7 Card Stud playing 5th street

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FOUR ACES

5th street is when everything starts to get serious in 7 Card Stud. The blinds are now doubled on 5th street so you will need to be increasingly careful with each and every move you make. While you would ideally decide whether you want to play the hand through on 4th street, 5th street will allow you one more opportunity to cut your losses. 5th street needs to be the absolute end to any type of draw you are chasing, unless you are almost there. If you have three cards to a flush it will be very difficult to make your hand at this point, thought you would be sitting pretty if you happened to get lucky. 5th street is where every player is able to judge his hand’s relative strength quite easily. If everyone else in the hand is showing a pair and you only have a medium pair in your hand it is a safe bet that you probably aren’t good. Sometimes Stud makes your decisions too easy. For example, if one player is showing tens and another is showing nines it doesn’t take much thought to dump your eights. By contrast they might think they are good if you have rolled up threes. In a perfect world you would be able to gather a lot of information from the other player’s doorcards while your crucial card would be hidden. This is why deception is so vital in 7 Card Stud. Things aren’t always (or ever) what they seem.

Leveling war

Leveling is a part of all forms of poker. Leveling is how you outthink your opponents. The first level of thinking is “What am I holding”. The next level of thinking is “What are they holding,” followed by “What do they think I am holding.” It goes on and on, but most players don’t need to get past third or fourth level thinking. 7 Card Stud will be the grounds for some of the greatest leveling wars. When you see another player’s doorcards it can be easy to assume that they are the crucial element in their hand’s strength. While it might very well be true that the three spades they are showing are part of their flush, it is also possible that they are just pretending like they have a flush because it will be easy to convince you. The problem, then, is determining when your opponent truly has it and when they are merely playing with your instincts.

5th street is where the leveling wars usually start to form. The money is becoming significant and most players are in it to win it by 5th street. Mistakes and misreads will carry heavy consequences. If they are showing a strong draw you need to decide whether you think they have it on 5th street. If you think they are just playing you it is time to commit to the hand. 6th and 7th street will of course play a factor in how you play a hand, but 5th street is where you make up your mind. If you play apprehensively on 5th street you should expect to be punished on 6th and 7th street.

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