There are several variations of stud poker that are commonly played today. Stud poker is generally defined as a game in which a combination of face up and face down cards are dealt to each player in multiple betting rounds. While there are some rules that are consistent throughout all stud poker games, some details are modified depending on the variation of stud that is being played.

The most common game of stud poker is called seven-card stud. In this version there are between two and eight players. Each player is dealt a total of seven cards. Three of the cards are dealt face down and the other four are face up. The goal of seven-card stud is to make the best five-card hand you can, using any combination of the seven cards.

In seven-card stud all players are forced to ante. The ante is usually one-fifth the low limit bet size. In this game there are five betting rounds.

Five-card stud is very similar to seven-card stud; the primary difference is that each player is dealt five cards rather than seven. The first card is dealt face down and the remaining four are dealt face up.

Another variation of stud poker is called seven card stud eight or better. This game is also known as seven-card stud hi lo. This version is played with between two and eight players. Each player is given three cards face down and four cards face up. The objective of this variation is to make your best five card high hand and best five card low hand. The player with the best high hand wins fifty percent of the pot, and the player with the best low half wins the other half.

If one player has both the best high and the best low hand, then they win the entire pot. This is referred to as scooping the pot. In order for a hand to qualify as low, it must contain five cards that are all lower than eight. If there are no low hands that meet this requirement then the player with the winning high hand scoops the pot.

Razz is another variation of seven-card stud. In this game, the rules for traditional seven-card stud remain the same. The difference is rather than the high hand winning the player with the lowest hand is the winner. Straights and flushes do not count against the hand being low.

Another popular variation of seven card stud is called follow the queen. In this game the cards are dealt as they are in regular seven-card stud. However, when playing this version of stud poker if any player is dealt a queen face up the card dealt immediately after the queen is considered wild for all players.

Another variation of the traditional seven-card stud is called Chicago or Black Mariah. This game is a split pot version. The high hand winner will split the pot with the player with the highest spade in the hole. If the highest hand and the highest spade are help by the same player then that player scoops the pot.

Baseball is another type of seven-card stud poker. In this game three and nines are wild, for strikes and innings in a baseball game.

Mississippi Stud is a variation that has a structure more typical to that of Texas Hold’em.

Blind stud is a stud poker game where all cards dealt face down. This game is not very popular at poker tables today because of its high difficulty level.