Board Reading and Strategy in 7 Card Stud

The flop is the first 3 cards dealt. You have 1 card face up. On to 4th

street! Not so fast. We just got our 1st chance to read the board. Lets take

card counting and start our stud hand off right. You can't be lazy waiting

for your turn to act before you get involved in a hand, as you can in holdem

preflop. Every none hole card you see can help in making decisions down the

streets. And one very important related point! Every card you don't see can

allow you to make much better decisions on 6th and 7th streets. Lets say you

hold (8 6) 7 9 X X and are playing 3 opponents. The folded cards include 1-5

and 1-10 that were up on the flop, there is also 1-10 being held by a player

still in the hand. You don't have 8 out, you only have 5. Card counting is a

must in stud! The reverse example would be you have the same board (8 6) 7 9

X X and two none usable cards after 6th street. You still have 3 players as

well as yourself in the hand. The other 4 folded on the flop. Thats 6 cards

in our hand plus 4 board cards each for our opponents and four folded board

cards. Thats 6 plus 12 plus 4 and there are no 5 or 10 shown. We now have a

draw of 8/30 to hit the straight on the river rather than 8/46 as standard

after 6th street. Knowing these odds due to the absence of 5's or 10's is

just as valuable in decision making. We know that the down cards(hole cards)

of the 7 other players could contain 5's or 10's but we treat them as random

the same as in holdem. The difference is if we are observent we can better

determine the odds of us hitting on the river. Limit games like stud afford

players more relevant and usable pot odds to draw on late streets.

Particularily in ring games. Where you should never have more than 10% of

your bankroll on the table.

We now understand the importance of 3rd street as it relates to the start of

board reading. 4th street begins the process of comparisom to our opponents.

We aren't considering hand selection on the flop, but rather reading the

opponents boards and then discussing the sort of hand we should be playing

and how. We have 3 opponents to 4th street in our example. 1) (XX) Ac 5d 2)

(XX) 7c 9c 3) (XX) 4h 4c and for the time being what we have doesn't matter.

In other threads I gave board reading exercises that show quads is possible

after 4 cards with a pair showing so we won't go through those extremes

again. Lets look at likely concerns. Hand 2 concerns me more than 1 or even 3

actually. You have a potential 4 to a straight and/or flush possible. We

respect the board pair in hand 3 and the ace in hand 1 but we hate suited

connectors early in a stud hand if held by an opponent. If we had a pair over

4's we would bet out instantly making the draw as expensive as possile until

a potential 5 card hand of a straight or better is shown on any board or a

better pair is dealt to an opponent. This is an important point I will

comeback too again and again. Board reading and betting go hand in hand in

stud! Your always trying to draw cheap or bet aggressively to entice/induce

folds or make the bad guy pay for his draws. The trapping player on 4th or

5th street usually ends up regretting the free cards they gave the opponent.

The other key to 4th street is that it cost you a complete to get here most

often. You payed the ante and barring a reraise it was cheap to see 4th

street as the complete is likely the only additional cost. But now it's

decision time. Board reading should begin to give you a little idea of

potential opponents hands. Your not there yet, but on your way. Having 4

cards to a gutshot straight should be a fold. As should none paired hands.

Remember it doesn't take much to have you beat and ace high rarely wins a 7

card stud hand. You are looking to value potential quality draws against your

hands improvement potential at this point. That 7 9 suited is a perfect

example. If we had 10's or better and the fact that 2 clubs are held by

opponents excluding ourselves and no more than a single raise we would play

generally. If the ace bet out we'd have to read whether they have aces or

not. But a key is to watch 9 7 here. Many experienced stud players bet out

thier big draws here. If they raise/reraise and you have less than 2 pair or

a set it is generally right to fold without redaws to the nuts. Three streets

and possibly 13 remaining outs(2 clubs on board held by opponents) for flush

and an open ended straight draw may have you ahead, but can cost you alot of

money to try and keep calling against the jumbo draw.(13/48, 13/47, 13/46)

Board reading and decisions here and after 5th street are inpart about chip

management in a limit game. Lets look at 5th street and its importance.

5th street is the first possible made hand. If your still here; NOW is the

time you decide to play to the river or fold. There are 2 reasons for this.

The first is you believe your ahead in the hand and will bet out forcing the

draw to pay for cards. Very obvious. A variation is you put them on a draw

and a weak hand, but may only have a draw yourself. Here there is an

opportunity to bluff/semi bluff. Aggression and pressure from 5th and 6th

street can get that draw to fold in limit sometimes because your now making

big bets rather than small. There is a change in how players view big bets

versus small bets in limit poker. Use it to your advantage by timing your

betting aggression on your drawing hands post 5th street, rather than post

4th street. Your not pot building from 5th street on your wanting to take

down pots. 5th street is also a pure bluffing street. You get

runner/runner/runner suited on board and all had checked on 4th street where

you would have folded if anyone had bet. Betting out on 3 suited cards won't

always get a fold but can set up the 6th street bet for fold equity for your

opponent. Your using the concept of board reading combined with your bet(s)

to induce a fold from the opponent on pure aggession and power poker. So many

stud players miss the opportunity to apply pressure through the use of board

reading. It is in part looking at our 3 board cards and what they say our

potential made hand is to the opponents and also looking at the strength or

weakness of the opponents board(s) that can give use the opportunity to

steal. Respect 3 running cards or 3 suited cards after 5th street that are

held by an opponent. If they have a big draw thier not folding and you may

not get them to fold if they miss on 6th street either. An over pair is

always trouble and try to be creative in your thinking about your opponents

potential hole cards. You really have to appreciate risk/reward. If your

ahead push hard. If your on a pure draw don't chase anything less than a

potential nut draw, but normally fold all draws here unless they are jumbo

draws or you get a freecard.

6 street is the last of the reads. Clearly everybody gets another down card

but this is the last info you get about the range of hands your opponents may

have. If you bet out on 5th you should continue on 6th. Particularily if the

opponent made no obvious improvement. Remember betting is part of

"telling/selling the story" in poker. You stop in the middle and you lose the

element of believability. I often relate the bet here following a bet on 5th

street as simillar to a postflop continuation bet in holdem after raising

preflop. It's certainly in a diferent part of the hand playing out, but I

find it similarily effective. The key is of course reading the opponent 1st.

They hit an overpair and your behind and have position you can take a free

card to a nut draw if you have it while knowing your folding after the river

if you don't improve beyond thier top pair. But what you have done is

basically shut the hand down. Sometimes you have to. But give us a 4 suited

card board and a hiden pair smaller than thier pair on the board and we can

continue to bet out aggressively representing a made flush. You should never

give a free card if you actually had the flush made on 5th or 6th street. In

stud all draws must pay. No exception. Unless it's you getting a free draw.

Another key to story telling is to remember how the story started out and

keep it consistant. That means sometimes continuing with the semi bluff/bluff

when the oppponent makes aces on board. It takes alot of heart to bet into

top pair but it's either sell 6th street for all it's worth or give up on the

hand. This paragraph is a perfect reflection of why you make decisions for

the whole hand on 5th street. You read the relative stregth of your opponents

board and what your 3 card board is potentially telling your opponent you may

have. Then playing subsequant streets according to your convictions. You have

to tell the story to the end. Also remember that even thogh the last card is

down the story should be continued. Remember you generally have 5-6 bets

invested into a pot by the river and 1 more may get a drawing hand that

missed to fold. Even when you may only have queen high. Limit players always

look at big bets differently as I mentioned before.

One last very important point to add into the decision making process as it

relates to board reading. That is position. Here we have the obvious point of

wanting to act last. But with stud and board reading you want the strongest

boards to your right and acting before you. You can best assert presure

through aggression by reraising over the top into the strongest board

visable. Other players still in the hand take notice of those reraises. They

start thinking thier behind to 2 hands not perhaps 1. Or look at the big draw

and give you credit for having a temporary made hand and they fold. You then

move the other player off a big draw during subsequant streets taking down a

pot on a semi-bluff/bluff by reading boards and position combined and

employing a 2 prong strategy just my thoughts.

thats why i play holdem