Seven Card Stud Poker Strategy

It’s no doubt that the game of Seven Card Stud has seen better days. After all, it was the most popular form of poker until Texas Hold’em exploded like no other card game ever had before. But just because it’s no longer the most popular poker game doesn’t mean that there are not still people out there trying to make a quick buck off of it.

In fact, there are still millions of people who still choose to play Seven Card Stud meaning the game is definitely alive and well. And this means that there is millions of dollars to be won by taking up this form of poker too.

Most of the money is flowing from people who have no idea how to properly play Seven Card Stud. And we certainly don’t want to wind up in this group so, with that in mind, let’s examine some good strategy for winning at Seven Card Stud.

Seven Card Stud Strategy #1: Use a big starting upcard to your advantage.

A no-brainer in poker is that the starting cards you receive will go a long way to determining your success in certain hands. In Seven Card Stud, the starting hand you receive will go even farther towards defining success or failure.

That’s because the upcard laid in front of each player always gives a good representation of each person at the table. Let’s say a player gets an ace as their upcard. Now obviously they have at least one good card in their hand no matter what the two downcards may be.

So let’s say the person with the ace starts betting big despite having nothing real good in their downcards. The ace alone leaves the possibility open to other players that this person might have a huge starting hand. And a big bet in this situation might force some better hands out of the pot.

Seven Card Stud Strategy #2: Always remain disciplined at the table.

With four cards remaining to be seen after each beginning deal, some players can’t resist the temptation to keep betting further and further into each hand to see what will come up. And if they don’t hold anything good while they’re doing this, it’s called a lack of discipline.

People need to play smart in Seven Card Stud just like they would in any other form of poker. For instance, if you’re holding 10-9-8 between your two hole cards and one upcard and you can already see that three jacks are out of the picture, it wouldn’t be wise to stay in this hand hoping to catch the lone jack and a 7 to make a straight.

The best thing to do is fold and wait for something better to come along next time because chasing hands like these will eat away at a person’s chip stack quickly.

Seven Card Stud Strategy #3: Decide whether in or out after Third Street.

The fact that Seven Card Stud sees an extra round of betting sometimes makes players overlook the importance of the third street (starting hand betting). But anyone who commits this mistake will find themselves down a whole lot of money by the end of the day.

During third street, good players will take a number of factors into account before they make their decision to continue on or not. Some of the factors that need to be looked at are how big the pot is, how many players are staying in the hand, what the table is playing like (loose or tight), and obviously what hand they’re holding.

Once all of these things are taken into account, a person will have enough knowledge of whether or not it will be profitable to stay past the third street.

Seven Card Stud Strategy #4: Analyze the people you're playing with.

Amarillo Slim once said, “It’s not the hand I hold, it’s the people I play with.” And while this statement may be a little farfetched since starting hands do play a big factor, it does sum up the importance of knowing the type of players you’re dealing with.

Analyzing players at the table will make or break a player’s bankroll. It is crucial to look at your opponent's mode of play and determine whether he is someone who plays tight, loose, passive or aggressive.

The ability to do this gives you an advantage. You will be better equipped for reading a players hand and, therein, knowing when to hold em and when to fold em.