Perry Friedman
September 12, 2005 For those of you who are unfamiliar with seven-card stud, there are
some betting quirks in the game that you should
understand. During the opening round of betting in 7
card stud (also
called "third street"), the player with the lowest up
card is forced to act first. There are two choices: Bet
the "bring-in" amount (which is usually one-third of the
full bet) or "complete" the bet (make it a full bet). If
the player chooses to bet the bring-in amount, another
player has the option of completing the bet. Note that
this is not considered a raise, because it is only
increasing the initial bet to one full bet. This means
there is still a bet and three remaining raises allowed
during the opening round.
You should almost never bring in for a completion in
Stud Hi, except in very rare tournament situations.
There are a number of reasons for this, including the
need to conceal the strength of your hand and the desire
to keep your options open later in the round.
If you make it a habit only to bring in for a
completion when you have a good hand, an astute player
will pick up on this and will steal from you every time
you don't complete the bring-in. Conversely, if you
always complete the bet, you are throwing away money
when you are forced in, which is usually when you have a
bad hand since you already have the lowest up card.
Furthermore, bringing in for a completion limits your
betting options. If you bring in for the minimum and
someone else completes the bet, you can raise back for a
full bet, whereas your opponent can only complete for a
partial bet. You can also decide to slow play your hand
if someone completes. Completing the bet exposes you to
being raised back a full bet. By always bringing in for
the minimum, you do not give away the strength of your
hand and leave your options open on third street.
When playing in a live ring game, I will seldom even
look at my down cards when I am the bring-in. Whether or
not you look at your cards first is a matter of personal
preference, but by not looking, you can't give a tell.
However, one of the important aspects of seven card stud is being
aware of what cards have already been dealt out to your
opponents. If you decide not to look at your hole cards,
you should still peruse the table and take inventory of
what cards are already out.
For some people, cataloguing all the upcards in 7
card stud may be a
tedious and exhausting process, and they will prefer to
look at their downcards first so that they immediately
know which key cards will improve their hand, or if they
even have a playable hand at all. The only flaw with
this shortcut is that when you do have a playable hand,
you need to be aware of what your key
cards are and know which cards will help or hurt your
opponents. I recommend getting in the habit of always
mentally keeping track of all of the up cards.
In heads-up play, keeping track of the cards is much
simpler; they are always there to see and you don't need
to remember who folded which cards. This makes it even
less important to check your down cards before acting.
In online play, you will always be aware of your down
cards, but you should still get in the practice of
tracking your opponents' cards. One way to keep the game
interesting - and to work on your skills at the same
time - is to track all the cards even when you are out
of the hand. As the hand progresses, try to figure out
what hands your opponents are likely playing. At the
showdown, you can see how well your reading skills are
coming along.
Seven Card Stud can be a very enjoyable and interesting game,
but it relies less on intuition and more on keeping your
mind focused and your eyes open.
Perry Friedman
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