It takes a strong-willed poker player to successfully implement a 5 Card Stud Strategy, due to the sheer nature of the game. If you already know Rules of 5 Card Stud, you understand that you will be given 5 cards, and only 5 cards, to work with throughout an entire hand. You are not allowed to discard and retrieve new cards, as in 5 Card Draw.

You also know that your opponents will be able to see 4 of your 5 cards, practically eliminating the ability to bluff towards the end of the hand. In the same token, a player often knows when he has been beaten; but again, perhaps not until the end of the hand, when too much money has already been dropped into a fruitless pot.

Starting Hands

The absolute most important factor in a 5 Card Stud Strategy is the Starting Hand. Without a good Starting Hand, the odds are greatly stacked against you. This means you will be Folding often, therefore a good 5 Card Stud Strategy requires a lot of patience and discipline. Due to the significant importance of a good 5 Card Stud Starting Hand, we have supplied a complete chapter on the subject, found by clicking the Strategy button on the left menu.

Ending Hands

The game of 5 Card Stud is completely different from any other poker game. You are dealt 5 cards and 5 cards only, with no option to replace any of them. What you are dealt is all you have to work with. For this reason, a winning 5 Card Stud hand is usually not a very good one, in terms of poker hand ranks. In fact, more often than not, the winning hand in 5 Card Stud is a single Pair. High Card is not uncommon, and Two Pair or Trips are scarce. As you can imagine, Straights and Flushes are exceptionally rare and not normally worth chasing.

When playing 5 Card Stud, the skilled player should be chasing Pairs and Trips. A high Pair – Aces, Kings, Queens – is usually a great hand. Lower Pairs require analysis of the table (see below). If dealt two pair, no matter their strength, chances are you’ve already won; but again, analyzing the table should always come before a sizable wager. In the same fashion, Ace-High should not be disregarded without analyzing.

Analyzing The Table / Cards

As the hand begins, you have the opportunity to see one of each opponent’s cards. The cards showing on the board should be carefully analyzed to determine several factors:

1) Do you have the highest hand showing?
2) Does your hole card beat the cards showing?
3) How many “Outs” do you have?
4) What are the “Nuts”?

Each time another face-up card is dealt to each player, the table should be re-evaluated in this manner. If you have the highest hand showing, you can feel confident enough to move on to the next Street. In the same fashion, if your Hole card is higher than the any on the table, you can move on with confidence. Outs are a whole other matter.

Knowing The Outs and Odds

An “Out” is any card that will make your hand better than anything else showing on the table. For example, if you have A-Q to start, and no pairs are showing on the table, any Ace or Queen would be an Out, giving you a Pair. If no Aces or Queens are showing elsewhere on the table, you can surmise that you have 6 Outs (3 Aces and 3 Queens left in the deck). If another player has a Queen showing, you have 5 Outs (3 Aces and 2 Queens left in the deck).

Knowing how many Outs you have allows you to determine your chances of being dealt a card that you need. If you have 6 Outs after the Starting Hand, as described above, and 8 players are at the table, there are 36 cards left in the deck – 6 you need and 30 you don’t. That’s a 16.66% chance that your next card will be an Out. That’s pretty good considering you have 3 more cards coming. Let’s say the Third Street does not reveal and Ace or Queen. There are now 28 cards in the deck (assuming no one Folds) – 6 you need and 22 you don’t. Your odds increase to 21.4%. If the same situation occurs on the Fourth Street, you have one last chance, this time with 20 cards in the deck, 6 that you need. Your odds increase to 30%.

If at any time, your Outs begin dwindling (someone else is dealt the card(s) you need), you should consider Folding. Continue to analyze the face-up cards on the table, and if your hand does not beat that of an opponent’s face-up hand, Fold.

In most poker games, Straight and Flush Draws are considered Outs. The same can be said of 5 Card Stud, but both are extremely rare. Without extra cards or the ability to discard, your chances of getting a Straight or Flush are about zero to none. If, by some twist of fate, you do obtain a Straight Draw or Flush Draw on the Fourth Street (one card away), be sure to analyze the table to determine how many Outs are left. If going for a Flush in Spades, how many Spades are showing and how many can you assume are left in the deck?

If going for a Straight, is it inside (needs a middle card; i.e. 4-5-7-8) or outside (needs an outside card; i.e. 5-6-7-8)? An inside straight has a maximum of 3 Outs, where an outside straight has up to 6 Outs. View the face-up cards on the table for strength of hands, as well as any of your Outs missing from the deck.

A Flush or Straight Draw on the Fifth Street is extremely risky because you have no pairs to work with, and will likely win only if you are dealt an Out. A player should only bet on the Fifth Street with a Straight Draw or Flush Draw if the following factors exist:

1) Your draw hand contains at least one very high card - hope to Pair it (count your Outs!)
2) No opponent is showing a pair or better, and your highest card beats the highest face-up.

The Nuts

In any Poker game, the “Nuts” are the best possible hand that can be achieved in relation to the cards showing. It is very easy to determine an opponent’s Nut Hand in 5 Card Stud because you are allowed to view 4 of their 5. For example, if a player is showing 6-J-A-3, his best possible hand (Nut Hand) is a Pair of Aces. If another opponent is showing 8-4-8-J, the Nuts would be Trip-8’s. Be sure to analyze the table for your opponent’s Outs as well. In the case of 84-8-J, if two more 8’s are showing on the table, Trip-8’s is no longer the Nut Hand; reduced to Two Pair - Jacks and 8’s.

What makes knowing the Nuts so important is that you can determine whether you have the highest possible hand on the board. If your hand beats the Nut Hand of every opponent, you are guaranteed to win. Any skilled poker player will analyze the table for Nut Hands every time a new card is dealt.

Position

Player position can be extremely valuable in a game of 5 Card Stud. The last betting position is the best place to be, as you are given the opportunity to see all face-up cards and read your opponents as they take action. For example, if no players Raise the Bring-In bet, and all players who do not Fold seem timid or hesitant to Call, you can assume that no one has a killer hand at this point. If Raises occur and you are not confident in your hand, you can Fold without losing any more than your Ante.

The Fifth Street – When Bets Are Doubled

The Fifth Street (final card) is a crucial step in any 5 Card Stud Strategy because all bets are force-doubled. If analyzing the board correctly, you should be able to determine whether your hand has the strength to make this bet, or whether the odds are stacked against you, resulting in a necessary Fold. You must have a good enough hand to continue at this point of the game.

More Strategy

While we hope to have provided you with a well-rounded, winning 5 Card Stud Strategy, there is no single strategy that suits everyone’s playing style. We recommend fortifying your knowledge by reading 5 Card Stud Strategy books, as well. You can never learn too much when it comes to tweaking your poker skills.

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5 Card Stud

Strategy 5 Card Stud