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Blind stud is poker jargon for a particular variant of stud poker.
Any stud poker game can be played "blind" by having all cards dealt face down. This was a common practice in California cardrooms until 1995. The California gambling law makes specific games named by the law illegal, including twenty-one, faro, fantan, and "stud-horse poker". Until 1995, the California attorney general's office interpreted this to mean that draw poker was legal and all forms of stud poker were not, so California cardrooms played exclusively draw poker (mostly lowball). Because of this, blind stud was considered a form of draw—like draw, all cards are hidden. Unlike draw, players do not discard cards they intend to replace. In 1995, cardroom owners convinced the state that "stud-horse poker" was an obsolete house-banked game, and that all forms of modern poker were legal. Today, the most popular game in the state is Texas hold 'em.
Not constrained by obscure California law, home games generally do not play blind stud, though some of the games are challenging and well-balanced, including some of those previously offered by California cardrooms. Some of them got very creative with blind stud games, so they could offer players some variety. For example, a club in the Sacramento suburbs used to offer a seven-card high-low split blind stud game which was played 3-2-1-1 (four rounds; three cards dealt on the first, two on the second, then one and one), with two jokers in the deck acting as bugs, and with the double-ace flush rule.
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