Once you feel like you have mastered a specific poker variant it can become quite tedious to play. Once complacency sets in boredom quickly follows and you can turn from a winning player into a losing one in no time at all.

A great way to keep your mind fresh and improve your overall poker skills is to learn a completely new variant. If you usually play online poker games like Hold’em or Omaha then a great game to look at would be Seven Card Stud.

Seven Card Stud is completely different from games like Hold’em and Omaha as there are no community cards on display. Instead you have to make your decisions based on the visible cards in your opponents’ hands. The first thing this will do is vastly improve your short-term memory because you will need to remember the cards folded in the previous betting rounds.

Your hand reading skills should also improve as you try to decipher the possible made hands and draws each of your opponents may have based on what you can see, their betting actions and the cards you know have already been folded. This in turn will aid your overall concentration and observation, two vital attributes for any winning poker player.

Once you have played enough hands you will almost certainly find your new skills come in handy when playing your usual game. Having the ability to play another form of poker is a great tool should you find yourself losing at your usual game. Instead of trying to chase your losses simply load up another game you know and give that a try instead.

Jeff Lisandro - The King of Stud Poker

Over the past ten years, stud had been in danger of becoming poker’s forgotten game. The rise in popularity of games such as Texas Hold’em and Pot-limit Omaha threatened to force one of poker’s oldest variants to take a backseat but one man could have reignited the seven-card stud flame and that is Jeff Lisandro.

Born in Australia but now residing in Salerno, Italy, Lisandro is a highly respected cash game specialist, making his living by grinding out hundreds of hands, day after day. He is also a well-known face on the tournament circuit and his first recognised cash was back in 1995 when he came 5th out of 113 entrants at the Festival of Poker in London for a £1,200 score.

Despite being proficient in most pokers disciplines, he certainly knows his Omaha poker strategy, Lisandro’s real strength is in seven-card stud variants, a point he proven time and time again. In fact the first of his 31 cashes at the World Series of Poker came in a $1,500 Seven-card stud event at the 1997 WSOP where he finished 12th from 160 players, winning $2,800 for his efforts.

Over the next few years, Lisandro started to build on his reputation as one of the best stud players in the world and in 2007 he won his first WSOP bracelet after besting a field of 213 in the $2,000 Seven-card stud event to get his hands on the coveted piece of poker jewellery and $118,426.

Just two years later and Lisandro would have a WSOP to remember – one that would put him in the record books and plant stud back on the poker playing map. On June 6th, 2009 Lisandro won the $1,500 seven-card stud event, then 12 days later he took down the $10,000 World Championship seven-card stud hi/low event for over $430,000.

Remarkably Lisandro’s winning streak continued and he won a $2,500 Razz event on June 22 to become only the fourth player in history to win three bracelets in one year and the first player to win a bracelet in each of the stud disciplines.

While the popularity of stud had fallen in recent times, Lisandro’s amazing performance at the 2009 World Series of Poker put the game back in the public eye and probably guaranteed it will be around for many years to come.

Stud poker is probably the classic version of this age-old card game. There are several varieties, including seven-card and five-card. Some versions call for the player to make the best high hand possible while others, such as Razz and 2-7 low-ball, call for the lowest hand.

One major difference is that position at the table is not determined as it is in Holdem. In this game, the player who “brings in” can change from one round to the next. For example, in 7-card games where the high hand must bring in, the player who has the highest card face up on the first round and the highest hand on subsequent rounds is forced to bet the set amount.

Stud games are known for the mystery that surrounds the hole cards each player has face down. Player’s have the opportunity to use this information to bluff and build pots since the others don’t know what he is holding.
In the last few years, 7-card in several variations has become a regular part of many tournaments. However, this version of the game has taken a back seat to Holdem and Omaha because of television coverage and the celebrity status of many pros. The World Series of Poker has long included a couple of versions of stud, including the low-hand game of Razz. Most players will not see a five-card game unless they are at home or in one of the rare poker rooms that still offer it.

Bets are determined by the limits set from the start. For example, if you sit down in a $2/$5 game players must bet $2 in the first two rounds and $5 minimum for the rest of the rounds in that hand. Poker rooms sometimes play spread limit games, in which the players bet $2 or another minimum amount and any amount up to the high limit – $2/$10 for example. Tip: Make sure you understand how the betting structured before you start.
You will probably hear veteran players call the third card third-street, and so on. The final card is often called the river, just as it is in Holdem and a few other games.

Over the years, stud players have created a wide variety of games based on the foundation of seven cards with some cards hidden from view. A popular home game is “roll your own.” In this version, players are dealt three down cards to start and choose one to turn face up. This is repeated throughout the hand, allowing each player more choice in what he wants to hide from his opponents.

This wrinkle adds some excitement and danger to the game, especially if a particular card or cards is determined to be “wild” before the hand starts. For example, if deuces are wild, a player should probably keep these in the hole, unless he wants to expose one of the wild cards for effect.

Legendary poker player Doyle Brunson has called Holdem the “Cadillac” of card games. In comparison, stud poker might be a reliable old Chevrolet that many people still enjoy.

Stud poker is also available on most of online poker sites.

Ladbrokes Poker, an established bookmaker in Britain, with several offline gambling offices, has now made a name for itself in the field of online betting too. Having started as a small self-sufficient online poker room, Ladbrokes has opened its doors to a wider audience after having merged with the MicroGaming network. It has a lot to offer in terms of juicy games, a generous bonus, wonderful promotions and a great opportunity for players to earn a good deal of money at the tables.

Software

Ladbrokes Poker has switched over from its own stand-alone software to the widespread MicroGaming network, which has brought in an influx of poker enthusiasts to the website. MicroGaming powers many of the online poker sites. The software is easy to maneuver and has an extremely brilliant interface. The graphics are great and you have access to all the useful data at the click of your mouse. You can get your current hand statistics plus past hand history along with a list of games that you have won. You can observe the strategies that you used in those games as well learn from your mistakes in the games that you have lost.

There are three different table options available on the poker site and you get all the required table stats straightaway from the lobby. Also available is a calendar that helps players organize for upcoming events so that they do not miss anything of importance. Players also have access to Sportsbook for wagers they might like to make on major Sporting events.

Games

The games available on this poker site include, Texas Holdem in fixed limit, no limit and pot limit versions, Omaha, Omaha High/Low, 5 Card Stud and 7 Card Stud. The most sought after game is the shorthanded No Limit Texas Holdem. Games are easy; proceed at a fast rate with loose and juicy games bringing on a great deal of action at the tables. Bets start as low as $0.25/$0.40 and can go up as high as $300/$600 in the fixed limit versions.

Casino games such as Blackjack, roulette, slot games and video slots are also available for players to indulge in. So, players can enjoy poker as well as casino games from a single web client.

Tournaments

Like all other poker sites, it too has a high rate of player traffic at the tournaments. There are numerous tournaments to choose from such as single table and multi-table tournaments, sit and go tournaments, free rolls and guaranteed tournaments. The most popular are the buy-in tournaments and guaranteed tournaments with a cash prize of $30,000.

Single table tournaments include fixed limit and no limit Texas Holdem and the pot limit version in Omaha. Bets start at $5 and can exceed to $10,000. Multi-table tournaments include fixed limit as well as no limit Texas Holdem and bets start as low as $1 and can go up as high as $2,500.

Bonus

It offers a 100% welcome bonus to new players who sign up and make their first deposit. This bonus can be up to $500 but in order to get this bonus players have to play enough raked hands and tournaments. They have to wager for this bonus within 30 days if they wish to receive it. A piece of advice is deposit only the amount that you know you can wager for in the given period because if you fail to equal the amount, you will not get any bonus.

Ladbrokes Poker Bonus Code:

Promotions

The most exciting and popular promotion is the LeaderBoard tournament, which is a monthly event called the ‘rake race’ wherein 3,000 foremost players on the LeaderBoard get cash rewards. The monthly give away in this tournament is $1,000,000. The leader or the top player can receive up to $20,000 while the last on the rank gets about $50. Players earn points for every cash game that they player which are then added towards their ranking on the leaderboard, which is updated on a day to day bases.

	Basic Details
	Country of Origin	:	United Kingdom
	License	:	UK
	Year of Foundation	:	2005
	Software	:	Playtech
	Size	:
	Audited By	:	PWC
	Language	:	English, Spanish
	Accepts USA Players	:	No
	Bonus	:	$600

Paddy Power Poker

Paddy Power Poker Ireland’s leading bookmaker, now quite demanded in the UK too, is listed as a publicly quoted company both in the Irish as well as the London Stock Exchanges. It is another of the projects of the iPoker network, which hosts other such rooms as the VC Poker and Doyles Room, and produced by Playtech, a top name in the U.S. With $3M to be won every month, a free access and assured tournaments, Paddy Power Poker has established a huge fanatic following.

The Paddy Power Poker software is very easy to navigate and the graphics are exceptional. The overall design of the Paddy Power Poker website is quite attractive. Apart from multiple table tournaments, tables are available in head-ups, full and short-handed formats. Moreover, you have a choice of a four-color deck, which should be used, as it is a sensible thing to do if you are playing Internet poker, since the cards cannot be differentiated easily. You can even play four tables at the same time on a 1024*728 screen, without having one overshadow the other.

The helpful software puts everyone at extreme ease and is especially good for new comers and middle range poker players who wish to polish their game skills. The informative tutorials teach you all the necessary game skills that you need to know. And what is more, if you have any queries regarding the game, you can get answers to them from “Ask Dr. Jack.

The site offers an exciting introductory bonus of £250 to every player and a generous sign up bonus of up to $600. Paddy Power Poker has several multi-table tournaments including Hold’em, Seven-Card Stud Hi, Omaha Hi and Hi-lo.

Although, the more prevalent games are the fixed limit and no limit hold’em, but there is a selection of full-ring and 6-max games and a wide range of choice to the limits, which enable you to play the favorite game of your choice. You can begin with mere pennies and go up to rake stakes of $150. They have some alluring bonuses to offer, including free rolls called “win her knickers”. All high stakes are played during peak hours, while the medium & low stakes have open tables at off peak hours.

Paddy Power Poker has recently upgraded its bonus offers, where Generals can gain a minimum of $500 along with other added bonuses. This program has been designed to profit Captains, Majors and Colonels, by allowing them a lower qualifying criteria and a faster accumulation of points, apart from the monthly cash bonus.

Inspite of all its good points, Paddy Power Poker has certain drawbacks. The game pace is much slower than the usual game speed, has moderate traffic during the off peak hours and what is even worse, is that it does not allow US players on its site.

Precisely, the Paddy Power Poker site is an excellent poker gaming site, offering attractive bonuses and a variety of choice of games as well as the limits that can be played online.