7 Card Stud Mistakes

Even the best poker players make mistakes sometimes. Occasionally we get lucky and those mistakes don’t hurt our bankroll. Other times we’re not so lucky and a simple, stupid mistake can mean the end of our run in a tournament or the loss of a big pot at a cash game. Like all poker games, 7 Card Stud has its own set of unique mistakes that its players commonly make. While we can’t promise you’ll never make a mistake again, maybe you can avoid these common ones…

7 Card Stud Mistake #1 – Chasing Hands

In games like Texas Hold ‘em and Omaha Poker you can often see your first five-card hand for a pittance thanks to the three-card flop. A lot of players like to limp along and see what happens in games with multi-round deals. Unfortunately, in Seven Card Stud chasing hands can get pretty expensive. Most cash games have an ante and up to five rounds of betting. If you’re hoping for a single card toward a straight or flush, you could bet four times only to get stiffed on your final card. Because so many stud players follow a tight strategy, more aggressive players can often limp through to that final round without a major investment. What they fail to realize of course is that each of their opponents has approximately the same odds of getting lucky in the draw, and they’ll often have a full table of said opponents. Logic would suggest that more often than not you’re going to get the short end of the stick, and taking risks like that often can really add up.

7 Card Stud Mistake #2 – Playing Only Your Cards

Players accustomed to draw-style poker and even to the community card games often underestimate the advantage of being able to see their opponents’ face up cards. Players whose strategies are based largely on their own starting hands often fail to take advantage of what’s right in front of them. If all signs indicate that your mediocre hand is still the best thing going on the table, then sometimes it’s ok to push forward. Alternately, even if your hand falls high on the starting hand list, if an opponent already has you beat with their upcards alone you’re only going to pump their pot by continuing on.

7 Card Stud Mistake #3 – Giving Up on Tells

Being a somewhat slow and concentrated game, many poker players mistakenly assume that reading their opponents is a lost cause at 7 Card Stud. In truth, being able to read your opponents will give you an advantage at virtually any live player vs. player poker game. Because any good player follows a strategy, it’s not hard to pick up on trends in their betting and playing style. Over time, you’ll find that many players make the exact same bets on the exact same hands, and recognizing and remembering their patterns is almost as good as taking a peak at their down cards.