more than three cards, unless he draws four cards while keeping an ace. This rule is only needed for low-stakes fun games where many players will stay for the draw, and will help avoid depletion of the deck. In more serious games such as those played in casinos it is unnecessary and generally not used. A rule that is used by many casinos is that a player is not allowed to draw five consecutive cards from the deck. In this case, if a player wishes to replace all five of his cards, he is given four of them in turn, the other players are given their draws, and then the dealer returns to that player to give him his fifth replacement; if no other player draws it is necessary to deal a burn card first.
Most of the time, then, players will draw three, two, one, or no cards. A player who draws no cards is said to be pat. This creates the impression that he has a strong hand like a straight, a flush, or a full house.
Sometimes in an effort to be tricky or create the impression of strength, a player who holds two pair or three of a kind will draw no cards. This player is giving up a potentially very useful and important chance to improve his hand, in return for creating the appearance of even more strength than he actually has.
For similar reasons, sometimes a player holding a completely worthless hand will draw no cards, and hope that this appearance of strength, combined with strong betting and raising, will win the pot by making everyone else fold. Usually such a play can only work in a no-limit game, where the player can bet everything he has, and is for reasons that should hopefully be obvious, very risky. Beginning players should avoid these extremely risky bluffing plays and try to focus on drawing to good hands.
In the 5 card stud, the betting limits are similar to that of the 7 Stud. Even the Buy-In, Bankroll, The Ante and the Deal resemble the ones that are in the 7 Stud game. The 5 card stud is usually played as a social game.
By giving each player two cards, the round is opened. Among the two cards, one will be a ‘hole card or a hidden one' and the second will be a ‘door card or an open card'.
The standard one is the low card opening. But at the same time a high card can also be opened.
This will go on and the Third Street finds its way, where it is dealt as an open card. The betting takes place in the same way as in 7 Card Stud's Third Street play which involves low limit bets.
The Fourth Street is another card which is open and, even this is similar to the 7 Stud's Fifth and Sixth Street which will have High Limit bets.
The Fifth Street in the 5 Card Stud is the final card which will also be an open card. The betting takes place as in 7 Stud's Seventh Street i.e., High Limit bets.
There's a real problem with traditional 5 Card Stud. With only one pocket card there's not much doubt as to what a player is holding. Furthermore, since there are only 5 cards per player and no discards, most hands are going to be pretty low, mostly pairs and high cards.
At least in Draw Poker the player gets a chance to improve their hand by drawing new cards. Not so in 5 Stud: you're stuck with what you get and the other players can see most of that.
The end result? Players with even basic play experience will read the cards fast and early. They'll either drop or be going for the pot and it's tough to drag anyone but a novice along for the latter streets. Bottom line is it's a slow game for anything but social events and "friendly" play.
The steps involved in the 5 Card Stud game are:
Each player places his/her stake or ante into the pot. The ante is the small bet that each player must contribute in the game which will be in the pot.
Each player is given 5 cards.
The player who is in the left to the dealer has to either bet or pass first. If the player passes, then the player next to him/her should bet. It is left to the second player as to whether he too, will bet or pass it again to the next player.
If every player passes, all the cards are gathered and again the players who have passed will have to place the ante again and will deal a fresh hand.
Then the players may either, call, raise or fold after a hand is opened by a
player by betting.
The surviving players are given chance to exchange some cards from the deck's top.
After exchanging or staying, another round of betting is started.
The players who have not folded will have to show their hands after the betting round.
The player with highest hand will be the owner of the poker chips that the pot will have in it.
As 5 Card stud can become a little predictable and drag on a little often a little deviation from the standard rules creates a more exciting game. Using 2 hole cards makes for a better game because it is not as easy to read another players hand. There is a little more uncertainty and flexibility within the hands.
Sometimes it's first and last card, sometimes the two opening cards with the player on the dealer's left opening the bets.
In the end these variations are simply attempts to add a little suspense. The hands are still going to be low. And the extra pocket card just allows for a little more bluffing and the possibility of far better pots. The fact that even these variations only appear in social games tells the same story as before: 5 Card Stud has left the building.
FURTHER READING : STUD POKER
7 card stud - 7 Card stud is played regularly by 1000's of online poker players and a feature at casinos
Stud Variants - A quick overview of the less well known games of stud poker.