Stud Poker Variations: Mississippi Stud / Mexican Stud
The name of the game in poker is to have fun (ok, really it’s to make money and win big, but fun is right up there too!) And when it comes to stud poker, two of the most “fun” games are Mississippi Stud and Mexican Stud.
Mississippi Stud Poker was introduced as a means to make seven-card stud play easier than playing with no limit and pot limit games. As a result, it is becoming more and more popular amongst the players.
Its betting structure is similar to that of Texas Hold ‘Em, which is generally a fixed limit game with the last two rounds doubling the limit of the first two rounds. As a result, the bring-in is expectedly lower than the first round’s usual limit.
In Mississippi Stud, the first deal is what you would find in your standard seven-card stud game. Upon betting, each player is then dealt two more “up” cards (instead of one), which ultimately provides two down cards and three up cards to all “in” players. A second betting round provides another up card, before a third betting round takes place. The fourth deal deals a face up card as its last card, leaving players with two down cards and five up cards total. Then a standard showdown will occur.
Mexican Stud Poker is a form of the “Roll Your Own Five-Card Stud” play – meaning it’s essentially Five-card stud played with a stripped deck and wild cards. The game is also known as Mexican Poker, or Stud Loco.
Here’s an example: One of the more popular variants of this game is played in the Casino San Pablo in Northern California, and has an interesting set of rules. The card sets of 8, 9 and 10 are taken out of the deck, with one Joker card added into the deck for play (making for a total of 41 cards). The 7 cards and “J” become consecutive, replacing the missing sequential cards in between. A flush will beat out a full house (as it is now harder to obtain due to the diminished cards of each suit). The Joker also plays as a wild card if it is face up, but is fully wild if presented face down. Get all that?
While it sounds complicated, like any other poker game, you’ll swiftly get the hang of it (after, of course, the sharks take your money in the first few hands!) But we urge you to give these games a try, as they can really be fast, furious, and fun.
