Telesina (Teresina) is a game that is played mainly in European countries and the game is a kind of variation to Five Card Stud. However instead of playing with a 52 deck of cards one uses a French 32 card deck with ace to seven, referred to as "French" deck, and where the typical hand ranks varies compared to games like Texas Hold'em.

How to Play Telesina

A maximum of six players can play at once (32 cards), and the dealer hands out two cards to each player in a clock-wise rotation. The first card dealt to each player is face down (dark) while the second card is face up, for all players to see, and following the initial cards the first betting round begins. In total there is five betting rounds in Telesina, and where the initial four rounds are identical to Five Card Stud.

The Rules

Telesina poker is about building the strongest five card hand using the cards ace to seven, hence card values 6, 5, 4, 3 and 2 have been removed from the card deck and game.

The game starts with all players posting an ante bet, a forced bet to kick-start the pot and following the initial deal the player holding the highest open card brings it in. Bringing it in means they are first to bet which is usually two times the ante size. After the hole cards are dealt three more cards are dealt to each player face up, and following each card dealt there is a betting round after each deal. The sixth card to be dealt is the "Vela Card" which is placed at the centre of the table/board and each player still in the hand can use this community card to build their strongest five card hand, following the Vela card the 5th and final betting round starts.