If you are new to Mississippi Stud, this guide is for you. It covers everything from the basics of how to play Mississippi Stud poker to strategy tips and where to find the best online casinos to play it at.
Mississippi Stud is a relatively simple card game that follows similar rules to other games of this nature, such as Texas Hold’em or Caribbean Stud. The main difference between these games and Mississippi Stud is that the former are competitive while the latter is a house game, meaning you play against the casino rather than other players. Because of this, there is no bluffing involved in Mississippi Stud.
This guide will take you through all the steps needed to play Mississippi Stud so that you can familiarize yourself with the game before putting down any real money wagers. Once you understand the basic rules, we also provide some helpful advice when devising your Mississippi Stud strategy.
online casinos with no deposit bonusHow to Play Mississippi Stud Poker
The first thing you need to do to play Mississippi Stud is place your initial ‘ante’ bet. You’ll also have the option to place an additional ‘optional’ side bet which we’ll cover more on later.
All players, including the dealer, will then receive three cards each, face down. You now have the option to fold, surrendering your hand and losing your original ante bet, or continue in the hand by making a ‘3xantes’ bet. Essentially, you are doubling your original stake.
Once locked in for the round, players and the dealer reveal their hands. Another card is then dealt face up to each remaining hand. Another round of betting takes place, with players now able to bet ‘4xantes’.
Again, all cards are revealed and another face-up card is dealt to each hand still left in the hand. A final round of betting takes place, with players now able to bet ‘5xantes’. The hands are then evaluated, paying out according to the pay table. The dealer’s hand must be 17th value or better to qualify.
Let’s take a look at all the potential bets in more detail throughout the hand:
- Initial Ante Bet – This is mandatory if you wish to play the hand and is usually a minimum of 25c and a maximum of $5 at most online .
- Optional Bet – This is a side bet that players can activate before the start of the hand. Depending on the value of your hand, the multiple bet options and corresponding returns change. The minimum and maximum amounts of this bet will vary from casino to casino. However, it’s worth noting that this isn’t a straight multiple of your initial bet like the line bets are. Instead it uses a pre-determined pay table, which we’ve listed later in this guide.
- 3xantes – After seeing their three cards, a player can choose to double their initial stake and continue in the hand. If they fold, they lose their original ante bet.
- 4xantes – After the fourth card has been dealt, players can again increase their stake by four times the initial amount.
- 5xantes – Following the fifth deck, players have one last chance to raise their stake by five times the initial amount before the winner of the hand is determined.
Mississippi Stud Pay Table
The following table highlights the pay outs for a winning hand on the initial ante bet.
So for example, if you bet $5 on the ante bet and were paid according to the top row of the table, you would win a return of $60.
But as well as paying out on the strength of your own hand, the casino also pays out on a ‘push’ when you beat the dealer’s hand. A ‘push’ is when both the player and dealer have the same ranked hand.
As you can see from the payout chart above, a push pays out at 1:1, which means if you’d bet $5 on the ante bet, you’d still win $10.
High Payout Casinos Online (And Top Slots) in the UK for 2023Mississippi Stud Payouts – Ante Bonus
The strength of your hand at the end of the first round of betting will determine how much you are paid if you bet the optional ante bonus.
Remember, you don’t make multiple bets of this bonus like you do with the main bets during the hand. The multiple levels only relate to the initial, middle and final rounds of betting.
Dealer Qualifying Hand
For a dealer’s hand to qualify, it must be 17th value or higher. Any lower and the hand is a push, resulting in the dealer not qualifying. If the dealer doesn’t qualify, the player will receive a return on any qualified bets (eg ante, middle or final round bets) but will not qualify on any multiple raised bets (eg 3x, 4x or 5x).
Check out this example:
- You bet $5 on the ante, $5 on 3xantes and a further $5 on the middle round bet.
- The dealer’s hand fails to qualify.
- You’ll receive a 1:1 pay out on your $5 ante bet and your $15 investment is returned on the 3x and middle bet.
- As your hand was a loss, there is no sweepstake Jackpot to pay out.
However, if you’ve only placed an ante and middle bet and the dealer fails to qualify, a sweepstake Jackpot can still pay out.
How to Play the Missisipi Stud 5 Card Poker Video Game?
You can also practice your strategies by playing free online Mississippi Stud video games. While these obviously aren’t real money games, they enable you to get a feel for how the game works without the risk of losing cash.
We’ve summarized below how you play Mississippi Stud video poker.
- Place your ante bet and/or the optional progressive jackpot bet.
- Click ‘Deal’ to receive three facedown cards. The dealer will also receive three facedown cards.
- Choose to ‘Raise’ and place an additional bet to continue in the hand or ‘Folder’ to surrender your hand and losses.
- All players who have chosen to stay reveal their fourth cards Face Up.
- Players can now choose to raise again, revealing their fifth cards, or go to the showdown.
- The dealer reveals his cards and players evaluate their hands. The dealer’s hand must be 17th value or higher to qualify.
- Winning hands are paid out according to the pay table with qualified bets only. Bets where the dealer fails to qualify will receive a return on ante, middle and raise bets, but not multiple raise bets.
- If you’ve activated it, the progressive jackpot will pay out according to the pay table.
- Place your bets for the next hand.
Mississippi Stud Strategy
In this section, we’ve provided an essential Mississippi Stud strategy table which tells you the optimal play based on the probability of being dealt various cards.
These types of tables are great if you’re unsure about whether to raise, fold or even just hold what you have. But the key with this, or any guide like it, is that it tells you what is the mathematically correct play.
Vegas Casinos That Accept Bitcoin (And 5 That Don't) - PokerListingsHowever, there’s no accounting for personal preference or the fact that things might break differently on the day. So use this Mississippi Stud cheat sheet to help you, but don’t feel tied down by it either.
If you have Queen shows, regardless of suits, raise if triple suits are present and hold if quad suit showing.
If you have a pair showing, raise if three cards to a strong hand are present and hold if four cards to a strong hand are present.
If you have a high-card shows, raise if two high-cards or four to a strong hand are present and hold if three to a strong hand are present.
If you have a low-card showing, raise with three cards to a strong hand and hold with four cards to a strong hand.
How to Win the Mississippi Stud Sweepstakes Jackpot
Most online come with a sweepstakes Jackpot linked to a community card in the middle betting round. To be eligible to win the Jackpot, you must have placed the optional Jackpot bet before the start of the hand and have stayed in the hand to see the thirdcommunity card.
The rank of your hand is irrelevant to winning the Jackpot. However, the value of your bet is important. The more you bet, the higher multiple of the Jackpot you will win.
The size of the Jackpot varies depending on how full the community pot is, with a portion of bets from every Missisipp Stud table going into the communal pot.
Best Poker Sites in the United StatesThe following table outlines what multiple of the Jackpot you’ll win depending on the bet size you’ve made and whether you are the only player with a community ‘flush’ or there are multiple winners.
Where to Play Mississippi Stud Online
Mississippi Stud is quickly becoming one of the most popular poker variants within online gaming. We’ve collated a list of the that offer the game and you can find out more information about each site by reading our reviews.
