Another common rule is to allow the larger bet on the second round if there is an 'open pair' (that is, at least one player's upcards make a pair). Also common is to make the final round even higher: a '$5/$10/$20' game would allow $20 bets on the last round only. For example, a '$5/$10 Seven-card Stud' game in a Nevada casino allows $5 bets for the first two rounds and $10 bets for subsequent rounds. It is common (and recommended) for later betting rounds to have higher limits than earlier ones.

Games with more betting rounds are more suited to fixed limit or spread limit. Games with four or fewer betting rounds, such as five-card stud and Mississippi stud (described below), play well with any structure, and are especially well suited to no limit and pot limit play. The number of betting rounds in a game influences how well the game plays with different betting structures. These two games form the basis of most modern stud poker variations. In recent years, Seven-card stud has become more common, both in casinos and in home games. Five-card stud first appeared during the American Civil War, and became very popular. Stud poker variants using 3 cards were popular as of the American Revolutionary War. The cards dealt face down to each individual player are called hole cards (which gave rise to the common English expression ace in the hole, which suggests that one has something valuable that is not apparent to others). Stud games are also typically non-positional games, meaning that the player who bets first on each round may change from round to round (it is usually the player whose face-up cards make the best hand for the game being played).

Stud poker is any of a number of poker variants in which each player receives a mix of face-down and face-up cards dealt in multiple betting rounds.

Why is it called stud poker