Mississippi Stud

Today, Mississippi Stud occupies rarified air within the crowded table game landscape. It has permanent placements in mega-resort casinos in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, riverboat Mississippi, and tribal gaming establishments scattered around the country. Strategy books and websites are routinely published to serve the booming Mississippi Stud market. The game continues to spread even today.

Our expert team at OUSC has gathered all the information necessary to provide the perfect entry point into the world of Mississippi Stud. Here you’ll find a detailed walkthrough designed to introduce the rules and gameplay procedures and a running example hand that will help clarify any complicated elements. After that, we’ve compiled a detailed list of casinos where you can find Mississippi Stud tables, followed by a discussion on the house edge, probability, and other strategic concerns.

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What is Mississippi Stud

Mississippi Stud logo

Mark Yoseloff is a revered figure among the casino gambling crowd, and for a good reason. During the last few decades, Yoseloff contributed a career’s worth of innovation and insight to the industry. First, he specialized in slot machine design for Bally Technologies in the 1990s. Then, he continued as CEO and Chairman of Shuffle Master from 2000 through 2009. Among the most popular of Yoseloff’s casino game innovations is a hybrid table game known as Mississippi Stud.

The first trademark application for this table game variant on traditional five-card stud got filed by Shuffle Master in 2009. Since that time, Mississippi Stud has flourished throughout casinos all over the world. It boasts a simple gameplay structure, multiple player decision points, and an escalating paytable. Some say it’s the proverbial “holy grail” of table games. Its popularity even caused spin-offs like Big Raise Stud, but in the end, the base game prevailed.

Even better, players can punish the house a bit with the ability to maximize wagers when holding good cards. In fact, many casino gambling experts consider Mississippi Stud among the most vulnerable in the house when it comes to skill-based play.

Mississippi Stud Rules

Fittingly, as one of the more popular table games ever devised, Mississippi Stud offers straightforward gameplay.

Game Overview

Land Based Casino iconLike most hybrid table games, you’ll be sitting at a semicircular table along with up to five other players as the dealer runs the game from the opposite side of the table.

Mississippi Stud utilizes the standard 52 card deck of playing cards, and all cards hold their usual poker values. Thus, 2s are the lowest card, and aces are high.

Poker Hand Rankings

Furthermore, as a five-card stud variant, the traditional poker hand hierarchy is also used to judge completed five-card hands. If it’s been a while since you saw a straight or filled a flush, take a look below for the complete listing of poker hand ranks:

HANDDESCRIPTION
Royal FlushBroadway straight (A K Q J 10) in the same suit
Straight FlushFive consecutive cards (9 8 7 6 5) in the same suit
Four of a KindFour of the same card (Q Q Q Q A)
Full HouseThree of a kind + one pair (Q Q Q A A)
FlushFive cards in the same suit (2h 6h 9h Kh Ah)
StraightFive consecutive cards (6 5 4 3 2)
Three of a KindThree of the same card (Q Q Q 2 A)
Two PairTwo pairs of the same card (Q Q A A 2)
One PairOne pair of the same card (Q Q 4 3 2)
High CardNo pair, highest card is rank of hand (A K 4 3 2)

As you can see, the best possible hand in this game is a royal flush, followed be a straight flush, four a kind, a full house, a flush, a straight, three of a kind, two pairs, one pair, and high card.

Playing Against Yourself

Mississippi Stud HandThe objective of Mississippi Stud is simple enough: attempt to make the strongest possible five-card poker hand. In this game, you aren’t squaring off against a dealer’s hand. Instead, players combine their two personal cards (the “hole” cards) with three community cards to form a five-card poker hand. Your bets get paid out according to the strength of that final hand, so you can’t beat or lose to anyone else, and only your cards matter.

How to Play Mississippi Stud

#1

Place Your Bet

To begin a hand of Mississippi Stud, each player must place a mandatory ante wager, which must equal or exceed the posted table minimum.

Going forward throughout the remainder of this section, we’ll rely on a running example hand to help illustrate key gameplay concepts from the player’s perspective. So we’ll start with a typical wager of $5 on the ante bet. This bet may seem small, but as you’ll soon discover, the wagering in Mississippi Stud can quickly escalate to much larger levels.

#2

Dealer Distributes the Cards

Once all players have anted up, the dealer will then distribute three cards face down on the felt in front of them, along with two cards face down to each player.

The first three cards represent the community cards, which means all players with a live hand can use them to help form their final five-card poker hand.

When it comes to your hole cards, you can examine them, of course. Still, sharing of information between players will be strictly discouraged.

Returning to our running example hand, let’s imagine we get the Ah and Qh to begin the hand.

#3

Fold or 3rd Street Bet

After taking a peek at your hole cards, the game’s first player decision point has arrived: Fold or place the 3rd Street bet.

  • FOLD: You simply give up on the hand right then and there, forfeiting your hole cards to the dealer – along with your original ante bet.
  • BET: You elect to continue with the hand by placing an additional wager. You can make this wager in one of three sizes: 1x, 2x, or 3x the amount of your original ante bet.

Making the 3rd Street bet entitles you to see the first of the three community cards. You’ll see an area on the felt in front of you labeled “3rd Street,” so to place this bet, simply slide your chip(s) forward into the appropriate space.

For the running example hand, we have two high cards, both hearts, so we can safely continue with the hand by making a 3rd Street bet. You’ll learn more about choosing your bet sizing later on in the Strategy section. Indeed, this aspect of the game is where skill shines through, but for now, just trust us when we make the 3rd Street bet for 1x our original ante bet – or an additional $5.

#4

First Community Cards Revealed

After each player has either folded or continued with the 3rd Street bet, the dealer will then reveal the first of three community cards. Concerning your hand, the information provided by this card motivates the second decision point you’ll make.

In the running example hand, the dealer turns over the Qc as the first community card, so we currently hold the Ah Qh Qc for one pair of queens.

#5

Fold or 4th Street Bet

Once again, you can either fold or continue, this time by making the 4th Street bet. The sizing parameters remain the same, so you can choose between a bet of 1x, 2x, or 3x your initial ante wager.

For the running example hand, pairing our queen was an improvement, and in this game, one good pair will turn a winner. So we’ll opt for the maximum wager on the 4th Street bet, putting up an additional $15 to keep playing.

#6

Second Community Card Revealed & Final Betting Round

The dealer will then turn over the second of the three community cards, and the fold/bet process will continue for a third and final time.

Back to the running example, the dealer reveals the 4d as the next community card, which does nothing to improve our hand. At this point, the sizing of your 5th Street bet should use optimal strategy. Since it’s always fun to go for the gusto, we’ll put in another maximum wager of 3x our ante (or $15 more).

As mentioned above, the betting can quickly go from a single $5 chip to up to $45 more. On any individual hand, you can wager 10 “units” – or the increment used for your original ante bet.

#7

Final Card Revealed to Create Strongest 5-Card Hand

Once all players have put up their 5th Street bet or folded out, the dealer will turn over the third and final community card to complete your five-card poker hand.

In our case, the dealer reveals the Ac to improve our hand to two pairs, aces and queens.

#8

Get Paid

With the players’ hands completed, the dealer will compare each hand to the paytable and award the appropriate payouts to each player.

Using our running example hand, our combination of Ah Ac Qh Qc 4d gives us two pairs. That entitles us to a 2 to 1 payout on our total wager, which equals $40 ($5 Ante + $5 3rd Street bet + $15 4th Street bet + $15 5th Street bet = $40). At 2 to 1, we’d receive a payout of $80 on this running example hand.

Mississippi Stud Pay Table

HANDPAYS
Royal Flush500 to 1
Straight Flush100 to 1
Four of a Kind40 to 1
Full House10 to 1
Flush6 to 1
Straight4 to 1
Three of a Kind3 to 1
Two Pair2 to 1
One Pair (Jacks or Better)1 to 1
One Pair (6-10)Push
All OtherLoss

As you can see, the name of the game is making monster hands, as the premium holdings like a royal flush or straight flush can produce “jackpot” payouts of $2,500 and $500 on just your $5 ante bet alone.

Even better, the payout rates listed above get applied to the total sum of your ante bet plus the three street-based bets. So if you find a top-level hand and max out the betting to $50 (using a $5 base ante increment), you can take down $25,000 for a royal flush, $5,000 for a straight flush, $2,000 for four of a kind, and so on down the line.

Precaution When Playing

Fair warning, though: you won’t be seeing those hands very frequently. Forming a perfect five-card combination using five cards and five alone is quite difficult. Usually, in stud-based games, you’ll have seven cards with which to find the best five-card combination, but in Mississippi Stud, five cards are all you get.

Best Places to Play Mississippi Stud

Recommended iconWith a name like Mississippi Stud, this game is is an obvious favorite for players who frequent the thriving casino community in and around Mississippi.

The game comes from a regional poker variant known as Mississippi Stud Poker, in which players traditionally battle each other rather than the house. This game removes “fourth street” to leave three betting rounds – the same as in the Mississippi Stud table game.

You can find Mississippi Stud played in most casinos and card rooms in the state, and even some online poker sites. Of course, every house has a table games manager making placement decisions, so it may be absent from a few venues here and there. You can also find Mississippi Stud in Las Vegas.

US Casinos in Mississippi

Take a look below for a complete listing of Mississippi’s casino properties:

CASINOCITYCOUNTY
Ameristar Casino HotelVicksburgWarren
Bally’s Casino TunicaTunica ResortsTunica
Beau RivageBiloxiHarrison
Bok Homa CasinoSandersvilleJones
Boomtown Casino BiloxiBiloxiHarrison
DiamondJacks Casino & HotelVicksburgWarren
Fitzgeralds Casino TunicaTunica ResortsTunica
Gold Strike Casino ResortTunica ResortsTunica
Golden Moon CasinoChoctawNeshoba
Golden Nugget BiloxiBiloxiHarrison
Hard Rock Hotel & CasinoBiloxiHarrison
Harlow’s CasinoGreenvilleWashington
Harrah’s Casino TunicaTunica ResortsTunica
Harrah’s Gulf CoastBiloxiHarrison
Hollywood Casino Gulf CoastBay St. LouisHancock
Hollywood Casino TunicaTunica ResortsTunica
Horseshoe Casino TunicaTunica ResortsTunica
IP Casino Resort SpaBiloxiHarrison
Island View CasinoGulfportHarrison
Isle of Capri Casino Hotel LulaLulaCoahoma
Lady Luck Casino VicksburgVicksburgWarren
Magnolia Bluffs CasinoNatchezAdams
Palace Casino BiloxiBiloxiHarrison
Resorts Casino TunicaTunica ResortsTunica
Riverwalk Casino and HotelVicksburgWarren
Sam’s Town TunicaTunica ResortsTunica
Scarlet Pearl CasinoD’IbervilleHarrison
Silver Slipper CasinoLakeshoreHancock
Silver Star CasinoChoctawNeshoba
Treasure Bay Casino BiloxiBiloxiHarrison
Trop Casino GreenvilleGreenvilleWashington
Tunica Roadhouse Casino & HotelTunica ResortsTunica

Fortunately for players who reside outside of the Magnolia State, the game of Mississippi Stud has become practically universal within the world of casino gambling.

For the most part, any major casino resort you find yourself in will likely have at least a table or two running. Even smaller tribal casinos and local gaming establishments spread the game consistently.

Other US Casinos

Each of the following casino properties owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment has been verified to offer Mississippi Stud at this time. This list is in alphabetical order, so to locate casinos in your area, simply use a CTRL+F search and input your state to highlight all venues nearby:

CASINOCITYSTATE
Bally’s Hotel & CasinoLas VegasNevada
Caesars Atlantic City Hotel & CasinoAtlantic CityNew Jersey
Caesars Palace Hotel & CasinoLas VegasNevada
Caesars Windsor Hotel & CasinoWindsorOntario (Canada)
Flamingo Hotel & CasinoLas VegasNevada
Harrah’s Gulf CoastBiloxiMississippi
Harrah’s Cherokee Hotel & CasinoCherokeeNorth Carolina
Harrah’s Cherokee Valley RiverMurphyNorth Carolina
Harrah’s Casino & RacetrackChesterPennsylvania
Harrah’s Council Bluffs Hotel & CasinoCouncil BluffsIowa
Harrah’s Joliet Chicago Hotel & CasinoJolietIllinois
Harrah’s Hotel & CasinoLas VegasNevada
Harrah’s Laughlin Hotel & CasinoLaughlinNevada
Harrah’s New Orleans Hotel & CasinoNew OrleansLouisiana
Harrah’s N. Kansas City Hotel & CasinoN. Kansas CityMissouri
Harrah’s Resort AC Hotel & CasinoAtlantic CityNew Jersey
Harrah’s Southern CaliforniaValley CenterCalifornia
Horseshoe Baltimore CasinoBaltimoreMaryland
Horseshoe Bossier City Hotel & CasinoBossier CityLouisiana
Horseshoe Council Bluffs CasinoCouncil BluffsIowa
Horseshoe Southern Indiana CasinoElizabethIndiana
Horseshoe Tunica Hotel & CasinoTunica ResortsMississippi
Paris Las Vegas Hotel & CasinoLas VegasNevada
Planet Hollywood Resort & CasinoLas VegasNevada
Rio All Suite Hotel and CasinoLas VegasNevada
Tunica Roadhouse Casino & HotelTunica ResortsMississippi
The CromwellLas VegasNevada
The LinqLas VegasNevada

This list highlights only Caesar’s Entertainment owned venues. If your favorite casino doesn’t appear here, just make a quick phone call and ask for the table games manager there. They’ll be able to answer immediately, and the friendlier ones will even help you find the game if their house doesn’t currently offer it.

Strategic Considerations for Mississippi Stud

Betting Strategy iconWith poker-based hand rankings, multiple player decision points, and even bet sizing options, Mississippi Stud can provide an entertaining, interactive gameplay experience.

Accordingly, the game relies on “card sense,” mathematical skill, and dumb luck (although luck plays a role as it does in any gambling game).

Playing Your Cards Correctly

When it comes to playing your cards correctly, you should use the following guidelines. This strategy is broken down based on how many cards you currently hold, as well as the relative strength of your current hand:

Card Value Key
  • High cards are Js through As, and they hold a value of 2 “points” for the sake of this system.
  • Middle cards are 6s through 10s, and they hold a value of 1 point.
  • Low cards are 2s through 5s, and they hold a value of 0 points.
When Holding Two Cards
  • You should make a 3rd Street bet of 3x when holding any pair.
  • You should make a 3rd Street bet of 1x when holding any cards worth at least two points (any high card or two middle cards).
  • You should make a 3rd Street bet of 1x when holding exactly 5 6 of the same suit.
  • You should fold all other hands.
When Holding Three Cards
  • You should make a 4th Street bet of 3x when holding any made hand (one pair of 6s or better).
  • You should make a 4th Street bet of 3x when holding any royal flush draw.
  • You should make a 4th Street bet of 3x when holding any straight flush draw that contains no gaps and is ranked 5 6 7 or higher.
  • You should make a 4th Street bet of 3x when holding any straight flush draw that contains one gap and at least one high card.
  • You should make a 4th Street bet of 3x when holding any straight flush draw that contains two gaps and at least two high cards.
  • You should make a 4th Street bet of 1x when holding any other three suited cards.
  • You should make a 4th Street bet of 1x when holding any low pair.
  • You should make a 4th Street bet of 1x when holding any cards worth at least three points.
  • You should make a 4th Street bet of 1x when holding any straight draw that contains no gaps and is ranked 4 5 6 or higher.
  • You should make a 4th Street bet of 1x when holding any straight draw that contains one gap and two middle cards.
  • You should fold all other hands.
When Holding Four Cards
  • You should make a 5th Street bet of 3x when holding any made hand (one pair of 6s or better).
  • You should make a 5th Street bet of 3x when holding any four-card flush.
  • You should make a 5th Street bet of 3x when holding any four cards to an outside straight that is ranked 8 high or better.
  • You should make a 5th Street bet of 1x when holding any other straight draw.
  • You should make a 5th Street bet of 1x when holding any low pair.
  • You should make a 5th Street bet of 1x when holding any cards worth at least four points.
  • You should make a 5th Street bet of 1x when holding three middle cards, and you’ve already put up at least one previous bet of 3x.
  • You should fold all other hands.

By sticking closely to these strategic guidelines – which will become much easier after you actually play a few hands for yourself – the house edge in Mississippi Stud stands at 4.91 percent.

Mississippi Stud House Edge

Savvy casino game players will note that this house edge rate is rather high, especially for a popular game. However, as the analysis shows, the house edge is not the best metric to use when assessing the playability of a game like Mississippi Stud – which incorporates three additional betting rounds.

According to Shackleford, players can expect to bet 3.59 “units” per hand or 3.59 increments of their initial ante bet. By dividing the house edge rate of 4.91 by the average units bet of 3.59, he arrives at an “element of risk” percentage of 1.37 percent.

For comparison’s sake, consider that basic blackjack played using optimal strategy offers an element of risk of 0.38 percent. Similarly designed table games like Let It Ride and Caribbean Stud offer 2.85 percent and 2.56 percent, respectively.

Mississippi Stud is one of the better bets found in the table games area from that vantage point.

Bring Big Bankroll

Finally, sound strategy dictates bringing enough bankroll with you to bear the large bet sizes and frequent betting found in Mississippi Stud. Remember, even when starting with just $5 on the ante bet, you can easily put in $50 by the time a hand ends. So, use proper money management to cope with the game’s inevitable swings.

About the Author
Neil White

Neil White - Editor in Chief

His drive and passion for casinos and the most popular games keep him in touch with the latest news and interests to provide the best for his readers.