7 Card Stud Strategy: Developing Your Game

In Part One of this 7 card Stud guide, we looked at the sorts of hands you should be playing. In Part two, we’ll look at some further ideas for strengthening your game.

Pot Odd Calculations

It’s a fundamental of all games of poker, and especially 7 Card Stud, that you have a good idea what price the pot is offering compared with your chances of making the hand/ pulling off a bluff on later streets.

Simply put your pot odds are the odds offered by calling a bet compared with the total amount in the pot. If there is $5 in the pot and your opponent bets $1 you are getting 6:1 on your call.

If the pot is $4 and your opponent bets $2, you are getting 3:1. Compare the price the pot is laying you to the likelihood of making your hand and use this information to decide whether to call or not.

Another consideration you should bear in mind is the likelihood of making money on future streets – the implied odds being offered to you.  If a call isn’t profitable right now, but you can make 2 extra bets on the next two streets that are likely to be paid off, use this information to re-evaluate whether it is worthwhile making that call.

Draw is War!

There’s an old aphorism used in poker: “Play big pairs against a few; play draws against an army.” Any time you have tens to aces early, you should look to knock out opponents by betting or raising to improve your chances of taking down the pot without improvement.

With big draws however, you will only win the pot when you improve and you want the maximum number of people in the hand to pay you off when you do. Smooth call bets instead of raising and only bet or raise with the intention of building the pot rather than knocking people out. Keep an army around to give you money when your gin card slots in.

Study Discards!

There’s a wealth of key information available in the hands players throw away and this information can help you make calls and folds that will boost your bottom line. Train yourself to quickly scan the table every hand to pick up the cards that are exposed so you can use this information to work out how many outs you have on particular hands. If 4 hearts have been thrown away, you are far less likely to make that heart flush draw you were chasing so be prepared to just throw it away and save yourself a bet or two (or three or four!)

Developing you memory for discards is a key skill in 7 card Stud.

Further Reading

Super System is the bible of poker, and when it was released, 7 Card Stud was vying with Hold’em as the most played variant of poker. Super System contains an interesting section on 7 card Stud written by one of its most famous exponents, the late, great Chip Reese.

Beginning with the basics, Reese takes the reader through some key Stud concepts and this is a highly recommended starting point for beginners.

Another good book to consider is Seven Card Stud For Advanced Players, a collaboration by David Sklansky, Mason Malmuth and Ray Zee.

Take these basic concepts, do some further reading and get some experience playing the games and it shouldn’t be long before you turn this skilful and exciting game into a profitable one.