5 Card Stud books?

Any good books available on 5 card stud?

Dear JDP,

Stud literature is interesting because it varies not only by the number of cards played in a hand, but also by the sequence of which the hole cards are dealt.

(I.e. the stud game “7 up” circa 1863)


In my opinion the “Classic” form of 5-card stud is what has been referred to as “Wild horse Stud”


Which, because of its popularity, was at one time outlawed to play, by statute, in the State of California.That statute has been recended, and the playing of "Wild Horse Stud" is no longer considered a criminal act in California.


In my opinion the best book published on it’s play was “How to Win at Stud Poker”(180 pages) by James Wickstead published by Casino Press in New York. And copyright 1976 by Gamblers Book Club.


Wild Horse was played “Five cards, four faced up and the first one face down” (page 57 pg 3)

In this variant the bring- in was the highest first up card dealt.


It is my favorite because not only does it cover technique well, but it also has a good section on the mathematics of 5 card stud.


It also has an interesting section on the philosophy of the game. And a section on what Wickstesd called “Netods”(the combination of net and odds)


Other members of the forum may have other recommendations as to what they feel are even better works on the game. I hope this may be a help to you.


Most Sincerely,

Doc AZ

I've not seen the name wild horse stud used for 5cs before, interesting... According to David Parlett in the Oxford Guide to Card Games the original name was stud-horse poker, which I think means something along the lines of "you start with a good stud horse (ie hole-card) and build yourself a string". But who knows? It was supposedly invented by cowboys somewhere in the midwest.


On books: try Norman Zadeh's "Winning Poker Systems", which is cheap at $12 I think. It's pretty old now but it has some good charts and basic ideas on play, though the 5cs section is only a few pages long. There isn't much theory associated with 5cs, it comes down to psychology and poker courage more than calculation.

YOu might like to try out alligator stud if you can convince your poker school to spread it: it's 5cs with a two-card flip at the second round, making six cards in all: that's

(1)1+2+1+1. The flip gives you 19% chance of improving a starting pair at the second round, as opposed to about 4.5% in 5cs.

Dear Dave,


You very well may be right.


It is my understanding that years ago California attempted to outlaw gambling.


And that when they made it illegal to play Roulette and the other popular forms of gaming, that in the wording of the statute they also said that it was illegal to play “Wild Stud horse" or "Wild Horse Poker” since stud was so popular at the time.


Later when the poker card rooms opened in Gardenia, the authorities attempted to shut them down, on the grounds that there was a state statute making poker playing illegal.


The card room owners argued in court that the state statute had specifically outlawed "Stud' poker, but that they were playing Draw and other forms of poker in their card rooms and not stud.


It is my understanding that the card rooms defense was accepted, and that the card rooms were able to continue playing non-stud forms of poker.


And of course California went on to develop the largest poker rooms in the world.


So in a way you might say that Stud indirectly made California poker’s Mecca.


Most Sincerely,

Doc AZ

Dr Az, I've heard bits and pieces before about the California laws: it's a strange story alright: I didn't realize that it was a loophole in the law which allowed Draw to flourish. ld like to check out the poker rooms in Gardena one day (I'm a couple of oceans away..) but I might have to wait till they spread one or two games I've invented before I make the trip.


Gardena seems to have played a big role in the growth of lowball draw: Mike Caro in my old copy of Super Systems said that it was more popular than high-pokre, which is a huge swing in popularity away from the original poker game,