Blind stud
Blind Stud is a popular variant of poker wherein the excitement of the game reaches a new level as the cards are dealt face-down. Although the rules remain the same, there is no special criteria for a blind stud game as any stud poker game where the cards are dealt face down can be termed as blind stud poker.
This form of a hand was quite common on poker tables across California, until about 1985. Due to the state gambling laws, some games such as twenty-one, stud-horse poker, fantan and faro were considered illegal. Along with these games, all forms of stud poker were also considered illegal. Draw poker, however, was as legal as can be and blind stud was initially considered a part of draw poker.
Draw poker ran along the same lines as all the hands were hidden in both forms. However, unlike in draw poker, blind stud didn’t allow the players to discard cards that they would eventually replace.
Today, Blind stud is not that common as Texas Hold’em has taken over the poker world by storm. However, blind stud continues to be excessively challenging as well as balanced for all players. There are many variations to blind stud with cardrooms looking to explore more creative ideas to make the game interesting for the players.
One of the more popular and interesting variations on blind stud is the seven-card high-low split. This blind stud game is played over four rounds of cards being dealt. While the first round sees player get 3 cards each, the second has two with one card given to each player on the final two rounds. There are two jokers on the deck that are kept aside as bugs while the double-ace flush rule is applicable to the game.
Like this, blind stud has many more variations that are either standard, or created on the fly. This, along with the element of mystery, makes the game all the more exciting and fun.
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