7 Card Stud Poker Lessons

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7 Card Stud Poker Lessons

7 Card Stud is another extremely popular game. Many poker players consider this the most complicated form and requires a lot of skills and strategy to win.

Seven Card Stud is a complex variation of poker and mastering it could cost you a lot of time spent in cardrooms and your money. Here are the 7 Card Stud poker rules and strategies you need to learn.

7 Card Stud Game Rules:

Here players place a small wager called ante.

	The players are dealt with three cards. Two face down (called hole cards) and another face up.
	The player with the lowest ranking up card must place the opening bet.
	Each player must fold, call or raise the bet.
	In the next betting round, the player with the highest hand will begin the betting.
	Each player is then dealt three cards face up. A betting round follows each card.
	The last card dealt to the remaining players will be face down. Then the final round of betting begins.

Remaining players will create the best five-hand card out of the seven cards dealt. Players then reveal their cards and the highest hand wins the pot.

Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo Split, also called 8 or Better, is a variation of the 7 Card Stud Poker game.

7 Card Stud Hi/Lo Split Game Rules

	Betting starts when players place an ante on the table.
	They are then dealt two cards face down, and one card face up.
	The game proceeds just like the high-only game of 7 Card Stud except that the player with the highest up-card starts the betting.
	Players will form their best poker hand, which can be a high or a qualifying low hand.
	A qualifying low hand must have five cards of 8 or below, with no pair.
	Players will show their cards. The pot is split between the highest hand and the best low hand. If there is no low hand, the highest hand wins the whole pot.

7 Card Stud Advanced Strategy

As we have stated at the beginning of this section, 7 Card Stud is a complex variation of poker. Playing it requires a lot of patience and concentration, mastering it could cost you a lot of time spent in cardrooms and your money.

Being a poker beginner, you will need a lot of help learning effective strategies of playing 7 Card Stud. Here are some tips that would help you claim the pot.

Only play live hands. Meaning you should only play hands with a potential to improve. For example, your 3 starting cards are of the same suit (three flush), then several other cards of this suit also appear on the table. This means your hand is unlikely to improve further, your hand is said to be dead and should be thrown away. On the other hand, if only one or two of your suited cards are showing, you may have a chance to improve your hand in the coming rounds.When the first round is completed (the third street), check out all the door cards. You can consider your hand dead if most of the cards you need to make a pair or a possible winning hand are already out.

Big pairs play better in short-handed pots. Say you have a Queen pair, this is a good starting hand. You have a reason to raise or re-raise a bet at this early stage of the game because big pairs usually do best when played in short-handed pots. Against only a few opponents it has a chance of winning without improvement. But you are in danger of losing if you have a lot of opponents who have a chance of improving their hands as the next rounds unfold. The opposite is true, however, if you have drawing hands such as three flush or three straight. Because although they are good starting hands they don't really have value unless the next rounds bring out the cards that will help boost it. On this case, you prefer to have more opponents so that when you do make a hand there are still enough players around to pay it off.

Small and medium pairs are more difficult to play than big pairs. Say you have a 6-pair or 4-pair in your starting hands, these are occasionally good hands. If you decide to play this, you should remember that one of your opponents can easily catch a card higher that your pair that will give him a better edge than you.

One or more high card adds value to your hand. We cannot emphasize more the important part that high cards play. Having a high card, say a K or an A, can do you good in two ways: one it's a good kicker card, two if you pick up another K or A then you have a pretty heavy pair that has the chance to win the pot.

Beware of scare cards. Scare cards are those that can either improve you hand or helps get another card that could improve your hand. For example, if you draw a suited Q to go along with your K, your opponent would be wary that you have a pair, a straight, or even a flush in the works. At the same time, be wary when your opponent catches a scare card. Make careful decisions on when you will call or raise a bet.

It's often worth it to go all the way. Although it's true that you should be selective of the hands you play, once you enter the pot it's generally right to go along the way even if you feel you don't have the best hands. But of course, if it's certain that you have a losing hand, you should fold immediately and not waste any more money. But in most situations, if you've played your cards well long enough there could be a lot of ways for you to win. Plus, how else will your game improve if you always resist going all the way?

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