In the early days of poker, there were many fewer games. The only games that were played were five card stud and five card draw. Today, these two games probably represent the spectrum of most transparent to least transparent card games. In five card draw, you don’t get to see any of your opponent’s cards, whereas in five card stud, you see almost all of them.

Five Card Stud

In order to overcome this problem, players developed a variation called Soko, also known as Canadian stud. For the most part, the rules are the same as in five card stud: Players put up an ante and get one card down and one card up. The lowest card showing is forced to make a small bet called a bring-in, subsequent players going clockwise may fold, complete the bring in to a full bet (or raise if it has already been completed), or call. Three more cards are dealt out face up, with a betting round in between each. After each player has been dealt five cards and made final bets, there is a showdown and the best hand wins the pot.

Five Card Stud Variant – Soko

The distinction that makes Soko interesting is in the rank of hands. In Soko, there are two additional hands. The four card straight (or Canadian straight) and the four card flush (Canadian flush). These hands fit in between one pair and two pair. This makes determining what an opponent has a little more challenging.

How Soko Makes Five Card Stud Better

In normal five card stud, if you hold (As) Ac 4d 6s and your opponent holds (X) 3h 5h Jh, you know that if your opponent doesn’t catch an ace, pair one of his up cards, or catch a heart on the fifth card, you are a lock to win. However, in Soko, your opponent may already have a four flush, meaning if you don’t pair one of your upcards on the final card, you may lose. Since a pair is commonly sufficient to win in regular five card stud, the additional Soko hands increase the complexity of the game significantly.