Mississippi Stud is a casino poker game played against a paytable rather than a dealer’s hand. You start with two cards, see three community cards one at a time, and can raise after each of the first three streets. You can practise it at the free shared table further down this page.
Play Online Mississippi Stud
Join a shared Mississippi Stud table with visitors from Casino News Daily and Real Money Action, with a strategy coach after every decision. Free practice chips only: no deposits, cash prizes or real-money wagers.
What Mississippi Stud is
You make a five-card poker hand from your two private cards and three community cards, and the casino pays it according to a fixed table. The dealer has no hand, and other players at the table do not affect your result. The game rewards pairs of jacks or better and pushes (returns your bets) on small pairs. The unusual feature is the size of each raise: you can bet anything from one to three times your Ante on each street, which lets you press a good hand harder and limit what you risk on a weak one.
How to play, step by step
- Place an Ante.
- You receive two cards face down. Three community cards are dealt face down in the centre of the table.
- On third street, fold and lose your Ante, or bet from one to three times the Ante.
- The first community card is revealed. On fourth street, fold or bet one to three times the Ante.
- The second community card is revealed. On fifth street, fold or bet one to three times the Ante again.
- The final community card is revealed. Your five-card hand pays out on every bet you made, using the table below.
Once you fold, you lose only what you have bet so far. In total you can stake up to ten times the Ante on one hand (the Ante plus three bets of three times the Ante).
Paytable
This is the table on our free-play game. The payouts apply to the Ante and to each bet you made, and the table is a standard one for the game.
| Hand | Pays |
|---|---|
| Royal flush | 500:1 |
| Straight flush | 100:1 |
| Four of a kind | 40:1 |
| Full house | 10:1 |
| Flush | 6:1 |
| Straight | 4:1 |
| Three of a kind | 3:1 |
| Two pair | 2:1 |
| Pair of jacks or better | 1:1 |
| Pair of 6s to 10s | Push |
| Pair of 2s to 5s, or no pair | Loses |
Casinos change these figures, and a 5:1 straight, for instance, would improve your odds. Read the table before you play.
Odds and house edge
With the paytable above and correct strategy, the house edge is 4.91% of the Ante, according to Wizard of Odds. You bet an average of about 3.59 units per hand, so the loss relative to everything you put on the table is about 1.37%. This second figure is the one to use when you compare the game with others, because it is the cost per unit wagered. Variance is high: a hand where you raised three times and lost can cost ten times the Ante.
Strategy
Wizard of Odds publishes an optimal strategy worked out by Joseph Kisenwether. It uses a point count: jack to ace is 2 points, 6 to 10 is 1 point, and 2 to 5 is 0 points. The main rules are below.
Third street (two cards).
- Bet 3x with any pair.
- Bet 1x with two or more points, or with a suited 6-5.
- Fold everything else.
Fourth street (three cards).
- Bet 3x with a pair of 6s or better, a royal flush draw, or a straight flush draw (567 or higher with no gaps, one gap with at least one high card, or two gaps with at least two high cards).
- Bet 1x with any other three suited cards, a low pair, three or more points, or a straight draw with no gaps (456 or higher).
- Fold everything else.
Fifth street (four cards).
- Bet 3x with a pair of 6s or better, any four to a flush, or four to an outside straight, 8-high or better.
- Bet 1x with any other straight draw, a low pair, or four or more points.
- Fold everything else.
The source lists a few more minor cases, so use it as a reference if you want the full table. The pair rules and the point count handle most hands.
Playing online
Mississippi Stud is less common online than Three Card Poker or Caribbean Stud. Our game database currently lists a single software version, Mississippi Stud Poker from The Art Of Games. We list no Mississippi Stud title from Playtech, Microgaming, NetEnt or RTG, so availability depends on the casino and your region, and some casinos offer live-dealer or branded versions that we do not list. Check the paytable in the game’s help screen, because only a game that uses the table above has the 4.91% edge. If you would like to see how a similar game plays, see our Pai Gow Poker guide.
Only gamble if you are of legal age where you live, and set a limit before you start.
Sources
- Wizard of Odds, Mississippi Stud: rules, paytable, strategy, house edge and element of risk
- Casino News Daily game database (software providers)
