Stud poker is a type of a poker games where every player get a mix cards face-down or face up dealt with multiple betting rounds. Any person who wants to try this variant of poker must have a basic knowledge of general poker rules to start playing stud poker.

The player betting first on each round may change on every round in stud poker and this is usually the player whose face-up cards make the best hand for the game being played. The face-down cards to each player are called hole cards. The betting order is in normal clockwise order. The number of the rounds for a game influences how well the game plays with different betting structure.

Games with fewer betting rounds like five card stud or Mississippi stud are well suited for no limit or pot limit play with any structure. On the other side games with more betting rounds are more suited for spread limit or fixed limit.

The rule changes in successive rounds with the maximum value card player starts betting. Later betting rounds generally have bigger limits then earlier rounds. Other common rule is to allow bigger bets on the second round if there is an open pair, means at least one face-up card players make a pair.

It is quite simple to name the round from the number of cards each player hold while betting round begins, i.e. bet occurring while each player have three cards is called "third street" or "third card" and so on. The final round is called "river" or "end".

Stud poker has countless types and the some of the popular ones include 3, 5, 6 and 7 card stud, London lowball, Mississippi, Mexican, Blind, Chicago, Dr Pepper, Cowpie, Auction and many more.