Mississippi Stud is a five-card poker game played against a pay table (not the dealer). You post an ante, then on each of three streets you either fold or raise 1×, 2×, or 3× the ante. Every wager is paid on your final five-card hand. With perfect play the house edge is 4.91% of the ante (a 1.37% element of risk per unit wagered, since the average hand commits ~3.59 units). Below is the complete optimal strategy — and a free tool that computes the exact EV of every decision for the cards in front of you.
The points system
Most rules below count points: a high card (J, Q, K, A) = 2 points, a mid card (6–10) = 1 point, a low card (2–5) = 0 points.
3rd Street — your 2 hole cards
- Raise 3× with any pair.
- Raise 1× with at least 2 points.
- Raise 1× with 6-5 suited.
- Otherwise, fold.
4th Street — 3 cards
- Raise 3× with a made hand (pair of 6s or better).
- Raise 3× with a royal-flush draw.
- Raise 3× with a straight-flush draw: 0 gaps and 5-6-7 or higher.
- Raise 3× with a straight-flush draw: 1 gap and ≥1 high card.
- Raise 3× with a straight-flush draw: 2 gaps and ≥2 high cards.
- Raise 1× with any other three suited cards.
- Raise 1× with a low pair.
- Raise 1× with at least 3 points.
- Raise 1× with a straight draw: 0 gaps and 4-5-6 or higher.
- Raise 1× with a straight draw: 1 gap and two mid cards.
- Otherwise, fold.
5th Street — 4 cards
- Raise 3× with a made hand (pair of 6s or better).
- Raise 3× with four to a flush.
- Raise 3× with an open-ended straight draw, 8-high or better.
- Raise 1× with any other straight draw.
- Raise 1× with a low pair.
- Raise 1× with at least 4 points.
- Raise 1× with three mid cards and at least one prior 3× raise.
- Otherwise, fold.
Pay table (per unit wagered)
| Hand | Pays |
|---|---|
| Royal flush | 500 to 1 |
| Straight flush | 100 to 1 |
| Four of a kind | 40 to 1 |
| Full house | 10 to 1 |
| Flush | 6 to 1 |
| Straight | 4 to 1 |
| Three of a kind | 3 to 1 |
| Two pair | 2 to 1 |
| Pair of Jacks or better | 1 to 1 |
| Pair of 6s–10s | Push |
| Pair of 5s or lower / nothing | Loss |
All wagers (ante + every raise) are paid at these odds, so a 3×/3×/3× royal pays on up to 10 units.
The collusion edge — seeing other players' cards
Mississippi Stud is unusually exploitable: every card you can see at the table is a dead card removed from the deck, which re-weights your chances of improving and shifts the optimal raise size. The textbook example: a pair of 3s is normally a 3× on 3rd street — but only 1× if one other 3 is showing, and a fold if two are (you can no longer make trips or quads).
Aggregated over a table, the edge moves from −4.91% solo toward break-even as more seats are seen, crossing into player-favorable at a full table — a perfect-strategy seven-seat team gains roughly a +1.5% edge. Our collusion play simulator and seen-card strategy lattice let you see this live for any cards.
FAQ
What is the house edge in Mississippi Stud?
About 4.91% of the ante with optimal play, or a 1.37% element of risk per unit wagered.
Is Mississippi Stud beatable?
Not solo — basic strategy only minimizes the 4.91% edge. It can become marginally player-favorable only through legitimate advantage techniques like full-table collusion (seeing other players' cards), which this site lets you study in simulation for educational purposes.
Should I take the 2× raise?
Almost never under optimal play — the right move is nearly always fold, 1×, or 3×. The solver shows the exact EV of all four options so you can see why.