Dividing lines clear  in Mississippi Stud

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Updated: February 7, 2012 8:13AM

Any card game that requires decisions by players has its dividing lines. When the dealer has a 10 in blackjack, you hit when you have a hard total of 16 or less, but stand on 17 or higher. In Caribbean Stud Poker, you stay in the game with a bet of double your ante when you have Ace-King with no other face cards if one of your other three cards matches the dealer’s face-up card. If no such match, you fold.

In Mississippi Stud Poker, the dividing lines come when deciding whether to raise your bets or fold. There’s no dealer hand to beat. You’re just hoping for a hand that makes it onto a pay table that starts at a pair of 6s.

After you’ve seen two cards, you must decide whether to make an additional bet of 1 to 3 times your ante, or fold. You face the same decision after seeing a third card, and after a fourth.

You can find a full strategy at Michael Shackleford’s website, wizardofodds.com, but for right now let’s tackle a small problem posed in an email from reader Al from Oak Lawn.

“The Mississippi Stud strategy says that after the first two cards, you should raise three times your bet with any pair and one times your bet when you have at least one high card, two middle cards or 6-5 suited. What does that mean, exactly? What’s a high card, and what’s a middle card? Where are the borders drawn?”

The dividing lines correspond to the Mississippi Stud pay table. Pairs of 5s or less bring no payoff, and those are the low cards. Pairs of 6s-10s are pushes, and those are the middle cards. Pairs of Jacks or better bring even-money payoffs, and those are the high cards.

So with Jack-5, you’d raise your bet, but with 10-5 you’d fold. With a 7 and a 9 — two middle cards — you’d raise, but with a middle and low such as 5-7, you’d fold. You’ll keep the middle-low hand 6-5 if both cards are in the same suit, but not if they’re in different suits.

If you want the most out of Mississippi Stud, watch those dividing lines.

John Grochowski is a local free-lance writer. His “Casino Answer Man” tips air at
5:18 p.m. Tuesday-Friday on WLS-AM (890).