The original 7 card stud game is the 4th leg of HORSE and where a seasoned player can really make a move. A lot of players will fall in love with certain hands when they are clearly second best or worst. This is the type of scenario that you need to avoid. If you are not clearly going for the best hand, you have to get out.

Hands that cost 7 card stud players the most money are mid pairs that they play out on the string. For example, you have Q9 in the hole a 9 on board. There are 6 other players in the game and they are showing A, K, 10, J, 7, and a 5. The 5 leads out on a force bet, the A calls and then the K raises, the 10 folds, the J calls and then the folds. You are next to play, what do you do?

If you are smart, you are going to dump the hand. You can be pretty sure that you are up against KK and possibly JJ. You still have the A to play behind you who very well may be setting up a check raise. The problem is the at most amateur players are going to fall in love with their split pair and will try to chase it down. It is the wrong decision and it is going to cost you a ton of money in the end.

It has been said before and it is worth saying again, stud is not a chasers game. With so many bets, you will end up broke if you continue to chase down hands. If you are not clearly sitting on the best, you must get out of the hand. In reality, the only hand that should still be playing in this example is the K and depending upon what the A does, he should possibly be out of the hand.

One of the major keys to 7 card stud is ensuring that you are not chasing down a losing hand. While you cannot always assume that the player has matched their card underneath when they are showing a high card, how they play against the other high cards gives you a ton of information.

Here, it would be foolish for the K to fire unless he was already paired up. He can be assured that anyone behind him that has matched a card will at the very least call him if not come over the top to see where they stand. Of course, he still has the A that is in front of him to worry about as well. You can easily see where playing mid and small pairs can get you into a heap of trouble. When you are deciding to go in or not, you want three cards to the flush or straight or the high pair going on board. If you play to anything else, you are playing to second best.

7 card stud was once a game that dominated poker rooms and households alike.  All of a sudden, The World Series of Poker started getting televised and everyone wanted to become a professional Texas Hold’em Poker player and become an instant millionaire.  Now, with the popularity of H.O.R.S.E, 7 card stud is making a mild come back and people are realizing this is a true poker playing game.

The fact of the matter is that 7 card stud makes up 60% of H.O.R.S.E.  Razz Poker is just a variation on stud and uses the same basic principles.  After you play regular stud, you finish up with Stud hi/low before starting all over again.  If you are a great stud player, you can clean up in this cash game or tournament.

Most Hold’em players get into a very bad habit of chasing down hands.  They are used to playing common cards and not actually working a hand and betting against other people’s board.  Stud Poker makes you not only keep track of your hand, but every card that is played.  Part of the art of stud is to know which cards for your draw and your opponents draw have been burned.  When their hand is not made on the board, you will make your play based on your hand and the perceived chances that they were able to draw out.

For instance, if you are holding a 34 in your hand and they are the filler cards for the straight that your opponent looks to be chasing down, you already know that he has only 6 live cards.  Maybe two 3’ and three 4’s were already folded by other players who have dropped out of the hand.  He is not paying attention to the other hands and is throwing good money in after a bad chase.

The other thing about stud is that the more experience you gain, the better you will be able to read players hands based on pre-flop action and how they follow it up on 4th and 5th street.  If someone is banging away pre-flop with a 5 showing, you are pretty assured that they are sitting on a set or a monster high pair under.  If they catch another 5 or catch AKQ on one of the streets, you know your mid pair is in a lot of trouble.  By paying attention to everything, you will find that you are much more successful than the average player at stud.

If you have never played stud, you may find all of this a little difficult in the beginning so do not play for high stakes.  Go play online at the quarter tables until you get the knack for this.  As you get better, you can move up in level until you are in the games that you usually play at.  When you really get comfortable, it is time to exploit weaker players and get in on the H.O.R.S.E tourneys and cash games.  Just remain patient during the Hold’em and Omaha stages and then drop the hammer when the stud games are being played.  Make the chasers pay and build your stack to get the coveted first prize money.