Seven card stud - low pairs

Posted by Marcus Bateman 29/07/10

If you are used to playing hold'em and start playing seven card stud, one of the first major leaks that will probably develop in your game will be misplaying small pairs. In hold'em, small pairs very rarely are hands to go to war with when unimproved on the flop, but in stud they can provide very powerful drawing hands - particularly against players with quite narrow ranges.

Say you look down at hand like (5h5c)6h in stud against a tight player who is raising with an ace or a king showing. Even if you know this player has a high pair, you should often be calling multiple streets with this hand as it can develop into a big hand that can win you the key thing in all limit games - the big bets on the later streets.

If their board fails to improve and you hit a third five or make two pair, you will often be able to make a few big bets from the player on the final streets, simply because most tight players find it very hard to fold a big pair once they are involved in a hand (they have not been waiting for them for hours just to go and fold them now have they?). As they have the high board showing, you will also be in position for the hand until your board does improve - making your life much easier in evaluating exactly where you are.

Much like the big bets you can win with them in hold'em if you hit, small pairs in stud give you perfect blend of being able to extract extra bets when ahead, but give you easy folds if you fail to improve. This is a great mix not only from a profit point of view, but also from an ease of play one - you face very few overly complex choices with these hands which makes them great profit grinders regardless of the stake level you are playing.

Many players raised on hold'em but now playing stud for the first time give up far too early with small pairs in the face of strength. Stud has an extra street of big betting compared to hold'em, and this gives it extra implied odds which can make speculative hands much more profitable than they otherwise would be - and nowhere is this more true than with small pairs. Make sure you think carefully about what your about to fold if you are starting out in stud - it may just be that you are throwing away hands that could well win you a lot of money in the long run.