What Is Stud Poker? The Games Explained
Stud poker is a family of games with no community cards — you get your own mix of up and down cards.
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Stud poker is a family of games, not a single game. What ties them together is one defining trait: there are no community cards. Each player is dealt their own private mixture of face-down and face-up cards, and betting happens after each new card. The exposed “up” cards are what make stud unique — you and your opponents can see part of everyone’s hand as it builds.
If you learned poker through Texas Hold’em, stud will feel foreign at first: no flop, no shared board, and usually no blinds. Instead, stud games use antes and a bring-in.
The core stud mechanics
Every stud game shares the same skeleton:
- Antes: everyone posts a small forced bet before the deal.
- Up cards and down cards: you receive some cards face down (private) and some face up (public).
- The bring-in: on the first betting round, the player with the lowest up card is forced to open with a small bet (in razz, the highest up card brings in).
- Multiple streets: a new card and a betting round follow, over and over, until showdown.
- Fixed-limit betting: stud is almost always played fixed-limit, with a small bet on early streets and a big bet on later ones.
The four main stud games
| Game | Cards dealt | Goal | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Five-card stud | 1 down, 4 up | Best high hand | The oldest stud game; fast and simple |
| Seven-card stud | 3 down, 4 up (play best 5) | Best high hand | The most popular stud variant |
| Razz | 7 cards, 3 down (play best 5) | Best low hand | Lowball stud; A-2-3-4-5 is the nuts |
| Stud hi-lo | 7 cards (play best 5 each way) | Split: high and qualifying low | Also called “Eight or better” |
Five-card stud
The original. Each player gets one down card and four up cards across four betting rounds. With four of your five cards visible, there’s little to hide, which makes it a game of straightforward value betting.
Seven-card stud
The most widely played stud game and the king of poker before Hold’em. You receive seven cards total — three down, four up — across five betting rounds, and make your best five-card hand from them.
Razz
Razz is lowball stud: the goal is the worst traditional hand. Straights and flushes don’t count against you, so the best possible hand is the wheel, A-2-3-4-5. The highest up card brings in, and you chase low cards while folding high ones.
Stud hi-lo (Eight or better)
A split-pot version of seven-card stud. Half the pot goes to the best high hand and half to the best qualifying low (five unpaired cards, all eight or lower). If no one qualifies for the low, the high hand scoops everything.
Stud vs. community-card poker
The practical differences shape strategy:
- Information is public. In Hold’em you only see the shared board; in stud you see up to four of each opponent’s cards. Reading exposed cards is central.
- No position from a button. Action order is set by the strength of the up cards each street, not a rotating button.
- Starting hands are about live cards. A pair of aces is great, but a pair of aces when the other two aces are already showing is nearly dead.
Worked example: reading dead cards
In seven-card stud you hold (9♥ 9♦) 9♣ on third street — trip nines, a monster start. You raise. But look around: an opponent’s board later shows a pair, and two more nines are nowhere to be seen. Your set can only improve to quads with the case nine, and you can confirm it’s live because it isn’t visible anywhere on the table. That single observation — the fourth nine is still in the deck — tells you your draw to quads is real, and it’s the kind of read that only stud, with its open cards, makes possible.
How a stud hand progresses (seven-card example)
The street-by-street rhythm is what gives stud its texture. In seven-card stud:
- Third street: two down cards, one up card. The lowest up card posts the bring-in; betting follows.
- Fourth street: a second up card. From here, the highest hand showing acts first.
- Fifth street: a third up card. Betting switches to the big bet limit.
- Sixth street: a fourth up card.
- Seventh street (“the river”): a final card dealt face down, then a last betting round and showdown.
By the end you’ve seen four of each active opponent’s seven cards — a flood of public information that rewards patience and memory over the raw aggression driving no-limit Hold’em.
Stud is the deep, classical side of poker. Learn the members individually — start with five-card stud and seven-card stud, then flip your thinking for razz — brush up on the hand rankings they use, or explore the full poker variants hub.
Frequently asked
Is stud poker one game or several?
It's a family, not a single game. 'Stud poker' describes any game where each player is dealt their own private mix of face-down and face-up cards with no shared community cards. The main members are five-card stud, seven-card stud, razz, and stud hi-lo.
What's the difference between stud and Hold'em?
Hold'em uses shared community cards and hidden hole cards. Stud has no community cards — each player builds a hand from their own cards, several of which are dealt face up for everyone to see. There's also no flop and usually no blinds; stud uses antes and a bring-in.
What is a bring-in in stud poker?
The bring-in is a forced small bet made by the player showing the lowest up card (or highest, in razz) on the first betting round. It replaces the blinds and gets the betting started, after which action continues clockwise.
Which stud game is most popular?
Seven-card stud is the most widely played stud game and was the dominant poker variant before Texas Hold'em took over. It appears in most mixed-game rotations such as HORSE, alongside razz and stud hi-lo.