This section will inform you on gaming procedures, rules, policies and limits of StellaPoker’s game of Five Card Stud.

Dealing the Game of Five Card Stud

Before the Deal:

- Players will buy-in for the posted amount.
- Players will place an ante into the pot. Your ante will be placed into the pot by default. You may turn off this feature under the settings menu in the game.

Opening Deal:

The dealer always deals first to the player closest to the dealer’s left and, moving clockwise around the table, will “deal-in” each player. The players will be dealt one card face down and then a second card known as the “door card” will be dealt face up. A round of betting will occur starting with the player with the lowest card by value and suit. This is known as the “force” or “bring-in” bet.

The player with the lowest card value (ace being high) will be the force. In the event that two or more players hold door cards of the same rank, then the lowest suit will make the determination. Suits are ranked, from highest to lowest alphabetically, spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs (i.e., the two of clubs is the lowest possible card). This is the only time suits will play a role in the game.

Third Card (3rd Street):

The next card to be dealt into the game will be the third card the players will receive in their hand. This is called “3rd street.” The dealer will burn one card off the top of the deck and then deal to the player closest to the left of the dealer button and, moving clockwise around the table, will deal each player one card face up. A round of betting will occur starting with the player with the highest two-card value.

The player having the best hand on the board “has the action” and may make the initial bet of the round or check to the next player. If there is a tie between players as to the best hand, then the player closest to the left of the dealer button will have the action.

In fixed limit stud, if any player displays an open pair on third street, that player may bet the higher amount of the game limit (normally not available until fourth street).

If the player with the action chooses to make the lower limit bet, any other player still in the hand may choose to make either the lower limit or higher limit raise. Once any player has made the higher limit bet, all further bets and raises must be made at the higher level.

Betting in Five Card Stud

a) If you choose not to bet, then you are said to “check,” or pass on the option to bet to the next player.

b) If a player bets, you may “call” the bet, “raise” or “fold".

c) If a player checks and another player makes a bet, the player who checked may in turn raise the bet made by the other player. This is called a “check & raise".

Fourth Card (4th Street):

The next card to be dealt into the game will be the fourth card the players will receive in their hand. This is called “4th street.” The dealer will burn one card off the top of the deck and then always deal to the player closest to the dealer’s left and, moving clockwise around the table will deal each player one card face up. A round of betting will occur starting with the player with the highest three-card value. Starting with fourth street, and continuing through all further streets, all bets and raises in fixed limit games are made at the higher limit.

Fifth Card (5th Street):

The next card to be dealt into the game will be the fifth and final card the players will receive in their hand. This is called “5th street.”. The dealer will burn one card off the top of the deck and then always deal to the player closest to the dealer’s left and, moving clockwise around the table will deal each player one card face up. A round of betting will occur starting with the player with the highest four-card value. On fifth street, all bets and raises in fixed limit games are made at the higher limit.

Showdown:

Who shows first?
In a live game, generally players who feel that they have a good opportunity to win a pot will show their hand voluntarily. However, in many instances, players all stare at each other wondering who will show their cards first. To avoid this situation, our game employs the following standard rule:

The determination of which players’ cards will and must be shown first will lie with the player who had initiated the last bet, raise or re-raise.

This simply means that whoever created the last action on the 5th Street must show his cards first. If the player who had the action checked and all players checked, then the player who had the initial option to bet would show first. If a player checks and another player bets, then the player who bet will have his/her cards shown first. If a player checks, another bets and then another player raises, the raiser’s cards will be shown first.

Suppose a Player wins by default. Is the hand required to be shown?

Players that have won a pot do not have to show their cards if they were not called.

This means that if two or more players were playing and one player bets and the other player(s) fold, the player who has won the pot by default will not under any circumstances have their cards shown automatically. The winning players may choose to “show” or “don’t show”.

Do Players have to show their cards if they call a bet or a check on fifth street?

Players are required to show their cards if and only if they are the player who created the last action by betting or raising. If players call a bet and sees that they cannot win, they may “fold” or “show” their cards. However, if a player who has stayed in until the end mucks (fails to show) his hand, other players in the game may find out the hand by requesting that a hand history be e-mailed to them.

Who wins?

In our poker room, as with all, "cards speak." That means our dealer will find the best 5-card hand on the table and declare it the winner based on the universal poker hand rankings.

It is theoretically possible that two or more players can hold the best five-card hand. If there is a tie between two or more players, then the dealer will "split" the pot equally between all the winning players.

Five Card Stud Notable Rules

“Fixed Limit Games”

Most commonly called “fixed” limit games, this type of game limit structure is by far the most common betting structure you will find. A fixed limit game is one in which each bet will remain consistent through several betting rounds and then change at some predetermined point in later rounds. All bets will remain equal to the posted table limit. For example, in a 5-10 Five-Card Stud game, the bets will be as follows.

In the early betting rounds, a bet and any raises must be exactly $5. In later betting rounds, such as the last round, a bet and any raises must be exactly $10.

How do you bet & raise in a fixed limit Game?

a) Each bet in every betting round will be in strict compliance with a structured game.

b) If you choose not to bet, then you are said to “check,” or pass on the option to bet to the next player.

c) If a player bets, you may “call” the bet or “fold.”

d) If a player checks and another player makes a bet, the player who checked may then in turn raise the bet made by the other player. This is called a “check & raise.”

How many raises will be allowed?

The general poker rule is a “cap” of three raises allowed per betting round with three or more players. However, if there is a “heads up” situation whereby only two players remain in the game, then raises are unlimited.

The opening round will be a force wager determined by the game limit. The player with the lowest “door card” is forced to wager the minimum or “complete” it to the lower limit of the game. This is not a raise in the traditional sense. The player is only “bringing up” the bet to its normal minimum.

Third Street: The bet shall be the lower limit and all raises will be in the same increments only.

However, an exception occurs on Third Street when there is an open pair on the table. Any player may bet or raise the lower or higher limit of the game. This is called the “Third Street Rule.”

Fourth Street: The bet shall be the higher limit and all raises will be the same increments only.

Fifth Street: The bet shall be the higher limit and all raises will be the same increments only.