5 Card Stud follows the same pattern of the more popular 7 card stud, with the only difference being the number of cards dealt. Players are dealt five cards in four rounds and must make their best possible 5 card poker hand from the cards they are dealt.
The game begins with a small ante from all players at the table and each player is dealt two cards face down and one card face-up. The player with the highest face-up card begins the betting with forced bet (called the bring in) and play moves in a clockwise direction with players either calling the bring, completing the bet (raising to the lower limit) or folding. There is a limit of three re-raises in all betting rounds.
Next each player still in the hand is dealt another face-up card, followed by another betting round that begins with the player whose face-up cards make the best hand. Since there are less than 5 cards face-up,no straights flushes or full houses will count for this.
Next a third face-up card is dealt followed by another betting round.
Then a final face-up card is dealt followed by the final betting round and then a showdown. At the showdown players must make their best 5-card poker hand out of the seven cards they were dealt.
5 card stud can be summarized as 1 down, 4 up.