Card Stud - Free Tips By M. Donnaldson At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

Five Card Stud is a poker variant in which each player bets after rounds of card dealing. It is one of the earliest forms of the game, dating back to the American Civil War. Although it remains popular in many parts of the world, its popularity has waned in its country of origin as the game has been supplanted by more recent variants such as Texas Hold'Em. Five Card Stud's slide to relative obscurity has been further underlined by the fact that it is not represented in the World Series of Poker.

Play begins with each player being dealt two cards, one face down, the other face up. The player with the lowest up-card then starts the bidding, with the other players calling the bet, raising it or folding their hands. There are then three further rounds of dealing, each player being given one more card. Each deal is followed by further rounds of betting. After the fifth card is dealt and a final round of bidding completed, the dealer determines which player has the highest hand and awards him the pot.

Note that the face down card remains hidden from the other players throughout the duration of the game, with only the player who holds that hand aware of what the card's value is. Also, the ace can be used as either the high card or the low card in straights (five cards in sequence but not of the same suit).
The general strategy behind the game is that you must have either pairs or high cards (aces through tens) in your hand. If you don't then you may as well fold, particularly if you still don't have a pair in your first three cards. Don't try to get straights or flushes (five cards of the same suit but not in order). Also fold if your hand cannot beat the other players' up-cards.

Just as important in Five Card Stud is the psychology of the game; in other words, the way you play your opponents. For example, if you have a good hand, manipulate the other players into betting in order to draw you out. Study the other players to determine if they are bluffing or can be bluffed. You should also bluff: when your bluff works you can win a pot even with a weak hand, but even if it doesn't, in the long run your opponents may call even if they have weaker hands than you, allowing you a victory.

You also have to keep track of which cards have already been folded by the other players so that you'll know which cards are still available in the deck. This will allow you to avoid a situation in which you stay in a pot waiting for a card, unaware that your opponent had already folded that card. Keeping track of the cards will also allow you to effectively compute the pot odds (the chances of getting the card you need to have a winning hand) and balancing these odds against the value of the pot.

Finally, the most important thing to remember is that Five Card Stud is a game of patience. You may have to play many, many games before you can win back the money that you have put in the pot and make a profit.

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