Stud poker variants and history

Poker is one of the most popular card games that can be played in online or offline casinos alike. There are also several online establishments dedicated to poker games, along with many real life, brick-and-mortar poker clubs around the world. Also, poker is played by friends or family for fun and entertainment.

There are three main variants of poker games played around the world: draw games, like Five Card Draw, hold’em games, like Texas Hold’em (the most popular poker game in the world) and stud games, not to be neglected.

Stud poker differs in many aspects from the other two variants. For example, there is no fixed order for betting in stud games – after the cards are dealt, the player with the strongest face-up cards usually being the first one to bet in the second round.

Stud poker has a long history, the first variant of the game – with three cards – being played as early as the American Revolutionary War. Later, during the American Civil War soldiers played a five card stud game. These games were the base for the modern variants of the game, including the the seven card variant that has gained much popularity recently.

Seven-card stud is probably the most popular variant of the game, but there are several other variations of the game, like Six-card stud, played just like the seven card variant, but with a lower number of cards, or Mexican, Caribbean or Mississippi stud games or high-low variations of the game, that are also quite popular.

Stud games also have a popular variant called Razz poker, with an increasing number of players choosing this one in online casinos and poker establishments. Razz is actually a mirror of the classic Seven card stud poker game – instead of winning with the strongest hand, you have to have the weakest one to take the pot.

Generally, the hand rankings of stud games are similar to the ones known for classic poker games – the straight flush is the highest combination of cards, followed by the rest of the hands known for everyone – except for Razz, where the lowest hand wins. In some variants wild cards are used, but usually the stud poker games are played using a standard 52-card deck.