Mississippi Stud: Pure Paytable Gambling

You play against the paytable, not the dealer. There's no dealer hand. You're trying to make the best five-card poker hand from your two hole cards and three community cards.

The deal:

1. You post an Ante.
2. You receive two hole cards.
3. Three community cards are placed face-down in front of the dealer.
4. Decision 1 — 3rd Street: Fold or raise 1x to 3x your Ante.
5. One community card is revealed (the 4th Street card).
6. Decision 2 — 4th Street: Fold or raise 1x to 3x.
7. Second community card revealed (5th Street).
8. Decision 3 — 5th Street: Fold or raise 1x to 3x.
9. Final community card revealed; hand resolves per the paytable.

Folding loses everything you've bet so far. So the cost of folding rises with each round.

Mississippi Stud's paytable rewards strong hands generously and pushes weak ones. The standard paytable:

• 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 through 10s: push (your bet returns)
• Pair of 2s through 5s: lose
• Less than a pair: lose

The push zone: Mid-pairs (6-10) push. This is unusual and important for strategy — many pre-flop hands that look bad have positive value because of the push potential.

Each decision can be: fold (lose all chips wagered so far), raise 1x (minimum), raise 2x, or raise 3x (maximum). Most strategy charts simplify by recommending only 1x or 3x — almost never 2x.

3rd Street (after seeing your two hole cards): The biggest variance decision. Folding here loses only the Ante. Raising commits 1x to 3x more.

4th Street (after seeing one community card): Now you have three of your five cards. Drawing potential is clearer.

5th Street (after seeing the second community card): Four of five cards visible. By now you should have a clear picture of made-hand vs. drawing-hand.

Optimal play is well-defined. Here's the simplified strategy chart:

3rd Street (two cards):

• Pair: raise 3x
• Two cards 6 or higher: raise 1x (or 3x if both 11 or higher and suited)
• One card 6 or higher: raise 1x
• Two cards 5 or lower: fold

4th Street (three cards):

• Made paying hand (any pair of 6s+): raise 3x
• Three to a royal flush: raise 3x
• Three to a straight flush, all medium-high: raise 3x
• Three to a flush including two cards 6+: raise 1x
• Three to an open-ended straight, all 6+: raise 1x
• Anything else: fold

5th Street (four cards):

• Made paying hand: raise 3x
• Four to a flush: raise 3x if any card is 6+, otherwise raise 1x
• Four to an outside straight, with at least one card 6+: raise 1x
• Four to an inside straight that would pay: raise 1x if all four are 6+
• Anything else: fold

The key insight: You fold a lot in Mississippi Stud — about 25-30% of hands at 3rd Street alone. That's correct. The losing hands eat your bankroll faster than the rare wins make up for them, so disciplined folding is essential.

House edge: About 4.9% on Ante with optimal strategy. Higher than UTH (2.2%) and Three Card Poker (3.4%), comparable to Caribbean Stud (5.2%).

Hourly cost: At $5 Ante with optimal strategy, you'll wager about $14 per hand on average and lose ~$0.70 per hand. About 35 hands per hour. Expected loss: ~$25/hour.

Variance: High. The game's appeal is the chance for a 100:1 straight flush or 40:1 quads. You'll have plenty of losing sessions punctuated by occasional big wins. Bring at least 60 base bet units for a session.

The biggest leak: Players raise 3x too often when they should fold. Folding feels like quitting; raising feels like "giving the hand a chance." The math says fold cleanly — raising bad hands compounds losses.

Mississippi Stud has grown steadily since its 2010 launch and is now widely available.

Strip: Most major properties spread it. MGM Grand, The Venetian, Bellagio, Caesars Palace, Wynn, Cosmopolitan all have multiple tables, typically $5-$15 weekday minimums.

Off-Strip: Excellent Mississippi Stud spread at Red Rock, Green Valley Ranch, The Orleans, and Sam's Town. Often $5 minimums even on weekends.

Downtown: Golden Nugget and The D have it; Plaza and El Cortez occasionally do.

Tip: The strategy chart isn't intuitive. Bring a printed chart or ask the dealer if they'll let you reference one — most casinos allow it without comment.