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Poker Tip 1: Play few hands from early position. You will throw lots of hands away, but you will be saving money.

Poker Tip 2: Position is critical. Be aware that hands that you would fold in an early position can be raising hands in late positions

Poker Tip 3: Fit or fold. If the flop does not help your hand, you must consider folding, regardless how sweet it may have looked before the flop.

Poker Tip 4: Tread carefully. Many of your opponents will play A-K as strongly as a pair of aces or kings, but it is not. A-K is a powerful drawing hand but usually needs help on the flop to win the pot.

Poker Tip 5: Note that the use of community cards, the potential aspect of the game and the fact that on the flop you will see 70% of your hand for the cost of a single round of betting, means the best hand on the flop stands a good chance of holding up

Poker Tip 6: Be selective and aggressive. It’s the key to success.

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The main difference between Stud Poker and Draw Poker are that in Stud there is no draw and most of the cards are dealt face up. In Five-Card Stud Poker, there are four betting intervals. Because most of the cards are dealt face up, each player knows much more about the other players’ hands than in Draw Poker, leaving more room for strategy.

Because there is no draw, it is possible to play up to 10 players. However should all ten players stay in to the showdown, only two cards will not be used in the play, and 40 will be exposed. This is of course very unlikely, but nevertheless the more cards exposed the longer players might take pondering the chance of improving their hands and the game will become clumsy. I personally think that Five-Card Stud Poker is best played with six to eight players, although it is a better game than Draw Poker if there are fewer players.

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THE ANTE

It is not usual to have an ante in Five-Card Stud Poker, but you may agree with the other players to have one if they wish.

THE STAKES AND LIMITS

A common way of limiting the stakes in Five-Draw Stud Poker is to set one chip as the low limit, and set different upper limits, normally two chips for bets and raises during the first three betting intervals and e.g. five chips for the fourth interval.

THE GAME PLAY

After the shuffle and cut, the dealer deals one card face down to each player (hole- card), then one card face up. Each player examines his hole-card but does not reveal it. It is not shown until the showdown.

The player with the highest card facing up must bet the limits agreed. If two or more face-up cards are of the same rank, the holder of the one nearest the dealer’s left is the player who must open the betting. Thereafter, each player in turns must fold, call or raise. The betting continues round the table until all the bets of the players who haven’t folded are equalized.

The dealer then deals a second face-up card to each player who remains in the game.

After that there is then a second betting interval. The first player to speak is the one with the highest poker combination in his face-up cards. Straight and flushes do not count for this purpose; hence the highest possible combination is a pair. If more than one player holds a pair, the one with the highest pair comes first. If there are no pairs, the person with the highest card begins. Again if two or more players hold equal combinations, the player nearest the dealer’s left starts.

On the second and subsequent betting intervals, the player who speaks first may check rather than bet. Until a player has bet, subsequent players have the option to check, too. But as soon as a player bets, then subsequent players must either call or raise. When all bets are equal the betting interval ends. If during any betting interval after the first all the players check, the deal continues.

After the second betting interval, players are dealt a third face-up card.

The third betting interval begins with the player holding the highest combination

After that, players are dealt their last face-up card.

Finally there is a fourth and last betting interval.

THE SHOWDOWN

If all the players except one fold at any of the betting intervals, then the remaining player wins the pot. Otherwise the two or more players left in after the bets are equalized in the fourth betting interval reveal their hole-cards and the one with the best poker hand wins the pot.

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AIM OF THE GAME: To have the highest-ranking hand at the ned of the game.

NUMBER O PLAYERS: Four or more

HOW TO PLAY: Use the 52-card pack Aces are high. Te suits are all of equal value. The dealer is chosen by anyone dealing from a shuffled pack: First to get a jack becomes the first dealer. The cards are shuffled three times, lastly by the dealer , and the player to dealers right cuts. Crds are dealt one at a time, from the dealer’s left, until each player has five cards.

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BETTING: Stakes should be agreed in advance (cash or chips). Each player antes a chip into the pool at the start. One player acts as Banker. Betting normally starts to the dealer’s left and goes clockwise.

You can either call, raise or fold (sometimes called drop). If you fold, you discard your hand and lose your stake. If you call, you must put into the pool enough chips to match, but not exceed, what any other player has bet in that round. If you raise, you add more value to the call amount, subject to an agreed upper limit. When you raise, you must say clearly the amount you are raising by.

Once everyone has made a bet, or folded, the remaining players discard up t three cards, and receive placement cards from the dealer. Another betting round follows and you can again call, raise or fold.

Previous bets cannot be withdrawn. At the end of each betting round, each player has to have put the same amount into the pool. If you don’t do this, you have to fold. Then hands are shown (the showdown). The highest hand wins the pot.

HELPUL HINTS: Poker is a mixed of luck and psychology. You have to watch your fellow players closely, and study their bets. If you hold a high hand, don’t look to pleased or others will not raise the stakes and you will win less. If you have a low-scoring hand, fold unless you are feeling particularly lucky. If another player discards only one card, it’s a dangerous signal – or a bluff. After all, this is the game that gave rise to the expression ‘Poker Face’

SCORING: Poker hands consists of five cards.  Each type of hands has a rank relative to the others – below is a list from highest ranked to lowest.

STRAIGHT FLUSH
Five Cards in suit and sequence, ace being either high or low. A Royal Flush (ace-high straight flush) beats any other.

FOUR OF A KIND
Four cards of the same value (e.g. four kings or four twos), plus any other card.

FULL HOUSE
Three of a kind and a pair of another kind (e.g. three kings and two twos).

FLUSH
Five cards all of the same suit, but not in sequence.

STRAIGHT
Five cards in complete sequence of rank, ace either high or low, but of different suits.

THREE OF A KIND
Three cards of the same value, plus two others which are not a pair.

TWO PAIRS
Two sets of two of the same value, plus any other cards.

PAIR
One set of two of the same value, plus any three other cards.

HIGH CARD
Any hand which is not one of those listed above. If nobody has a Pair or better then the highest card wins. If there is a tie for highest, then the next highest card wins.

VARIANT: Once you have mastered Five_Draw Poker, you can introduce Wild Cards, either by using a joker in the pack, or by naming another card as wild. With a joker, you can make a hand called Five of Kind, which beats a Royal Flush (five aces is top, then five kings etc.).