These are called up cards. The first one to place a bet is the one whose up card is the highest. The player on the left goes next and so on.
A few people prefer to have the poker player with the smallest up card place the first wager. It’s up to the dealer to state before the dealing the cards who will begin placing the wager.
When the players have finished the first round of betting the dealer then deals one card each to the players. In this case, from this time on the player with the highest card will be the first one to place a wager right till the end of the game going clockwise.
When the players have ended the second round of wagers the dealer deals an open card to each player that opts to continue playing. Now the players have three open cards and one concealed card each. Then there is one more round of bets.
The same follows with the fourth and fifth and last card, which the dealer will hand out. Bets will be placed after each card has been dealt. At this point every player declares his cards and the one with the best poker game walks with the kitty.
The final scene of Cincinnati kid shows Lancey Howard’s (Edward G. Robinson) straight flush beats the kid’s (Steve McQueen) full house. This creates quite a ruckus although in fact this is unlikely.
GUIDELINES AND TACTICS
The important factor for winning five-card stud is poker skill because the clever player will always keep an eye on the opponents’ cards and gauge his odds. You must always keep track of the cards which of the players that have quit. (For more about assessing your chances for improving hand, see page 91 on ‘outs’.)
One very important factor that a player should know about five-card stud or should I say about poker games: If a player has cards that aren’t so good then it would be advantageous to quit even if it is only the first round. Although you could get lucky and get a good set of cards making your game better it would be to your advantage to quit. The odds are against you so the earlier you pack the better.
If you have a small pair with the first two cards you should exercise caution and quit early, this is especially so if you don’t get a three of a kind when you are dealt the third card. Another point to consider is, if your opponent has a high card showing and he is playing an aggressive game there is a possibility he has a pair of high cards.
Let’s say you have cards of two suits and you are hoping to get a flush, be careful. Hoping to get a flush is dicey in five-card stud even when you have cards of three to four suits. And if you have low cards then the risk is greater. (You could hope to make a pair if one of the cards is high). Let’s say another player has cards of the same suit then it would lessen your poker odds of getting the flush.
to be continued...