Mississippi Stud is a casino table game that appeals to younger players. It has more straightforward strategies and a lower house advantage than traditional BlackJack. It is like a shortened version of Texas Hold’em.
This game is like other poker-based table games, such as Caribbean Stud, Three Card Poker, and Let It Ride. It is a house-banked game, which means players play against a house dealer. Other players at the table are not opponents, unlike in other poker games like Poker 99.
Gameplay
Each player makes an ante bet and receives two cards facing down. The other players should not see these cards.
Players have two options after looking at their cards. You may fold and wait for the next hand, or you can make a wager in the first circle or the “Third Street.” The bet can be once, twice, or thrice the ante bet. The dealer pulls the first community card and places it facing up on the table so all players can see.
Each player again has two options after seeing the first community card. You can fold once more and lose all wagers up to that point. Or you can place a bet once, twice, or thrice your ante bet in the “Fourth Street” circle. The dealer then exposes the second of the community cards.
After seeing the second new card, players get the final chance to choose between the two actions. You can fold and again lose all wagers up to that point. Or you can place another bet of once, twice, or thrice of your ante bet in the “Fifth Street” circle. All wagering for this hand ends at this point. The dealer then exposes the third and final community card.
Winning payout table
Mississippi Stud hands are not like other house-banked games’ hands. You do not compare the cards to a dealer’s hand but against a payout table. The result of the player’s hand dictates the payout. It is like video poker in a sense.
A player who has at least a pair of sixes as a final five-card hand will not lose and keeps all wagers. This player begins the next hand with an ante bet. A couple of sixes through tens is a push. Of course, higher five-card hands have higher payoffs. Check out the following for payoffs for the other hands.
- Royal Flush = 500 to 1
- Straight Flush = 100 to 1
- Four-of-a-Kind = 40 to 1
- Full House = 10 to 1
- Flush = 6 to 1
- Straight = 4 to 1
- Three-of-a-Kind = 3 to 1
- Two Pairs = 2 to 1
- Pair of Jacks or better = 1 to 1
The real key to this game is to play it well on your first two cards. Any mistake gets compounded by later raises. Going on hunches and getting trapped by adding raises on a hand unlikely to turn into a push is not ideal.
