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The classic table game Mississippi Stud has received a fresh makeover as Mississippi Showdown, exclusively available at DraftKings Casino.
The five-card poker variation places a premium on quick thinking. It has similarities to Texas Hold’em but uses only three community cards, not five. Because it’s a table game, players aren’t competing against each other, but rather against the set pay table. No need for a poker face in this one, because there’s no bluffing.
A pair of sixes is all you need to feel like a stud in this showdown and fill your pockets.
Here we break down the look and feel of Mississippi Showdown, compare it to the original Mississippi Stud and give you some guidance on what both games have to offer.
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Mississippi Showdown adapts an older game by Scientific Games
The newly-released DraftKings version is sleek and modern, with a simple riverboat cruise backdrop and a large circular table decorated with river bells. Players can select their chips to ante and have the option to also bet on the Pairs and Up button.
Scientific Games (now Light and Wonder) developed the concept and the game spread in retail and online poker spaces. However, its patent on the game’s rules lapsed last year.
That has allowed Black Throne Studios, DK’s in-house game development team, to reboot it for DraftKings and call it Mississippi Showdown.
The format is the same. Players must ante an amount of their choice, then they are dealt two cards. Players can immediately fold (and sometimes they should) or bet 1x, 2x or 3x their ante (called third street) and then the first community card is shown. Now you have the option to bet again (fourth street) to see what the second community card is. One last bet (fifth street) overturns the final card in the community pot. Then you look at what you won according to the pay table.
The RTP for Mississippi Stud or Mississippi Showdown is 98.63% with perfect play.
How to play Mississippi Showdown
We played both the original Mississippi Stud and the new Mississippi Showdown. Our first advice is don’t be afraid to fold.
The pay table, listed on the screen (although not as easy to read in Showdown) isn’t changing. The 52-card deck is refreshed after each hand. If you’re given an eight of clubs and a two of diamonds in your initial deal, it might be smart just to fold right away, because odds are you aren’t going to build a winning hand. What you’re looking for is a pair, or perhaps a way to build a straight.
If you get junk to start, but feel optimistic, one option is to just 1x your ante bet, just to get a glimpse at that first community card. If it’s more junk, fold and wait for your next hand. Don’t ever chase.
When you get an early pair, that’s when you pounce. The push line is at Mississippi Showdown is a pair of sixes or better. When you get that or something better, you’ve already won, triple your ante on every subsequent bet to enhance your profit.
One other tip, both Stud and Showdown give you the ability to 1x, 2x or 3x your ante. There’s no reason to ever go 2x, either you’re sniffing around for a good card (and betting 1x) or you’re all in (betting 3x).
DraftKings’ version has improved bonus bet odds
Although the core mechanics of Mississippi Showdown are the same as Scientific Games’ Mississippi Stud, there are a few subtle differences in DraftKings’ implementation. The most notable of these is in the side bet.
In Mississippi Stud, still widely available at other online casinos such as Caesars and BetMGM, players have the option to ante and put money down on the 3-card bonus button. This is an ancillary bet that is just based on the three cards in the community pot. If those three cards include a pair, you win, even if the cards you were dealt were trash.
Mississippi Showdown has a very similar side bet called Pairs and Up. At first, this appears to be the same as 3-card bonus just under a different name. However, the top line of the pay table comes with a welcome surprise. A “mini royal” pays 50-1 in Mississippi Stud, but 200-1 at DraftKings. The DraftKings version also allows players to opt in to the DraftKings Progressive, which is shared between many of its exclusive games.
Other than that, the games play the same. We liked the easy-to-read pay table on the old Mississippi Stud screen better than Mississippi Showdown. There’s some backdrop music on Stud and less sound of the cards being delivered.
Other options to play Mississippi Stud
Aside from the online options, Mississippi Stud is still available at multiple retail locations. True to its name, Mississippi Stud can be played at the Scarlet Pearl Casino outside of Biloxi, Mississippi and at the Hollywood Casino Gulf Coast in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.
Mississippi Stud is also up and running in Atlantic City at the Hard Rock, Ocean Casino and Resort and the Trop.
