5 Card Stud
Game Mechanics & Rules
The player places an Ante and receives five cards face-up while the dealer receives five cards with one exposed. The player must then either fold (forfeiting the Ante) or raise by placing a Play bet of exactly 2x the Ante. The dealer qualifies with Ace-King or higher; a non-qualifying dealer results in the Ante paying 1:1 and the Play bet pushing. Ranked payouts apply to strong player hands when the dealer qualifies. Royal Flush pays the top rate of 100:1 on the Play bet.
- Place your Ante wager. All five cards are then dealt: your cards face-up, the dealer's four cards face-down and one card face-up.
- Examine your five-card hand and the visible dealer card. Decide whether to fold (lose your Ante) or raise by placing a Play bet equal to exactly 2x your Ante.
- If you fold, the hand ends immediately and your Ante is collected. There is no further action after folding.
- If you raise, the dealer's four concealed cards are revealed. The dealer qualifies with an Ace-King combination or any made hand (pair or higher).
- A non-qualifying dealer hand pays your Ante at 1:1 and returns your Play bet regardless of your hand strength. A qualifying dealer hand is compared against yours.
- If you win with a qualifying dealer, the Ante pays 1:1 and the Play bet pays according to the progressive pay table: One Pair 1:1, Two Pair 2:1, Three of a Kind 3:1, Straight 4:1, Flush 5:1, Full House 7:1, Four of a Kind 20:1, Straight Flush 50:1, Royal Flush 100:1. Millionaire Mode is a paid $1 Royal Spades side bet that runs alongside the round; it does not reduce your main 5 Card Stud payouts.
Bets and Payouts
Player and dealer each get 5 cards. Dealer qualifies on Ace-King or better. Raise (2x Ante) or fold. Four optional side bets cover the combined 6-card hand, all-colour player surfaces, face-card density, and all-even hands. Millionaire Mode adds a $1 Royal Spades ticket; main-table payouts are unchanged when MM is on.
Main bet
| Bet | Payout | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Ante (dealer does not qualify) | 1:1, Raise pushes | Ante pays 1:1 regardless of player hand strength. |
| Ante win (dealer qualifies) | 1:1 | Ante pays 1:1 on win. |
| Raise win (by hand rank) | 1:1 to 100:1 | Pair 1:1, Two Pair 2:1, Trips 3:1, Straight 4:1, Flush 5:1, Full House 7:1, Quads 20:1, Straight Flush 50:1, Royal Flush 100:1. |
Side bets
| Bet | Payout | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Combined Six | 7:1 to 1000:1 | Best 5-card poker hand made from your original 5 cards plus the dealer's up card. Paytable: Royal Flush 1000:1, Straight Flush 200:1, Four of a Kind 100:1, Full House 20:1, Flush 15:1, Straight 10:1, Three of a Kind 7:1. |
| Colour Bonus | 17:1 / 35:1 | All 5 original cards share the same colour. Pays more when they are also the same suit. Paytable: Flush (all 5 same suit) 35:1, Same Colour (all 5 red or all 5 black) 17:1. |
| Royal Edge | 1:1 to 20,000:1 | More face cards (J/Q/K) means a bigger win. Four matching Jacks, Queens or Kings plus another face card pays the top prize. Paytable: Royal Quads (4 of one face rank + another face card) 20,000:1, All Face (any 5 J / Q / K) 1,500:1, Four Face (4 face cards) 20:1, Three Face (3 face cards) 1:1. |
| All Even | 30:1 to 14,000:1 | All 5 original cards are even-rank (2/4/6/8/10/Q). Pays more when they share colour or suit. Paytable: Suited (all 5 same suit) 14,000:1, Coloured (all 5 red or all 5 black) 500:1, Mixed Colour (any 5 even) 30:1. |
Millionaire Mode side bet
| Bet | Payout | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Royal Spades ($1) | $1,000,000 max | Each round the selected card sample is checked for the six top spades (9, 10, J, Q, K, A of spades). 6 hits $1,000,000, 5 hits $5,000, 4 hits $325, 3 hits $20, 2 hits $2, 0-1 hits no payout. Main payouts unchanged. |
Controls and Settings
Shared settings plus 5 Card Stud keyboard shortcuts for raise/fold.
Settings
- Sound toggles SFX.
- Effects toggles celebrations.
- Voices plays character voice-pack lines on real-money wins above the threshold.
- Voice Pack live-loaded character selection.
- Instant Bet skips deal animation.
- Speed Slow / Normal / Fast.
- Show Tips the guided walkthrough and in-game tips.
Keyboard Shortcuts
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| Space | Deal or raise (post-deal). |
| F | Fold. |
| Q | Halve bet. |
| E | Double bet. |
| M | Mute. |
| I | Toggle Instant Bet. |
| ,./ | Slow / Normal / Fast speed. |
Play Modes
5 Card Stud supports Manual only. Each hand requires a raise/fold decision.
Manual
Set Ante, press Deal. Decide raise or fold based on your hand and the dealer up-card. Hand settles.
Replay and Shared Replay
Your own replays
Each completed hand joins your history as it settles. Click any row for its details, or press Replay to watch it again with the original cards and decision.
Shared replays
Every hand has a shareable link. Anyone can watch without logging in.
What gets reproduced
Replays play back the recorded hand exactly as it happened. Balances are not re-applied.
Optimal Strategy & Analysis
Optimal 5 Card Stud strategy involves a more nuanced raise/fold decision than the single-threshold Trio Poker rule. The baseline rule is: always raise with a pair or better; always fold below Ace-King; with Ace-King, a matching dealer card alone is not enough to justify raising. The decision depends on your full hand and the dealer's upcard.
No strategy can reduce this edge below the published figure. Pair Magic-equivalent structures in 5 Card Stud do not exist; all Ante and Play action is combined. The 2x Play bet creates a larger variance profile than even-money raise games - winning sessions are larger, but losing sessions are correspondingly more expensive.
Royal Flush pays 100:1 on the Play bet. At a $10 Ante and $20 Play bet, a Royal Flush yields $2,000 profit from the Play pay table alone when the dealer qualifies, plus $10 from the Ante. The probability of a Royal Flush in a five-card hand from a 52-card deck is 4 / 2,598,960, approximately 1 in 650,000. The $2,000 Royal Flush profit contributes approximately $0.001682 per initial hand: $2,000 × 4/2,598,960 × 837,990/1,533,939.
Bankroll requirements for 5 Card Stud are higher than many table games due to the 2x raise commitment and medium-high volatility rating. A session bankroll of 80-120 Ante units is recommended to survive typical downswings without being forced out of position. Millionaire Mode is a paid $1 Royal Spades side bet that runs alongside the round; it does not reduce your main 5 Card Stud payouts.
Provably Fair Verification
5 Card Stud hands are generated by applying the SHA-256 Fisher-Yates algorithm to a standard 52-card deck using the concatenation of server seed, client seed, and hand nonce. Cards 1-5 go to you; card 6 is the dealer's upcard, and cards 7-10 remain concealed. The complete ten-card sequence is determined before any card is displayed. The server seed is committed as its SHA-256 hash prior to session start and revealed in full when you end the fairness session, enabling retroactive verification of every deal.
Millionaire Mode is a paid $1 Royal Spades side bet that runs alongside the round; it does not reduce your main 5 Card Stud payouts.
The face-up dealer card is the sixth card in the deal sequence - this matters for verification. When reconstructing a hand, the ten-card sequence is: player[1..5], dealer[1] (face-up), dealer[2..5] (face-down). Verification tools that implement the deal order correctly will reproduce the exact visible and concealed cards for each historical hand.
Millionaire Mode Technical Details
Millionaire Mode is a paid $1 Royal Spades side bet added to every round. Main-table payouts are NOT reduced. The required main wager must meet the displayed Millionaire Mode minimum.
Each round, the card sample selected for the side bet is checked. The Royal Spades are the six top spades - 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace of spades. Every distinct Royal Spade in the sample counts as one hit; a repeated rank does not count twice and printed jokers never count.
Paytable per $1 side bet: 6 hits = $1,000,000; 5 hits = $5,000; 4 hits = $325; 3 hits = $20; 2 hits = $2; 0 or 1 hits pay nothing.
The $1,000,000 prize is pre-funded and paid in a single transaction on six hits. Lower tiers pay alongside the round settlement. Royal Spades pays separately whether your main bet wins or loses.
Frequently Asked Questions
What side bets does 5 Card Stud offer and what are their payouts?
Four side bets are available: Combined Six, Colour Bonus, Royal Edge, All Even. Each is a separate wager placed before the round and settles under the conditions shown in the side-bet table.
What is 5 Card Stud and how does it work?
Players post an Ante, receive five face-up cards versus the dealer's four hidden and one revealed, then choose to fold or raise with a 2x Play bet. The dealer qualifies with Ace-King or better. Winning hands pay progressive amounts from 1:1 (One Pair) to 100:1 (Royal Flush) on the Play bet. Millionaire Mode is a paid $1 Royal Spades side bet that runs alongside the round; it does not reduce your main 5 Card Stud payouts.
How does Millionaire Mode function in 5 Card Stud?
Millionaire Mode is a paid $1 Royal Spades side bet per round. Main-table payouts are NOT reduced. Each round the selected card sample is checked; every distinct Royal Spade - 9, 10, J, Q, K, A of spades - is one hit (printed jokers never count). Paytable: 6 hits = $1,000,000, 5 = $5,000, 4 = $325, 3 = $20, 2 = $2, 0-1 = no payout. The jackpot is pre-funded.
How can I verify 5 Card Stud is provably fair?
5 Card Stud uses SHA-256 Fisher-Yates card generation. The server seed is committed as its hash before session start. End the fairness session to reveal its server seed. Cards are assigned in deal order: player[1-5], dealer[1] face-up, dealer[2-5] concealed. Verification requires applying the published algorithm to the revealed server seed, recorded client seed, and hand nonce. Millionaire Mode is a paid $1 Royal Spades side bet that runs alongside the round; it does not reduce your main 5 Card Stud payouts.
Which cryptocurrencies are accepted for 5 Card Stud?
Deposits are made in crypto, and the cashier lists the coins accepted. You play 5 Card Stud in whichever of your balances you select, and every stake and payout is settled in that currency. Withdrawals return on-chain to a wallet address you nominate at cash-out time, subject to standard network confirmation.
What is the mathematically optimal strategy for 5 Card Stud?
Optimal strategy: always raise with a pair or better; fold below Ace-King; with Ace-King, a matching dealer card alone is not enough to justify raising. Consider your full hand and the dealer upcard. No wagering system reduces the published 5.2% house edge. Millionaire Mode is a paid $1 Royal Spades side bet that runs alongside the round; it does not reduce your main 5 Card Stud payouts.
