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Basic Seven-Card Stud Strategy
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Memory is a crucial factor in Seven-Card Stud and determines who is able to play the game with skill. But, the major difference between Hold'em or Omaha and this game is that you will now have far more information at your disposal when you need to make a decision regarding the current strength, or potential strength of the hand in front of you. The same should hold true for the other players at your table, but if they are lazy or ignorant it gives you an even bigger edge than facing them at a community card game where you will only ever have certain information about a maximum of 7 cards in the deck.
In Seven-Card Stud you can see up to 30 cards, and this helps you decide the true value of your hand. For instance, suppose you are dealt KQ in the hole and your first card up is another Q. This is a very powerful start in a vacuum but now suppose that the other 6 cards you can see (the up-cards of your opponents) include the other two Queens and two more Kings. You should consider folding this hand right away if there is significant betting activity simply because your hand is unlikely to improve or hold up as the winner unimproved. The truth of the matter is that very few average poker players would fold this hand because it is impossible for them to throw away a high pair this early (or ever for some unfortunates). But in Seven-Card Stud you have to face up to the harsh reality of probability. If you can see that there are no more Queens in the deck, or whatever card or suit you need, than it is sensible to give away as few extra bets as possible (preferably none at all), and lay your hand down now.
The main issue in this game is to get away from hands early enough, because what invariably happens is that you pick up a possible draw or end up with a marginal hand that you made along the way, and that hand is just good enough to get you beaten into second. If you were initially in the hand because you had a flush draw on 3rd street and then find yourself staying until 7th street for an open-ended straight draw only to end up with 2-small pairs and a decision to make, then welcome to the world of Stud! That story always ends badly, by the way. If you stay past 4th street for a flush draw that is only 3/5 complete you are playing poorly.
But deciding whether or not to stay in a hand is not only dependent on the cards that you hold, although that is clearly a vital factor. You also need to consider what other cards are out, how many players are still in the hand, what kind of players are they, and what is the betting activity for this particular hand? If the table is passive and tight you can afford to stay in for longer, presuming you are skilful enough to judge whether or not your hand is ultimately the best.
One important piece of advice is that a re-raise in this game nearly always means danger, and cannot be compared to a re-raise in community card games. For example if you are showing 4 clubs and bet the maximum after 7th street only to find yourself re-raised by a previously passive opponent, you need to pause: first of all, he knows that you are betting the flush. It is irrelevant whether or not you have the flush, although hopefully your bet wasn't an outright bluff (if it was you can just lay it down). He knows that you know he puts you on a flush, yet he has re-raised you. This should tell you that he has the flush beaten. This is the moment when Seven-Card Stud becomes interesting, because right now he could be showing 4 rags and still turn over a full house. This happens. You need to call this bet in certain contexts, especially if you feel the need to keep a certain player honest, or if the table considers you to be a bluffer and you do have the flush it is worth calling to show it to the rest of the table. However, if the opponent is a tight player and he re-raises you at the death in this context you should lay down your flush.
The reason why re-raises or check-raises have to be respected in Stud is the extra information available to all players. If you are showing two-pair and it doesn't appear to scare your opponent in the slightest you need to ask yourself questions about his character, and then questions about his hidden cards. Chances are you're underestimating one if not both.
You must know the likelihood of drawing to hands, although knowledge of pot odds is not as important here because Seven-Card Stud tends to be a far more stagnant and predictable game from a betting perspective than community card games. Limit Seven-Card is often played by more conservative old-school (or just old) poker players who want their rack of chips to last all day long, and who are unlikely to dazzle you with their creativity. There is generally far less innovation and deception in this game than in Hold'em or even Omaha. This is a game that rewards analytical play more than anything else, and no one ever went poor in Stud by being tight early on. Chase less than you would in Hold'em and recognize how rare bluffing is in this format, and you should end up grinding out a profit over time.
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