-
Knowing When To Raise In Seven Card Stud
-
Knowing When To Raise In Seven Card Stud
April 15th, 2009 by admin
Many beginning online Seven-Card Stud players have an unexplainable attraction to the raise button. They are drawn to it- as if it had some sort of magnetic power, begging to be clicked all the time. While this fondness of action can be good in certain situations, it can be terrible in others. Plain and simple, most Seven-Card Stud players simply don’t know when or why they should raise. Learning when and why to raise will give you a significant edge over your opponents.
There are four basic reasons to raise in a game of Seven-Card Stud:
1. Raising to bloat the pot.
2. Raising to eliminate opponents.
3. Raising to get a free card on a more expensive street.
4. Raising to prevent an opponent from getting a free card.Whenever you find yourself wanting to bump the pot, think first about whether or not the situation fits one of the four categories. If so, then by all means, raise away. If not, then you might want to consider choosing another line.
1. Raising to bloat the pot.
The idea here is pretty simple- if you have a good hand, you want to get as much money into the pot as possible. Say for example that you are dealt three of a kind. This hand can be played one of two ways, depending on the table; it can be raised, or slowplayed. Generally, raising will be profitable, as most Seven-Card Stud games will be loose at all but the highest levels of play. In tighter games however, you might want to save your raises for fourth or fifth street, for deception value. Either way, raises are in order at some point in the hand, and are always for the sole purpose of getting as much money into the pot as possible. They are value raises.
1. Raising to eliminate opponents.
When you are dealt a decent hand that can be outdrawn on fairly easily, raising is a good defense. However unlike raising to bloat the pot, you will not be betting to create a big pot. You will be raising to cut down the field of players in the hand.
Say for instance you are dealt [A-3]A. As far as starting hands go, a pair of aces is strong. However, one pair hands are dangerous in multi-way pots. The more opponents you face, the bigger the chance that your hand will become second, or even third best on a future street. The odds of your hand holding up increase significantly with every player you can push out early on, so raising is always the right play with a good pair on third street.
1. Raising to get a free card on a more expensive street.
This technique usually comes into play on fourth street, just before the betting amount doubles in the next round. Most often, you will want to raise on fourth street for a free card when you have a marginal hand that can easily improve.
For example, say you hold [Kh-Jh]9h-Qc. Your opponent bets ahead of you, showing a pair of tens, and you are faced with a decision- call, raise, or fold. It’s certainly possible that your opponent has you beat at this point. However, you could easily draw to a better hand. Your opponent is not likely to reraise you on this street, as he must take into consideration the fact that you could have a pair of queens, especially if no queen has been exposed. As long as your king and queen are live, raising here is a good play. More often than not after your fourth street raise, your opponent will check fifth street, allowing you to either bet if you hit, or check it back to see a free card.
1. Raising to prevent a free card.
Just as raising to see a free card is correct, raising to prevent other players from seeing free cards is a good play as well. Take this situation, for example.
You: [Ac-5h]4h-Ad
Opponent 1: [x-x]Qd-6h
Opponent 2: [x-x]9s-5s
You check, and Opponent 1 bets. Opponent 2 calls the bet. Most likely, Opponent 1 has a pair of queens, which still trail your aces. Opponent 2 however, likely has a draw to a spade flush. The odds that one of the two opponents will draw out on you if given the opportunity are pretty good, so you should raise. The idea here is that you want to make it as expensive as possible for anybody to draw- after all, you have a hand that figures to win. You should play it that way, and not give anyone at the table a free ride.
-
7 Card Stud Hi-Lo
Razz Poker
Stud Poker Rooms