The Asia Stud Poker individual card values are more like those found in baccarat. Face cards are assigned the value of ten, and the Joker is put into play with a value of one, the same as aces.

At the beginning of asia stud, all gambling players place an ante (initial) bet. Then all of them, plus the casino dealer, are given five cards. Each asia stud player is supposed to split his or her cards into two. One will have three cards, while the other will have two. If you do not like your cards, you have the opportunity to fold.

So, how do you know whether or not it would be good for you to fold when gambling in asia stud? Read on and see.

Now, there are special criteria that the three card hand must follow in order for the player to qualify for a win. The card value total must be exactly ten, twenty, or thirty. Otherwise, you can consider yourself has having something like an automatic loss. If, for some reason, you cannot make a qualifying hand, it is advisable for you to fold so as to avoid losing more money. That way, you will only forfeit your ante bet. Then again, it is not a completely hopeless endeavor to go ahead without qualifying. If the dealer turns out not to qualify either, then players who have not folded can win even money on their ante bets.

If you do qualify, it is now time to consider the hand composed of your two remaining cards. Once again, we see similarities with asia stud to baccarat. Once the individual card values for the two card hand are added, the tens-digit value is discarded in order to yield the final value. For example, cards whose sums add up to fifteen will yield a final hand value of five. In other words, a hand composed of a six and a nine has the same value as one composed of a two and a three: five. Two card hands with values of exactly ten or twenty are a special case: they are valued at ten rather than zero, and are the highest possible two card hands in asia stud. Another asia stud hand composed of a three and a four would yield a final value of seven, beating them both. You then compare your two-card hand value with that of the dealer. If your hand value is higher than that of the dealer, you can win returns on both your ante bet and your raise. If the asia stud dealer has a higher hand value, you forfeit both bets.

Bets

The betting options available in asia stud are relatively simple and limited. One is basically left with deciding upon an amount, and whether or not to raise or fold. However, this is probably a good thing, as an overly complicated pay table would overwhelm some asia stud players, given how elaborate asia stud casino play already is. Asia stud players are advised to take losses in stride, up to a reasonable point. As in many other types of poker, victories tend to happen over the long haul, with losses on some asia stud hands, but bigger wins on others.

Strategy

For some players, Asia Stud Poker strategy may seem odd and counter-intuitive, not surprising in an unusual game. The complexity of asia stud mechanics and card value system may encourage some asia stud players to be very conservative in their betting, especially when they do not possess qualifying three card hands. However, gambling experts actually advise asia stud players to raise, even though their three card hands do not qualify. This is because the chances of anyone including the dealer being unable to compose a three card hand are relatively high. In other words, even if you cannot compose a qualifying hand out of the cards you were dealt, you still have a decent chance of winning money.

Playing Experience

Now that we have covered basics, betting and strategy, we can elaborate more on the actual experience of playing Asia Stud Poker. Firstly, let us discuss splitting and composing asia stud hands. Some players may chafe at the restrictions placed on their strategy by necessity of fulfilling the criteria of the three card qualifying hand. On the other hand, such players would do well to remember that having too many options can be just as paralyzing as having too few.

Furthermore, the hand valuation system for the two card hand makes game play rather unpredictable. After all, a pair of high cards or moderately high cards may not necessarily yield a high total. The hand value may be exceeded by a pair of cards with relatively low values individually. This does make game play more thrilling, but can be very frustrating to players who like to approach gambling in a mathematical way unless, of course, they take up this challenge and evolve their strategies to account for the baccarat like aspects of Asia Stud Poker.

We should also spare a few moments to discuss the interaction between the different participants in asia stud. As you have probably noted, you will be interacting mainly with the casino dealer. Asia stud does not give you much opportunity to engage with the other players. Furthermore, the psyching-out strategies of certain other poker variations have little place in Asia Stud Poker, so having or developing a good poker face might not be of much use to you here.

If you like learning different types of poker, the challenge of picking up this rather unusual version of asia stud, should appeal to you. However, if you prefer types of poker that are similar enough to the most popular types that you can pick them up right away, you might find Asian Stud Poker too disorienting.