494.
George Percy, a seven-card stud expert from the 1970s and ’80s wrote a poker primer in 1979 called Seven-Card Stud: The Waiting Game. It was the primary source for the beginning study of seven-card stud for ten years. Stud is considered a waiting game because you really need to wait for good starting hands.495.
Stud is also called the memory game. If you have a photographic memory, seven-card stud is a great game for you!496.
As mentioned, one of the best les-sons you can learn early on is how to read the board, but as you get more skilled at seven-card stud you will need knowledge of your opponents.497.
Once you figure out how your opponents play, you have a distinct advantage in the game. If you know a player is a rock, you should play only great big hands against him, and you also can often make him lay down the best hand.498.
Example: If you have pocket 3s with a king up and the rock is the only player to enter the pot and he has a queen (he very well may have two queens), you can raise. He will put you on split kings. If he doesn’t help his queens by fifth street and you keep hammering, he will probably fold.499.
If your opponents are playing only their cards (that is, not paying attention to what is being dealt to other players) and playing only when they have a hand, you can do some ante stealing. Ante stealing is raising on third street with your goal being solely to steal the antes and the low-card bring-in money.500.
You do not necessarily have to have an opening hand to be a thief, although a big upcard is good to have for the visual effect. Most importantly you need position and heart. The thought on this is simply to stay a bit ahead of the game if you aren’t getting any hands.501.
The higher the limit game you play, the more important ante stealing becomes. It is of course of no importance in low-limit games because there is no ante to steal. How-ever, as you go up in limits, $15-$30, $20-$40,$30-$60, and so forth, the higher the limit, the more ante money is in the pot, often just waiting to be stolen.
502.
Remember: poker is the one area in your life where lying and stealing are okay. In fact, these “traits” are not just okay; you must have them to be a winning player!503.
Example: You are playing a $15-$30 game where the ante is $2 and the bring-in is $5. Let’s figure conservatively that thirty hands will be dealt in an hour. That is a cost to you of at least $60 an hour to play and that isn’t adding in any $5 forced bring-in bets.504.
So we’ll say it is costing you $75 an hour. If you win some hands, that’s good. But if you add in some ante stealing, that’s another $21 (eight players plus the low card that you can accumulate). Done three or four times an hour, this can really add up.505.
Example: You have a jack up and are the last to act. No one has entered the pot. Raise it and you can probably take it.506.
If you are in late position to act and can tell that the players that are going to act after you plan to fold, raise it and you can probably take it.507.
There will be exceptions to this of course; that’s poker. Occasionally the low card bring-in will wake up with a big hand, but even if he calls, you could make a pair on fourth street. You can’t get away with habitual ante steal-ing, but if you know how your opponents are play-ing, you’ll have a good feeling of when you can do it.508.
You also can steal antes from expe-rienced players. If you act after they do and they have folded, they simply can’t stop you.When done correctly, ante stealing can be prof-itable.
509.
As the levels increase, stealing antes becomes a very important strategy in a seven-card stud tournament. You must steal in order to stay alive.510.
If you have decided to steal the antes (and this should almost always be from late position), and you get raised, fold immediately if you don’t have a hand. Cut your losses. As long as you win two out of three, you’re fine.511.
Remember, you cannot steal if a player has already entered the pot.He came in with something. Just wait for a better opportunity.
512.
Always have the idea to steal the antes in the back of your mind if you are last or late to act. This is especially true in seven-card stud tournaments. Get away with as much as you can.513.
In tournaments, you can steal from earlier positions if you have the highest card on the board. If an aggressive player is stealing a lot in front of you and not giving you the opportunity to be the “thief of the hand,” wait for a marginal starting hand and then reraise him. Try to steal his steal. This is called a resteal.514.
Going after straights and flushes in live play is one thing. Pot odds and your outs will dictate whether or not you take the gamble. However, in stud tournaments stay away from those drawing hands if at all possible. You can-not replace those chips if you miss your draw. It could easily mean elimination from the competi-tion.515.
Example: In live play if the bully raises every time he has the high card on board, wait for a small pair or three to a straight or three to a flush and then pop him back.He should back off, but if he calls and then checks to you on fourth street—you should bet it again.
516.
The flip side of the bully coin is the passive, tight, weak player. Anytime he comes alive and jumps in with a raise you should fold unless you have a huge, made hand. It is unlikely that he would raise unless he had a big hand.517.
If you have to open with the low card and you have a big pocket pair, do not start pushing until fourth street. This will com-pletely befuddle your opponents. Example: You have kings in the pocket but have to bring it in with a 3.There are two callers and a jack raises. Just call the raise as the others will probably do. Let’s say you catch a 10 on fourth street. The jack bets, and then you raise. It will appear that the 10 helped your hand, making either two pair or three 10s. If the hand is played to the river, your kings will be a surprise.
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