7 Card Stud starting hand selection

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FOUR ACES

7 Card Stud is a very different game than Hold’em or even Omaha. The uniqueness stems from the fact that one card, called the doorcard, is showing prior to 4th street. There is an entirely new dimension in 7 Card Stud because you will have to factor in the card that everyone sees that you are holding, as well as observing what everyone else has. While it seems as though seeing a piece of everyone else’s hand would be a tremendous advantage, it really isn’t because everyone else is able to see yours as well. An aware 7 Card Stud player will be able to properly gauge his hand’s relative strength by comparing what he is holding to other player’s doorcards. It is not only imperative that you see what everyone else is showing, but that you use this information to determine the likelihood of you improving your own hand.

Starting hands

Some hands simply need to be tossed right away. One mistake that 7 Card Stud players make is considering all of the “possibilities” with there hand. While A 7 T may be a poor starting hand, just imagine if I nail another ace and a 7! No one will ever suspect what I have as they will only see the ten showing! This is the line of thinking that new Stud players will often take. If you have a weak starting hand (non pairs, poor draws etc.) you will be much better off folding right away. It is much harder to execute bluffs in Stud than it is in Omaha and much harder than it is in Hold’em. For this reason you should stick to playing strong starting hands.

Strong hands

Strong starting hands would start right around the range of pocket jacks. All pocket pairs have massive potential in Stud, especially if you have a pair face down, but they can lead to huge payoffs if you make a set. Obviously a set is strong in almost any type of poker, but in Stud it is much harder for your opponents to put you on a set if they can’t see that you have a pair.
If you are going after a draw it would be ideal to have three cards to the draw from the deal. If you have an AKx type hand (AK being suited, X being an irrelevant card) you can play the hand for both drawing value and showdown value in pairs. You don’t want to be chasing down a pot where you will need runner runner to hit. Implied odds in Hold’em allow players to call down with strong hands because there is a potential for 200BB+ pots, in Stud this simply won’t happen. Value in your starting hands should be calculated for what it is. A good way to judge a drawing hand in Stud is to compare it to a solid Hold’em drawing hand. For example, a suited starting hand in Hold’em would be the ideal drawing hand where an offsuit hand wouldn’t be very good. If you are going for a draw in Stud you should have three cards to your completed hand, or two solid cards with showdown value.

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