Stud Poker Variations
AUCTION
Players: Three to seven.
Deal: Two cards facedown to each player.
Play: A number of cards equal to the number of players is turned up in the middle of The table. Each player then secretly chooses an amount of at least the minimum Bet and places it in their hand. Everyone drops their coins at once and the person who bid the highest gets to choose on of the up cards and adds it to his hand, leaving it face-up in front of him. The person who bid the second highest chooses next and so forth. Should more than one person bid the same amount then the person nearest a spot turning clockwise from the dealer chooses first with the other players choosing in clockwise order. All bids are added to the pot and continues till all players have seven cards. There is a single betting round starting off with the high hand and followed by high-low or both at showdown.
Winner: High and low hands split.
BASEBALL
Players: Three to seven.
Deal: Two cards facedown and one face-up to each player.
Play: As with Seven-card-stud except that threes and nines are wild. If a four is dealt face-up the player immediately receives another card facedown.
Winner: High hand. Variations: Paying for wild cards. Paying for the extra card when a four comes face-up. Letting someone with a facedown four to flip it face-up and receive an additional card. Pay a set amount for wild and extra cards.
CARRIBEAN
Players: Three to eight.
Deal: Each player is dealt five cards.
Play: Ante starts a minimum bet and each is dealt five cards. The dealer show one Of his and if you want to stay in you bet exactly twice your ante or fold. The Dealer needs A-K or better to qualify and if he cant he pays off your ante if You are still in the game. If he qualifies he pays off your ante and your bet if You beat him. The bet (not the ante) pays off in multiples for; 2 pair (2x), trips (3x), straight (4x), flush (5x), full house (7 x), four of a kind (20x), straight flush (50x) and a royal flush (200x).
Winner: High hand.
CATHY'S GAME
Players: Three to eight.
Deal: The first player to dealer's left is dealt one card facedown.
Play: The player must decide whether to keep that card or replace it with another one from the deck. If the player replaces a card then the player must put a marker on his card to show that a replacement has occurred. Each player places markers on their cards indicating replacements and is entitled to only one replacement per hand. This proceeds with a betting round and the deal continues with each player receiving a face-up card toward the end of the Five-card stud hand. Each player who has not drawn a replacement card must choose as each card is dealt to him, whether a replacement is wanted. Followed by a betting round and after each dealing round.
Winner: Low hand (Ace-2-3-4-5 lowest).
CHICAGO
Players: Four to seven.
Deal: Two cards facedown and one face-up to each player.
Play: As with Seven-card-stud but the player who has the highest Spade in the hole (facedown) gets half the pot.
Winner: High hand and high spade in the hole split. Variations: Adding wild cards.
COWPIE
Players: Three to seven.
Deal: Two cards facedown and one face-up to each player.
Play: As in Seven-card-stud after the betting round and following the final facedown card, all the remaining players split their hands into a five-card hand and a two- card hand. The two-card hand must have one facedown card and the five-card hand must be a better hand than the two-card hand. Following a split there is one more betting round.
Winner: Highest five-card hand and highest two-card hand.
DIRTY SCHULTZ
Players: Three to seven.
Deal: Two cards facedown and one face-up to each player.
Play: As in Seven-card-stud except that whenever a natural pair is dealt face-up to a Player, the next card dealt face-up after that becomes wild (and all cards of the same rank). If another pair is dealt face-up then the next face-up card replaces the previous wild card. If the second card of a pair is the last face-up card then nothing is wild.
Winner: High hand.
ENGLISH
Players: Three to six.
Deal: Two face-down and one face-up to each player.
Play: As in Seven-card-stud but with the following exceptions; players only get six cards. Before the sixth card is dealt, each player beginning at the dealer's left may exchange one card. Should he discard an up card he is then dealt a new up card. If he discards a down card, he gets a new down card. A player may choose not to exchange and when all players have exchanged, the sixth card is dealt. A betting round is followed and players may make one more exchange followed by a final round of betting and showdown.
Winner: High hand. Variations: Pay to exchange. With five players the game is played with seven cards. With six players it is played with seven cards.
FOLLOW THE QUEEN
Players: Three to seven.
Deal: Two cards facedown and one face-up to each player.
Play: Played the same as Seven-card-stud but all Queens are wild and when a Queen is dealt face-up the next card dealt up and all cards of the same rank are also wild. Should another Queen be dealt face-up the next up card replaces the previous wild card as a new wild card but Queens still remain wild.
Winner: High hand. Variations: Pay for Queens. Queens are not wild. All cards after Queen are wild.
HAREM
Players: Three to seven.
Deal: Same as in Seven-card stud.
Play: Same as Seven-card stud except that Jacks and Kings are wild. A Queen in a Hand disqualifies any wild Jacks and Kings in the player's hand. Three Queens In a hand is a Harem and that player wins the game.
Winner: High hand.
HAVE A HEART
Players: Three to seven.
Deal: Two facedown and one face-up to each player.
Play: As in Seven-card-stud but whenever a player is dealt a heart face-up he takes either an facedown or face-up card from another player. The player whose card is taken does not draw a replacement.
Winner: High hand. Variations: Trade a Heart. You must trade one of your own cards with the card you take.
HENWAY
Players: Three to five.
Deal: Ten cards facedown to each player.
Play: Players split their cards into two five-card hands laying each hand down in their desired order. Each rotating betting round is followed by all players turning over the top cards from both sets of hands.
Winner: High and low hands split. Variations: Use wild cards.
LONDON LOWBALL/RAZZ
Players: Three to seven.
Deal: As in Seven-card stud.
Play: Played with Ace-to-five low hand values. The game is played with a bring-in paid by the player with the highest-ranking face-up card on the initial deal. aces are always low cards in Razz poker even for the purpose of assigning the bring-in. On the second round the player with the lowest exposed opoker hand begins the betting. London Lowball stud poker is Seven-card stud poker played with Ace-to-six low hand values and is usually played at pot limit or no limit and is identical to Razz poker.
Winner: Lowest five-card poker hand.
MEXICAN STUD/ROLL YOUR OWN
Players: Four to ten.
Deal: Two cards facedown to each player.
Play: Players roll one of their two cards followed by a betting round. Another card is dealt and players roll one of their remaining two facedown cards, followed by betting round. This continues till all players have five cards, one facedown and four face-up. Showdown after final betting round.
Winner: High hand. Variations: High-low face down card and all other cards of the same rank in that hand is wild.
MEXICAN SWEAT
Players: Three to seven.
Deal: Seven cards facedown to each player and one card face-up on the table.
Play: Players are not to look at their cards and this game is much the same as Midnight Baseball but without all the special cards. The player to the dealer's left is the lead player and starts rolling his cards until his revealed hand becomes the best the highest revealed hand on the table. When his revealed hand becomes the best hand he stops rolling cards and begins a round of betting. If he rolls all his cards and does not beat what is on the table then he is out and a betting round ensues with the high hand. Either way the next player becomes the new lead player and the process is repeated with a round of betting whenever someone stops rolling. Should a lead player roll a card of the same rank as the cards dealt from the original deal he must then fold and a betting round begins with the high hand. The came continues until all the cards have been turned up or there is only one person left in the game. Variations: If a player rolls all his cards without beating the high hand there in no betting round and the next player begins rolling immediately.
MIDNIGHT BASEBALL
Players: Three to seven.
Deal: Seven cards facedown to each player and one face-up card on the table.
Play: Players are not allowed to look at their cards and this game is almost the same as Baseball except that you cannot look at your cards until they are flipped up. The player to the dealer's left is the lead player who starts rolling his cards until his revealed hand beats the highest revealed hand on the table. He must obey and payment rules apply when he flops cards paying for wilds cards, fours, etc. As soon as his revealed hand becomes the new best hand he stops rolling cards and begins a round of betting. Should he roll all his cards and does not beat the table he is then out and betting round begins with the high hand. Either way the next player must then try to beat the high hand in the same manner. A betting round occurs whenever a player stops rolling his cards. This continues until all the cards have been turned up or there is only one person left in the game.
Winner: High hand. Variations: A player rolls his cards without beating the high hand and there is no betting round, the next player begins rolling immediately. Players may look at their cards and lay down the cards of their choice until their open hand beats what is on the table.
SECOND HAND HIGH
Players: Three to seven.
Deal: Two cards facedown and one face-up to each player.
Play: Deal and bet as in Seven-card-stud.
Winner: Second highest hand or the only remaining hand if all but one player fold. Variations: Play standard poker format. Play with wild cards.
SEQUENCE
Players: Three to seven.
Deal: Two facedown and one face-up to each player.
Play: As in Seven-card-stud but if a two face-up, all two's become wild. After that A three turns up then all threes are wild and so on.
Winner: High hand. Variations: High-low.
SEVENS TAKE ALL
Players: Three to seven.
Deal: Normal Seven-card stud except no wilds and a pair of sevens is the highest possible hand. You cannot have three sevens anywhere in your seven cards and only a pair counts.
Winner: Pair of sevens.
SIX-CARD
Players: Three to seven.
Deal: The same as Seven-card stud.
Play: Except that the last face-up betting round is removed.
Winner: High hand.
SIX KICK
Players: Three to eight.
Deal: As in Seven-card stud except with only six cards in total.
Play: Same as Seven-card stud except that after the sixth card is dealt and the bets are made, each player in turn may pay to have a card in their hand replaced. A face- up card is replaced by an up card and a facedown card is replaced by a down card. The cost of getting a face-up card I two times the minimum bet. Betting round is held after each kick (draw). There are two kicks followed by the final bet and showdown.
Winner: High and low hand splits.
STUD POKER
Players: Three to ten.
Deal: One facedown and 1 face-up or two facedown and one face-up to each player.
Play: Followed by betting round and after each round of betting each player is dealt one card face-up except for the last card which is dealt facedown. Showdown after the last round.
Winner: High and low hands split. Variations: Last card dealt face-up. Adding wilds cards. Canadian Stud.
TEN
Players: Three to five.
Deal: Ten cards facedown to each player.
Deal: Players are not to look at their cards and flips a card and without looking at the other player's cards, places it face-up to his left or right. Cards on the left form a hand going low and cards on the right form a hand going high. A round of betting occurs and this is repeated until all ten cards are up. No hand can have more than five cards.
Winner: High and low hand splits. Variations: Use wild cards.
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY
Players: Three to seven.
Deal: Two cards facedown and one face-up to each player and three on the table.
Play: The same as Seven-card-stud but after the fourth card is dealt, the first table card is flipped. This is 'the good' and all cards of the same rank are wild but 'the good' card itself is not shared. After the fifth card is dealt, flip the second table card and this is 'the bad' and all cards of the same rank must be discarded. After the sixth card is dealt, flip the last table card and this is 'the ugly'. Anyone who has an face-up card of the same rank must fold.
Winner: High hand.
WANT IT, WANT IT, GOT IT
Players: Three to seven.
Deal: Two cards facedown to each player.
Play: At the start of each round the dealer flips up the top card and offers it to the leader. The leader can accept or pass and if passed the card is then offered to the next player who can also accept of pass. If passed the next player must take the card. A new card is turned up and offered to the next player in turn and this continues, skipping players who have already received a card in that round until everyone has received a card. Betting and a new round begins which continues until each player has four up cards. Another betting round and each player receives a seventh card facedown. After final round of betting each player shows his high/low or both and showdown occurs.
Winner: High and low hands split. Variations: Each person in turn may reject the first card dealt to them but must take the next card as in Five-card-stud.
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