Stud pointers and hand percentage calculators

Anyone know of any sites that have a good grasp on the strategies of 7 card stud play (regualr and High/low). I'm trying out this game, I find it interesting, but I keep losing after a while and I want to brush up on some reading before trying it again. I usually play Omaha and NL Hold em, but stud seems fun too, please let me know if you have any pointers or especially a site with some more info on the subject. thanks a bunch!!

I am copying and pasting this information from multiple posts read while a member of another forum - this is compilation of the best "basic" strategies for Stud Hi/Lo that I've used for over a year now with great results.

In Stud Hi/Lo, if you play only the top 4 starting hands listed below, you will be playing better than the majority of players at your table. Get that part down first, then add the 5th and 6th starting hands listed there to open up your game some.

QQ or better
3 to a low
3 to a high flush
3 to any flush if only 1 out is counterfeited.
Any pairs with an A kicker if 4 of the outs are open.
Any pairs if all 5 outs are open.

With each of the last 2 hands, you need to get an instant hit on 4th street. If not, get off the hand to any bet. These above hands are on the aggressive side, but with a solid table image and the understanding you need to improve or get off you can get away with these hands.

Many players like to play 3 straight cards like 8-9-10 unsuited, but don't be this player, because a hand like this is virtually unplayable in Stud Hi/Lo; it is much easier to fold AKQ or 789 than 223.

If you don't know the paint rule, learn it quick. Basically, if you get a paint card on 4th street and you don’t improve on 4th street when 3 to a low, get off the hand to any bet.

There are a few exceptions:
When 3 to a low AND 3 to a flush, I will see one more card to hopefully improve both sides, if not one.
EX- [2♣][4♣][6♦][K♣]....The [K♣] doesn’t help our low, but it does give us a high draw as well. I will check this hand if UTG, but I will also call a single bet to see the next card. A low club would be ideal, but any club or any 4th to a low would keep me in the hand. If I don’t improve at least one aspect of this hand, I am folding to a bet (one side note, if your flush suit is all over the board and you have only a few outs, get off the hand to a bet on 3rd street).

Betting your hands:

Once you are 4 to a low, 4 to a flush or have a high pair you need to bet your hands. This game is about weeding out the competition, and you don’t want to be ahead and give free cards to our opponents. If you miss 5th street, and you are the last to act, I would bet as well. Betting on a missed 5th is key, I don’t like to give a free card here. If you missed on 6th street as well, you have a choice, look at the boards and play accordingly. If you missed with a 3rd low on board, but you paired a hole card (ex, [2][3][7][4][K][3]) you have to bet this hand. By checking you are letting every solid player know you paired that card. Anytime I see 3 to a low on board and the hand is checked to me, I bet it, because more than likely it means that your opponent has paired a baby. You might get a solid player off the hand with your board alone.

Feeding the rake:

When lo:
A big mistake players make is feeding the rake when low. If you are only low and your HU opponent has a good board ([K][K][7][J], do not bet the river, you will only lose money on the rake. If your opponent has a crappy board ([8][J][Q][2]), bet away.

There is a catch here...if you have a good draw board and a locked low, I will bet/raise a solid player with a so-so board. If you have a solid image as well, you are saying, I have a scoop...you may steal the high as well. On the chance you get called, you will surely get a few extra bets from this player later in the game because he thinks you will always try to pull this.

Do not attempt this against a weak player....he will always call you and you will just chop, but at the same time you alerted the solids on the table you will try to steal a high here and there. They will now be more apt to call you on a river steal attempt.

When hi:
Always bet a weak opponent’s shaky board if you are strong, a board of [3][J][9][7] is screaming of a fish...bet here every time. You wont often go wrong betting your high hand on the river, the only time I wont do it is when a solid player as a strong low board...95% of the time we will chop and those bets are raked.
One other thing, if a player has a heavy draw board, do not bet the river with only a high, its a sure fire way of losing 2 big bets...if he missed he is folding, if he hit, he is raising, just check/call there.

When you have a scoop possibility:
Anytime I have a scoop hand, a locked low and [A][A] or better I will bet/raise every time.

Hope this helps out - there's some concepts like the "double bet" and such that are missing, but we're talking basic strategies here. This will be more than good start for you here.

If you end up playing Stud H/L very short-handed, or with high blinds, then you'll find it starts to favour High hands a little more - heads up you want the good high potential, because it will win the high most of the time, and you just need the low draw to miss, and if the blinds are high, then you'll tend to get fewer players, and find most of the money in the pot early on - and again you're looking for the high potential more than the low. When the blinds are lower, and more people are in the pot, then the low hand can take a few more drawing hands, and draw to a low that will make a comfortable profit from half the pot, with a chance of improving to a straight or flush to take the high as well. If all the money is in the pot on 3rd or 4th street, though, the low hand is still just a draw, which isn't an ideal place to be - if you miss you're finished - hence increasing the value of high hands short-handed or with high blinds.

Ray Zee's book on High/Low Split Poker is pretty interesting reading, as is Brunson's Super System (for straight 7 card stud mainly).

If you like 7 Card Stud and Stud H/L, it may also be worth trying out Razz - it's not run on many sites, but provides a good way to get very used to trying to make low hands, and working out where you stand with them.

Starfall, good points - my strategies posted here are strictly for cash games. Tournament play is a whole 'nother matter.

I had no idea that stud could be so complex, what's ironic is that other poker games like Omaha is complex in its own right, but once you've played it so much it becomes second nature. To read BK's explanations was cool, but by me being a novice, kind of hard to follow the lingo. I guess I should stick to the low limits in stud or Free plays to build up my skills. Thanks again y'all!!
Bee

Mister - glad you liked the post. Stud/8 is a different animal than Stud, because you will often see players with a locked low back into a high hand, like trips, straights, and flushes to get a scoop. It's just a matter of playing the game some, and getting a feel for the game

If you're just learning Stud you should probably take the time to find the right site to play it on. Unlike Hold'em, where blinds and limits are pretty much the same on every site, the antes for different Stud limits vary from site to site. On PokerStars if you play at $1/$2 the ante will be $0.10, the same limit on UB has an ante of $0.25. Now although that means there is less in the pot to start with on Stars($0.80 compared to $2.00) it does allow you to play tighter and wait for the strong starting hands. I still consider myself a beginner at stud but I've had some moderate success simply because the low antes on Stars allow me to only play premium hands.