Five Card Stud
Most of the hands that win in Five-Card Stud are high cards and pairs. As such, don’t stay in hands where you’re trying to make a straight or a flush unless you have three cards on the Third Street that make a straight flush.
STARTING HANDS
Since you’re only playing with five cards, good starting hands are intensely important in Five-Card Stud be prepared to fold right away if your cards aren’t on your starting hands list. Generally, you should fold if you don’t have at least a pair in your first three cards, and always fold when your opponents’ upcards beat yours and you don’t have a strong hand.
The following are good starting hands that you can play:
- A pair doesn’t matter what the value is (you should play low pairs aggressively and call/bet on high pairs)
- Your two cards are higher than any of your opponents’ upcards (for example, you have 8-7 and none of the other players’ upcards are higher than 6)
- High hole card that beats all of the upcards on the table (for example, you have a J down and 5 up and none of the players’ upcards are higher than 10)
- High upcard that beats all of the players’ upcards with a high card in the hole
Don’t forget the cards that have been folded you need to keep track of the live cards so you know if they stand a chance of showing up for your hand.
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