Stud-Jack Rules

Stud-Jack was invented by Ken McKenzie and contributed by Dave Kinney, as published on pagat.com. It is played with a standard 52-card deck and no wild cards.

Each player competes for two halves of the pot at once:

1.2(a) the poker half, won by the best five-card high hand from the player's seven cards, under the standard hand rankings; and

1.2(b) the blackjack half, won by the player whose face-down cards make the best blackjack total.

Because each player receives seven cards, no more than seven players should take part with a single deck.

Antes, the bring-in and the betting limits are the same as in seven-card stud, or as the players agree before the deal.

Each player is dealt two cards face down and one face up, then three more face-up cards one at a time, and finally a seventh card which is normally dealt face down. There is a betting round after each of these five stages.

A player's two original face-down cards form their blackjack hand. It is scored as in blackjack: number cards at face value, kings, queens and jacks at 10, and an ace at 1 or 11, whichever suits the holder.

The seventh card, when dealt face down in the usual way, is added to the blackjack hand as a hit. A hand whose total goes over 21 is bust and cannot win the blackjack half.

A player who does not want a hit may pay to have their seventh card dealt face up instead. A face-up seventh card still counts toward the poker hand but not toward the blackjack hand.

The price of a face-up seventh card is not fixed by the source. The dealer shall announce it before the deal. Each player shall say whether they are paying before their seventh card is dealt.

The face-up cards dealt on fourth to sixth street never count toward the blackjack hand.

At the showdown the pot is divided in two. The best high poker hand wins one half and the best blackjack hand (the total closest to 21 without going over) wins the other.

A player may win both halves. Every card counts toward the poker hand, whether it was dealt up or down.

The source does not say how ties on the blackjack half are settled, whether a two-card 21 beats a three-card 21, or what happens if every blackjack hand is bust. The dealer shall announce these points before the deal. Where nothing is announced, tied hands share that half equally.

If all other players fold, the remaining player wins the whole pot without showing.

Widow Jack. Stud-Jack played with Black Mariah rules, so that the queen of spades dealt face up wipes out the deal. See Widow Jack.

Groups may fix the price of the face-up seventh card as a set amount or as the size of the current bet. Whatever is chosen shall be announced before the deal.

Two hole cards totalling 17 to 21 make a strong blackjack hand, and the face-up seventh card protects it. Low totals such as 11 or 12 usually want the hit.

A pair in the hole helps the poker hand but often makes an awkward blackjack total. A pair of 8s, for example, totals 16.

Paying for a face-up seventh card tells the table that you are probably happy with your blackjack total.