Stud Style Poker Games

If you want to start playing poker, you may feel a little bit daunted by all the different styles of the game that are available. At casinos or in ‘real life’ poker games you may find there are only a few types of poker that are open to you to play, but now online poker is so easily accessible you can pretty much choose whichever style you like the idea of and play it with real people over the internet for money. There are also lots of video games and apps that let you play poker against real or computer generated opponents simply for fun or in game only credits, which can be a great way to learn the style you have chosen before you start betting with real cash.

Fortunately, while there are dozens of different types of poker, most variants fall into three major subcategories. Stud poker, such as five card stud, community card poker, such as Omaha or Texas Hold ‘Em, and draw poker, such as five card draw. In stud poker, players are dealt some of the cards in their hand face up, and some face down, so opponents know what some of your cards are, but not all of them. There are several rounds of betting, depending on how many cards are dealt and the betting systems in play, and either the last player in the game (because everyone else has folded) or the player with the best hand wins.

The cards that are dealt face down in stud poker are referred to as ‘hole cards’, and thee are the ones you know the value of but the other players do not. This is what lead to the common expression of having an ‘ace in the hole’, meaning something secret that can help you.

Stud poker is a fun style to play because you can employ all kinds of different strategies based on what you think your opponents might be doing. From their visible cards and the way they are betting, you can try and guess how strong their hands are compared to yours and play accordingly. As with all styles of poker, a big part of the game is bluffing and being able to guess when someone else is bluffing, and this is what makes it really entertaining and challenging, despite being quite a simple game to learn. There are lots of variants within stud poker, like five card stud, seven card stud, Mississippi stud and Razz, but they all work on the principle of having some cards face up and some hidden.