The Right Starting Hands in 7 Card Stud Poker
As the name of the game suggests, this form of poker is played with 7 cards in the hand of each of the player. A player has to make a hand of 5 cards. Most of the players in this game don’t survive till the last round of the game as with most of the cards being face up, it is not difficult for player to realize that he is in a weak position. A very important thing to know in this game is the way to choose the right starting hands. If you know that, you can surely make much more than the worth of your bets.
As in most forms of poker, a pair of aces is a wonderful set of hands to have in the hand. However, a pair of aces is definitely not unbeatable and there are combinations with which your opponent may just topple your hopes of winning the pot. If you have more than 2 aces, you are in a lovely position and should be aggressive with the betting for sure. In case, you cant go for making pairs but can make a straight, do it. Even straight are a great option and can make for a winning hand. But while playing for the straights you have to remember that you winning chances will only materialize if you have 5 cards making up the straight. If you only have 3 or 4 cards making it up, then you should be careful in making the bets.
In both of the above cases, we see that if we don’t have strong cards, we should be careful with our betting. The more aggressively we bet, the harder we loose. However, people say that it is not right to fold either, because in that case you are eliminating your winning chances with your own hands. The right thing to do, you think that your hand is no good and is not going to be any good at any point in the game is to fold. Be sensible. Sensible designs can make you a lot more money in the long term.
In case you are playing 7 card stud hi-low, then you still have a chance to get a share of the pot, even if you don’t have the best hand. But to really have a share of the pot what you should is the worst hand. So, it’s either got to be the highest hand or the lowest. In such a case, a pair of 2’s is very good. All the 5 cards of you hand should be below 8. So, if you are not matching those criteria in the earlier part of the game, you can opt to wait longer to get the right combinations.
But don’t opt to wait in case you just ‘feel’ that the right cards are going to be dealt to you. Take all the events in the game into consideration before you make the decision to survive further in the game. Try to keep a track of the cards that have been dealt and those, which must still be in the deck. If you do that, decision-making will be easier and better. And better decision making will make your odds better.