Online Poker Games

A Wide Range of Stud Poker Variants

Becoming an expert in stud poker games can be quite a challenge, especially if one intends to play almost all the variants of stud poker. Although there are only two standard games for stud poker, which are the Five-Card Stud and the Seven-Card Stud, there are innumerable studpoker variant splayed all over the United States.

Some of these stud poker variant sare the following:

• Option alley – also known as the “five-card” option, this is based on the five-card stud but played with a high-low split. There is also an additional “twist round”.

• Canadian stud – also known as “soko”, this is again based on the five-card stud. But poker players use two new hand values. These are the four-card straight which easily beats a one pair and the four-card flush which beats the four card straight. Of course, both the four-card straight and the four-card flush can be beaten by a two-pair.

• English stud – which can refer to any of these three games: First, there is the six-card option which is played 1-4-1 with an added twist round; Second, there is the London lowball; and third, there is the seven-card stud variant in which the sixth and seventh streets are considered twist rounds.

• Seven-card flip – by virtue of its name, the poker players flip open their cards. This stud poker variant begins by having each player receive four face-down cards. Each poker player chooses two from the down cards to flip open. Flipping the cards is done at the same time. Then, betting begins on the fourth street and the game follows the usual seven-card stud rules

• Kentrel – also known as “48”, this is based on the standard seven-card stud, but the poker players initially receive four face-down cards each. From the four cards, a poker player chooses one to discard, and another one to flip open. Thus, each poker player will finally have two face-down cards and one face-up cards. From this point, the poker players follow the rules of the eight-or-better high-low stud poker.

• Chicago – based on the rules of the seven-card stud, this variant only modifies the way the pot is split. That is, the pot is divided between the poker player who has the best high hand and the poker player who holds the highest-ranked spade from among his face-down cards. If the poker players opt for splitting the pot between the best high hand and the lowest-ranking space, the poker variant is called Little Chicago.

• Cowpie poker – also based on the rules of seven-card stud, this poker variant is nowhere near its end when the players reach Seventh Street. That is, after the seventh street, the poker players split their seven cards into two: five-card hand and two-card hand. The poker players must make sure that the five-card hand has a higher rank than the two-card hand. After the splitting of cards, there is another betting round, followed by a showdown. The pot is split between the best five-card hand and the best two-card hand.