Seven Card Stud Strategy Index:

• Seven Card Stud Basic Strategy
• Starting Hands
• Seven Card Stud Odds
• Advanced Strategy

Seven Card Stud Advanced Strategy

Using Seven Card Stud advanced poker strategy at a full table is an investment of your chips to turn family pots into 3 way and heads up play with the possibility of not having to show down. The starting hand combinations do not change, however the way that the cards are viewed and played at poker table does, as well as the betting and raising strategy is adjusted to earn bigger winnings. It is better to use advanced strategy for the following types of full tables and low stakes tables.

• When the bring-in is rarely raised to a complete bet. (Limpers, shy betters, raisers).
• When a table is too 'casual' and there are 'chasers' at the table.
• When most players at the table are playing very tight combinations.
• When you can identify the strong players from the weak players.
• When other players at the table are using advanced betting strategy.
• When a hand is most likely to be heads-up or 3-way.

Starting Hands - Seven Card Stud

Starting Hands - Seven Card Stud:

Any Three of a Kind Pair of Aces
Pair of Kings
Pair of Queens
Pair of Jacks
Pair of Tens
Any Medium Pair
Any Low Pair
Three Flush
Three Straight

Seven Card Stud Odds

Approximate Hands per 100,000 Deals:
The higher the number, the more often these particular types of hands will show up at a table, so that you have an idea of what kind of combinations you are striving to beat. The odds to change depending on how many players are at a table, and what type of stud game is being played

Seven Card Stud - Advanced bet strategy consists of:

• Raising any bets made from fourth street when out of first position.
• Raising/re-raising bets to protect your hand from being overturned by better hands.
• Forcing other players that want to stay in the hand to raise or fold, or you will be the one to do it.
• Raising/re-raising to the cap on fifth street rounds to the river.
• Raising so much that it puts other players at the table on tilt.
• No allowance for checking. (or rare checking that involves check-raising another player).
• Completing bring-in bets/Re-raising completed bets.

As you can see, advanced bet strategy involves a great deal of raising. And only because the player has an experience of exceptional hands, counting card numbers, suits, and outs, for their hands and other player's hands. The risk of a large investment can break you quickly putting you on tilt, or in the best case, give you an excellent payoff in the end. The point is to be the dominant-aggressive player, folding out the casual players, the shy betters and the weak players, and putting other players on tilt so that they're either calling and raising with crap cards (increasing the money in the pot), or playing combo's so tight that you positively know when they have a made hand and you can fold gracefully.

In advanced strategy you identify who is seriously there to win money and who is thinking that they are at the kitchen table at home with friends on a Thursday night. You want the players to pay for calling and betting what they called with. In any case, be sure that your starting hand combination is tight and live, and that you absolutely know when to fold regardless of the investment that you have made.

Do not play this strategy if you are shy with your money or shy with your cards. At all times you must project that you have the most invincible hand between the opponents still calling.

Your prime position to play this type of bet strategy is in late position from the bring-in.

Once you have completed the bring-in or re-raised a complete bet, look at the fourth street cards and compare your hand strength to what the other players have showing. If you have turned a low card or a card that presents no threat of aces-up, trips, a straight or a flush to other players, do not raise with the hand, bet or fold. Mostly if you cannot raise on fourth street with this strategy, even if only to test the hand strength of an opponent, you should fold. If other players have taken cards that you need to make a hand, fold. If another player has turned a fourth street pair, do not play against this hand unless you intend to raise. In most cases you should fold.

Important Considerations

It is crucial to have an understanding of odds for particular hands when using advanced betting strategy. For example, the odds of a one-card draw to an open ended straight is 1 in 5. When considering to raise out the bring-in, naturally you want to consider your position and how many people are in the hand. You do not want to be in early or middle position and raise with fully live cards leaving less than the desired amount of players in the hand necessary for you to meet your drawing odds for later rounds. With this hand, players need to stay in to see fourth street so that you can properly make a determination based on the board if you will be continuing to see the fifth street card.

Another example of understanding the raising strategy to meet your odds, is knowledge of the odds to meet a flush. If your opening hand is a three-card flush you will need to have 4-5 players calling to see fourth street to allow for your 1 in 4.5 drawing odds to be maximized. Heads-up with a three card flush, your odds for catching your flush are less likely. You do not want to raise out potential limpers because you need them to get your odds in alignment to make your hand.

Limping in with these types of hands will also be more likely to reveal what you are up against to start; any raises of the bring-in will usually be a 'tell' as to whom is playing a pair that is worth a raise. Usually raises will come from pairs of 9 or higher, or medium pairs with an live paint card kicker.

If the three-straight or three-flush hand ends up on fourth or fifth street needing only one card to catch the best hand, this is where aggressive raising and re-raising would occur to maximize the amount of money in the pot vs players who are in with big pairs thinking that their hand is still competitive.

Another critical statistic is knowing that fifth street is where pair hands often become counterfeited. In 5000 reviewed hands between stud hi- and stud hi/low, being over-turned or 'counterfeited' consistently occurs on fifth street. An example of this, also located on another section of this site, is a starting hand of QQ5 vs 7A7. While QQ5 at the door vs the pair of 7's is the best hand to start, the odds for being out-turned on fifth street is far too common. If both hands have live cards to hit their second pair, the 7A7 hand will most likely turn it's Ace or trip over another 7 on this street. This is where advanced raising strategy and experience becomes evident and necessary at the table.

With big pairs, aggressive play is necessary to lock out any potential for being over-turned on fifth street. If position allows to three-bet, (re-raise over a complete bet of the bring in), you are cutting out limpers with smaller pairs and three card straights to get the hand as heads-up as possible. This increases your odds to maintain the highest pair, while decreasing the amount of players hoping for enough callers to meet odds to catching straights and flushes.

Check also the Seven Card Stud Tips page.

Play PartyPoker Seven Card Stud Poker

Seven Card Stud is a popular, well-known form of poker. It is played with up to eight players at the table.