Yes, It's Free

7 Card stud differs from other varieties of poker games because a 7 card stud player is able to see some of the cards his opponents hold. This influences the way a player can play certain hands. It makes some hands very live, as well as making other hands completely dead. To master 7 card stud, players must use the information about the cards their opponents hold to their advantage. By failing to utilize the information up cards provide, a stud player is missing a huge opportunity to improve their game.

A stud player’s hand that he holds loses value when an opponent has his cards showing as his up cards. If an opponent has his cards showing as up cards too, it means that a stud player is less likely to hit or improve his own hand. This is because there are less live card in the deck for his hand to improve. A player’s hand that has no up cards being shown by his opponents is considerably stronger than one with them showing. 7 card stud players should note that this is easily the difference between the hand being playable and the hand being useless. Drawing that fine line will make certain hands profitable and unprofitable, depending on the cards being shown by opponents.

For example, if a FullTiltPoker.com player is holding JJ6, a 3 brings in the bet and a 5 raises the opponent with three other players calling the pot. Now at this very moment in time, the player might well have the best hand on the table. If his opponents have shown up cards so that there is a six out and both the jacks are out, it makes the hand almost unplayable. This is because even though the hand might be good on third street, it is unlikely to gain any value on the rest of the streets. If there was no raise and only one of the jacks and 6’s were showing, then it might be worth trying to get in cheaply to draw for a big hand. However, because both the jacks are showing, it makes the pair a player holds dead and the hand is almost worthless beyond third street.

A stud player must understand that even though he may be holding the best hand with the jacks in the hole, stud is not a three-card game. An opponent is more than likely going to improve his hand to a pair better than jacks and if a poker player knows that his hand is not likely to improve, it is sometimes simply better to muck it if they cannot take down the pot right then. The more opponents in the pot, the more likely it is that a stud player will lose with his jacks when they are dead.