Mike's Rules To 5 Stud Poker Variants

General Rules

1. Every 5 stud game has a 5 draw variant, so unless the 5 draw variant has an actual name or is not obvious it will not be mentioned in the variants' sections.
2. Many 5 stud games are variants of seven stud games, in these cases, the games are listed on the Seven Stud page.

5 Stud

• Maximum Number of Players: 10
• Wild Cards: None
• The Game:
  1. Players are dealt 1 down and 1 up.
  2. Bet, then deal 1 card up.
  3. Bet, then deal 1 card up.
  4. Bet, then deal 1 card down.
  5. Bet and show. High hand takes the pot.
• Variants:
  • Make a card wild, or lowest card down is wild.
  • Deal the last card up.
  • 5 Stud Low Ball: Low only.
  • 5 Stud High-low: High-Low Split, declare after the last betting round.
  • Satan: High-Low Split, pot-limit betting, last card is dealt up, declare after the last betting round. Great game! It can get evil when it comes time to declare if you have a weak pair or nothing with royalty.
  • Beelzebub: Same as Satan, but bet after the declare and straights and flushes don't count when evaluating lows. Thus a wheel, namely A-2-3-4-5, is the perfect low. You thought Satan was evil...
  • Best Flush: Hands are evaluated as follows (from highest to lowest):
    1. Straight Flush
    2. 5 Card Flush
    3. 4 Card Flush
    4. 3 Card Flush
    5. 2 Card Flush
    Ties broken by cards comprising flush, then by cards in hand.
  • Pure Luck: All cards are dealt up.

Mediocre

• Maximum Number of Players: 7
• Wild Cards: None
• The Game:
  1. Object: Get 3 legs. Players win half the pot and get a leg each time they have the middle hand, the hand that came closest to beating the same number of hands as beat it that hand. If there is more than one middle hand, then the higher middle hand wins half the pot and earns a leg. In the event of a tie for the middle hand, each player involved in the tie splits half the pot and earns a leg. If a player gets 3 legs, then he wins the pot and the game is over. If more than one player gets 3 legs on the same hand, then they each split the pot.
  2. If a player folds during a Mediocre game, then he is out for the rest of the game, not just that Mediocre hand.
  3. Players are dealt 1 down and 1 up.
  4. Bet, then deal 1 card up.
  5. Bet, then deal 1 card up.
  6. Bet, then deal 1 card up.
  7. Bet and show. Middle hand gets half the pot and 1 leg.
  8. Collect the cards. The deal rotates to the left and another Mediocre hand is dealt to those players who stayed in until the showdown.

Take It Or Leave It

• Maximum Number of Players: 9
• Wild Cards: Cut the deck for a wild card (should be Jacks or less)
• The Game:
  1. The game is dealt and played like standard 5 Stud, except that players have a choice on up-cards. The dealer shows the top card of the deck and asks the player, "take it, or leave it?" If the player takes it, then he gets that card and the dealer exposes the next card for the next player, otherwise he gets the next card on the deck and the same up-card is offered to the next player.
  2. If, at the end of a dealing round, the top card is exposed, then bury it.
  3. Each round of dealing up-cards should start one player further to the left then it did the last time. Down cards always start to the dealer's left.
• Variants:
  • High-low Take It Or Leave It: High-Low Split, declare after the last betting round. Instead of cutting for the wild card, 3s are wild if you are going high and Kings are wild if you are going low.
  • Take It Or Leave It For The Other Guy: Players "take it, or leave it" for the player to their right.

Three Card Substitution

• Maximum Number of Players: 7
• Wild Cards: None
• High-Low Split
• The Game:
  1. The game is dealt and played like High-Low 5 Stud.
  2. After the last betting round, starting with the player to the left of the player with the lowest poker hand showing and proceeding to the left through each player, each player may substitute an up or down card for a fresh one from the dealer for $0.10.
  3. Bet, then repeat above substitution starting with the new player with the lowest poker hand showing, but this time it costs $0.20.
  4. Bet, then repeat above substitution starting with the new player with the lowest poker hand showing, but this time it costs $0.30.
  5. Bet, declare and show. High and low hands split the pot.
• Variants:
  • Make substituting the down-card cost more than an up-card.