The Game

Soko poker, also known as Canadian or Scandinavian Stud, is a variant of Five Card Stud and commonly played with up to eight players, and it is played almost the exact same way as Five Card Stud. However the exception is two additional hands that players can make in addition to standard poker hands.

 

The two additional hands are Four Card Flush and Four Card Straight, and as they sound they are four card versions of the hands we already know. Four Card Flush is four cards of the same suit and Four Card Straight is four cards in sequence (5, 6, 7, 8) and no suit, both hands beat a pair, but lose to a two pair hand.    

 

 

How to Play Soko Poker

The game, as Five Card Stud, is to build the highest five card hand from a total of five cards dealt. The game begins with all players positing the ante bet and the each player is dealt one face down card and one card face up. The face up card is also known as the hole card, and all dealing is left going right from the dealers position.

 

 

The Betting Round

The round of betting will now take place starting with the player with the lowest card value and suit, known as the force bet/bring-in bet. The player who has the force bet can now select from betting a minimum amount, equal to half the tables minimum bet, or a larger amount, equal to the full minimum bet of the table. 

 

Note... In the event that two players or more holds door cards of the same value then the lowest suit will determine who holds the force bet. 

 

 

Suit Rank

Determining which player holds the force bet, when door cards are of the same value, the lowest suit will decide rank. Suits are ranked as follows.

 

Spades

Hearts

Diamonds

Clubs

 

Spades being the highest suit and clubs the lowest.

 

 

Hand Rank

The game outcome is determined per the following poker hand ranking.

 

Royal Flush	A, K, Q, J, T in same suit
Straight Flush	Five cards in sequence, same suit
Four of a Kind	Four cards of the same rank
Full House	Three of a kind and one pair
Flush	Five card of the same suit
Straight	Five cards in sequence, no suit
Three of a Kind	Three cards of the same rank
Two Pairs	Two different pairs
Four Card Flush	Four cards of same suit
Four Card Straight	Four cards in sequence, no suit
One Pair	One pair plus three odd cards
High Card	Five cards, nothing of the above

 

Note... Two extra hands, four card flush and four card straight, winning over pair but losing to a two pair hand. 

 

 

Third Card/2nd Betting Round

The next card dealt is the third card, also known as the 2nd betting round. The dealer will burn one card from the top of the deck and then start to deal the player closest to the dealers left and moving clockwise around the table. Third card is dealt face up. The round of betting takes place and starts with the player with the highest two-card value, known as having the action. 

 

Note... If a tie occurs between two players as to best hand, the player closest to the dealers left will have the action.

 

 

Open Pair

The 2nd betting round will be at the table’s lower betting limit, unless any players two up cards shows an open pair, in which the player can bet the higher amount of the tables limit. Otherwise only available at the 3rd betting round.

 

Note…If the player with the action select the lower limit bet other players in the hand can select either the lower limit or the higher limit raise.

 

 

Fourth Card/3rd Betting Round

The next card dealt is the fourth card, also known as the 3rd betting round. The dealer will burn one card from the top of the deck and then start to deal the player closest to the dealers left and moving clockwise around the table. Fourth card is dealt face up. The round of betting takes place and starts with the player with highest three-card value.

 

Note… With the 3rd betting round, and 4th betting round, all bets and raises in a fixed limit game are made at the higher limit.

 

 

Fifth Card/4th Betting Round

The next card dealt is the fifth card, also known as the 4th betting round. The dealer will burn one card from the top of the deck and start to deal the player closest to the dealers left and moving clockwise around the table. Fifth card is dealt face up. The round of betting takes place and starts with the player with the highest four-card value.

 

 

The Showdown

Determining which player must and will show their cards first is based on the player who initiated the action or player last holding the action, the player who last initiated a bet, raise or re-raise. In simple terms the player who created the last action on the 4th betting round must show his or her cards first. If all players checked it’s the player having the initial option to bet that show his or hers card first. If a player checked and the next player bets and then a player raises it’s the player who raised that will and must show first.

 

 

No Show

If a player wins by default the player do not need to show his or hers cards. Meaning that if two or more players are in the game and one player bets and the other(s) fold the player winning will not have their down card shown. Instead an option is given the winning player, show or don’t show.

 

Players are not required to show their down card if they are not the player creating the last action by betting or raising. If a player calls a bet and sees that they cannot win, they are given an option to fold or show their cards.

 

 

Split Pots

It is theoretically possible that two or more players can hold the best five-card hand. If a tie occurs between two or more players the dealer will split the pot equally between winning hands.

 

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Fixed Limit Games

The most common used betting structure, and a fixed limit game is as the name states, fixed betting amounts. In a fixed limit game the bets permitted are already decided and will remain consistent through several betting rounds and then change. For instance in a 2-4 five card stud game a bet and any raises must be exactly 2. In 3rd and 4th betting rounds any bet and raises must be 4.

 

 

Spread Limit Games

The second most common betting structure. A spread game permits players to decide within a certain spread what bet to place at any given street, e.g. in a 1 to 5 game players can decide whether to bet 1 to 5.

 

Note... The only difference between fixed- and spread-limit stud poker is betting structure and 2nd round open pair betting rule.