Stud Poker Variants

Abyssinia
PLAYERS: 3-12
INITIAL DEAL: None
PLAY: One card is turned face up on each side of the deck. Each player in turn has the option to buy one of the up cards or the top card from the deck, each at preset prices. After each round of purchasing comes a round of betting. Play continues until each player has 5 cards. Costs are assigned by card rank (2-5 = 25 cents, 6-K = 10 cents, A = 50 cents). Cardsfrom the deck are dealt up so the cost can be paid. Players may hold cards purchased.
WINNER: High and low hands split.

Auction
PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: two cards down to each player
PLAY: A number of cards equal to the number of players is turned up in the middle of the table. Each person then secretly chooses an amount of at least the minimum bet and places it in their hand. Then everyone drops their coins at once. The person who "bid" highest gets chooses one of the up cards and adds it to his hand, leaving it face up in front of him. The person who "bid" second highest chooses next, and so forth. If more than one person bid the same amount, then the person nearest a spot rotating clockwise from the left of the dealer chooses first with the other people choosing in clockwise order. All bids are added to the pot. This continues until all people have 7 cards. Then there is a single betting round starting with the high hand on the table, followed by a high/low/both declaration and a showdown.
WINNER: High and low hands split.

Baseball
PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: two down and one up to each player
PLAY: As with 7 card stud, with these exceptions: threes and nines are wild. If a four is dealt face up, the recipient immediately receives another card down.
WINNER: High hand
STANDARD VARIATIONS:

Chicago
PLAYERS: 4-7
INITIAL DEAL: two cards down and one up to each player
PLAY: As with 7 card stud, but whoever has the highest Spade in the hole (face down) gets half the pot.
WINNER: High hand and high spade in the hole split.
STANDARD VARIATIONS:

Cowpie Poker
PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: Two cards down and one up to each player.
PLAY: Deal and bet as in 7-card stud. After the betting round following the final down card, all remaining players split their hands into a 5-card hand and a 2-card hand. The 2-card hand must contain at least one down card. The 5-card hand must be a better hand than the 2-card hand. Following the split there is one more betting round.
WINNER: Highest 5-card hand and highest 2-card hand split the pot.

Dakota
PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: 3 cards down to each player
PLAY: After the deal, players simultaneously turn one card up. After each round of betting, players receive a new down card and must turn one down card up. Before getting the seventh down card, a player must decide whether or not to buy the Option. If he declines the option, he does not turn another card up. If he buys the Option (at a cost of the maximum allowed bet), he turns a card up normally. After a final betting round players declare hi/low/both and reveal their hands. Each player's lowest down card (and all other cards in their hand of the same rank) is wild if the player went high. Nothing is wild for low hands.
WINNER: High and low hands split

Dirty Schultz
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: two cards down and one up to each player
PLAY: As in 7 card stud, with the following variations: whenever a natural pair is dealt up to a player, the next card dealt up (and all cards of the same rank) becomes wild. If another pair is dealt up, the next up card replaces the previous wild as a new wild. If the second card of a pair is the last up card, nothing is wild.
WINNER: High hand

English Stud
PLAYERS: 3-6
INITIAL DEAL: 2 down, one up to each player
PLAY: As in 7 card stud, with the following exceptions: Players only get 6 cards. Before the sixth card is dealt, each player beginning at the dealer's left may exchange one card. If he discards an up card, he is dealt a new up card; if he discards a down card, he gets a new down card. A player may choose not to exchange. When all players have exchanged or stood pat, the sixth card is dealt. After the ensuing round of betting, players may make another exchange. This is followed by a final round of betting and a showdown.
STANDARD VARIATIONS:

Follow the Queen
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: two cards down and one up to each player
PLAY: Play the same as 7-card stud, with the following variations: All queens are wild. Additionally, when a queen is dealt up, the next card dealt up (and all cards of the same rank) is also wild. If another queen is dealt up, the next up card replaces the previous wild as a new wild card (but queens remain wild). If a queen is the last card dealt up, only queens are wild.
WINNER: High hand
STANDARD VARIATIONS:

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: 2 cards down, 1 up to each player, three down on the table
PLAY: The same as 7 card stud with these modifications: After the fourth card is dealt, flip the first of the table cards. This is The Good, and is all cards of the same rank are wild (but The Good card itself is not shared). After the fifth card is dealt, flip the second table card. This is The Bad, and all cards of the same rank must be discarded. After the 6th card is dealt, flip the last table card. This is The Ugly, and anyone who has an up card of the same rank must fold.
WINNER: High hand

Grocery Store Dots
PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: Two cards down and one up to each player, plus three up cards to the table (the grocery store) with the left-hand card marked with a chip.
PLAY: Deal and bet as in 7-card stud, with the following exception: before being dealt each up card, each player has the choice instead to buy his card from the grocery store. First card (the marked one) costs one betting unit, the second costs 2, and the third costs 3. If the player chooses not to buy, then he is dealt an up card normally. Prior to each potential purchase, the store is restocked as necessary from the deck. Note that this means that, if the dealer buys a card, the store shows only two cards during the ensuing betting round-- it is not restocked until the next dealing round. The remaining store stock is discarded after all players have four up cards. "Dots" consist of the pips in the center column of each number card: threes have 3 dots; twos, eights, and tens have 2 dots; aces, fives, sevens, and nines have 1 dot; fours, sixes, and face cards have no dots.
WINNER: Highest 5-card hand and the 7-card hand with the most dots split the pot.

Have a Heart
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: 2 down, 1 up to each player.
PLAY: As in 7 card stud, but whenever a player is dealt a heart face up, he takes a card (either up or down) from another player. The player whose card is taken does not draw a replacement.
WINNER: High hand.
STANDARD VARIATIONS:

Henway
PLAYERS: 3-5
INITIAL DEAL: 10 cards down to each player
PLAY: Players split their cards into two 5-card hands, laying each hand down in their desired order. Each rotating betting round is preceded by all players turning over the top cards from both of their hands.
WINNER: High and low hands split
STANDARD VARIATIONS:

Jack the Shifter
PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: 2 cards down and one card up to each player
PLAY: Normal seven card stud until a Jack is turned face-up. The player with the Jack may then name any 7 card stud game, and the rest of the hand is played out as that game. If another Jack is turned up, the owner of that Jack may name a different stud game, and so forth. The game named must be an accepted, named game within your poker circle-- no calling "6's wild" when you've got a pair of sixes (unless, of course, your group routinely plays a sixes wild game). A face-down Jack may be turned up at any time, at which point that player names a game. To prevent timing conflicts, before the final round of betting the dealer should ask each player, in turn, if they wish to reveal a jack, starting with the player with the best hand showing and proceeding clockwise. Any player who declines to show a Jack when asked at this time forfeits the ability to do so for the rest of the hand.
WINNER: High hand, unless changed by the game called.

Kings
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 3-10
INITIAL DEAL: 1 down to each player
PLAY: Each round, the top card off the deck is offered face-up to the player to dealer's left. If the player takes the card, the next card from the deck is offered face-up to the next player clockwise, and so forth. If a player rejects a card, the next player clockwise is offered the same card and has the same choice. Kings are wild and MUST be accepted. Once all players have accepted or rejected a card, all players who rejected are dealt an up card from the deck, which they must keep. Betting follows. Repeat until all players have 5 cards. Declare high/low. Anyone with a king, either up or down, must declare high. Bet again. Reveal hands.
WINNER: High and low hands split.

Kings and Little Ones
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 3-10
INITIAL DEAL: 5 down to each player
PLAY: As in 5 card draw, but after the draw there is no further betting. Instead, each player clockwise (starting to the dealer's left) declares whether he's in or out. If nobody stays in but the dealer, everyone in turn gets another chance to stay in. Players who stay in compare hands. Losers pay the amount of the pot to the winner. If only one player stays in, he takes the pot and the game ends. Otherwise the pot stays and the deal rotates. Kings are wild, as are all cards of the lowest rank in your hand.
WINNER: High hand

Mexican Stud
PLAYERS: 4-10
INITIAL DEAL: two cards down to each player.
PLAY: Players roll one of their two cards and then there is a betting round. Players are dealt another card down and roll one of their remaining two down cards, followed by a betting round. This continues until all players have five cards: one down, four up. Showdown after the final round of betting.
WINNER: High hand
STANDARD VARIATIONS:

Mexican Sweat
PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: seven cards face down to each player and one up card on the table.
PLAY: Do not look at your cards! This game is similar to Midnight Baseball, but without all the special cards. The player to the dealer's left is the lead player. The lead player starts rolling cards until his revealed hand beats the highest revealed hand on the table (initially, the single up card). As soon as his revealed hand becomes the best hand, he stops rolling cards and begins a round of betting. If he rolls all his cards and does not beat what is on the table, he is out and a betting round begins with the high hand. Either way, the next player becomes the new lead player and the process repeats, with a round of betting whenever someone stops rolling cards. If at any time the lead player rolls a card of the same rank as the card dealt up from the deck at the initial deal, he must immediately fold and a betting round begins with the high hand. The game continues until all the cards have been turned up or there is only one person left in the game.
WINNER: High hand
STANDARD VARIATIONS:

Midnight Baseball
PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: seven cards face down to each player and one up card on the table.
PLAY: Do not look at your cards! This game is similar to baseball, except you can't look at your cards until they're flipped up. The player to the dealer's left is the lead player. The lead player starts rolling cards until his revealed hand beats the highest revealed hand on the table (initially, the single up card). He must obey any payment rules which apply as he flips cards (paying for wild cards, fours, etc). As soon as his revealed hand becomes the new best hand, he stops rolling cards and begins a round of betting. If he rolls all his cards and does not beat what is on the table, he is out and a betting round begins with the high hand. Either way, the next player then tries to beat the high hand in the same manner, with a betting round ensuing whenever someone stops rolling cards. The game continues until all the cards have been turned up or there is only one person left in the game.
WINNER: High hand
STANDARD VARIATIONS:

The Price is Right
PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: two cards down to every player and two up cards in a row on the table next to the deck.
PLAY: Beginning with the player to the dealer's left and rotating around the table, each player has the opportunity to purchase a card. The leftmost up card costs a nickel, the second up card costs a dime, and the top down card from the deck costs 15 cents (feel free to adjust the amounts to suit your group-- some play nickel-dime-quarter, for example). Up cards stay up, down cards stay down. If the nickel up card is bought, the dime up card slides down and becomes the new nickel card. If the nickel or dime card is bought, the topmost card of the deck is dealt up to become the new dime card. This continues until everyone has 7 cards. A showdown occurs after one round of betting.
WINNER: High and low hands split
STANDARD VARIATIONS:

Royal Chicago
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: 2 down, 1 up to each player
PLAY: As in 7-card stud. If nobody wins (see below), the pot stays and the hand is redealt.
WINNER: Player with any two of: high hand, low spade in the hole, high spade in the hole.

Second Hand High
PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: Two cards down and one up to each player
PLAY: Deal and bet as in 7-card stud. Cards speak for themselves to form the best poker hand available within those 7 cards.
WINNER: Second highest hand, or the only remaining hand if all but one player fold.
STANDARD VARIATIONS:

Sequence
PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: 2 down, 1 up to each player
PLAY: As in 7 card stud, but: if a 2 turns face up, all twos become wild. If after that a 3 turns up, all threes are wild instead. And so on, with each successively higher number replacing the previous wild card rank if it appears face up.
WINNER: High hand
STANDARD VARIATIONS:

Shipwreck
PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: 2 down, 1 up to each player
PLAY: As in 7 card stud. Every player's low card in the hole, and all cards of the same rank in their hand, are wild. Note that since the last card is dealt face down, this can change a player's wild card.
WINNER: High hand
STANDARD VARIATIONS:

Ten-card Regrets
PLAYERS: 3-5
INITIAL DEAL: 10 cards down to each player Do not look at your cards! Each player will be forming two hands: a low on the left, and a high on the right. Each round players draw two of their 10 cards, look at them, and place them to their left or right. The cards can go to different sides or to the same side at the player's choice, but neither side can have more than five cards. One a card is placed to one side, it may never be moved to the other. When all players are ready they reveal their cards. There follows a round of betting. Repeat until all 10 cards are up. Cards speak for themselves when the last one is flipped. Hands on the left can only win low, and hands on the right can only win high. When evaluating hands, hands are only compared against other hands on the same side (lows aren't compared against highs).
WINNER: High and low hands split
STANDARD VARIATIONS:

Tens and Adders
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: 2 down, 1 up to each player
PLAY: As in 7 card stud, but: if a player has two cards (up, down, or mixed) which add to 10, they can be used together as a single wild card (an "adder"). If a player has an adder, then additionally all 10s they have are wild. Each player can have only one adder. Face cards are neither wild nor usable in adders.
WINNER: High hand
STANDARD VARIATIONS:

Turbo Five-card Stud
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: 4 down, 1 up to each player
PLAY: As in 5 card stud, but: after the first round of betting, each player is dealt a down card. Each player must then discard a down card and turn a down card face-up. After the bet, this is repeated. After the third betting round, players do not get more cards but must turn up one of their remaining two down cards before the final round of betting.
WINNER: High hand
STANDARD VARIATIONS:

Wall Street
PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: Two cards down and one up to each player, plus four up cards to the table (Wall Street) with the leftmost card marked with a chip.
PLAY: Deal and bet as in 7-card stud, with the following exception: before being dealt each up card, each player has the choice instead to buy his card from Wall Street. The first (marked) card costs one betting unit, the second card costs two units, the third costs 3 and the fourth 4. If the player chooses not to buy, an up card is dealt normally. Prior to each potential purchase, Wall Street is restocked from the deck if necessary. Note that this means that if the dealer buys a card, Wall Street shows only 3 cards during the ensuing betting round. The remaining Wall Street stock is discarded once all players have 4 up cards. After the betting round following the last down card players declare high-low, then hold one last betting round.
WINNER: High and low hands split

Want It? Want It? Got it! (aka Selection/Rejection)
PLAYERS: 3-7
INITIAL DEAL: two cards down to each player
PLAY: Rotating lead player. At the start of each round, the dealer flips up the top card and offers it to the leader. The leader can either accept it or pass. If passed, the card is then offered to the next player, who can also accept it or pass. If passed, the next player must take the card. A new card is turned up and offered to the next player in turn. This continues, skipping players who already received a card in the current round, until everyone has taken a card. Betting ensues, and a new round begins. This continues until everyone has four up cards. After that round of betting, everyone gets a 7th card down. After a final round of betting, everyone declares high/low/both and a showdown occurs.
WINNER: High and low hands split
STANDARD VARIATIONS:

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