[CarlosChadha]

Hi Shane,

Unfortunately stud is the most complex game to talk about starting hand requirements because strict guidlines with actually hand values are impossible to give when you can see 10 card of the deck in the first round of betting (as upposed to holdem's 2 or omaha's 4). I could probably write you a book about it here in this post, but lucky for me both Ashley Adams and Roy West have written excellent books that address this starting hand requirements for a new player.

And yes...stud is dying...outside of LA, Vegas, atlantic City, or Foxwoods, it is almost impossible to find anything other than 1-5 spread limit (or other similar low limit games). Since few young players are getting interested in stud, the average age of the players in the places where it actually is spread at middle limits seems to be pushing 50...which means that soon the regulars will be literally dying along with the game;-)

Regards,
Carlos