7 Card Stud Poker Strategy

Fixed limit seven card stud is one of the more popular poker games online to play and one of the oldest games on the planet. There's a reason that seven card stud has survived throughout history – it's challenging, exciting and fun. None of the established and popular poker sites or online poker rooms fails to include fixed limit seven card stud on their lineup of options for players. Although the object of fixed limit seven card stud is to make the best traditional poker hand of five cards from seven – there are some strategies that you can use to make this simple game even more profitable for you. Let's take a look at what you should do to rev up your playing skills to become the best fixed limit seven card stud player possible. I play Stud at UB Poker quite often, they accept US players and have around 75 casino games.

Thoroughly Understand 7 Card Stud

As with any game of chance, you need a good understanding of the rules of playing fixed limit seven card stud. Although there is hardly a more simple game out there, you need to understand the betting structure for the game, the basis of forming a good hand and more. Do not mistake Stud for it's close cousins; Seven Card Stud HiLo and Razz. Once you have mastered Stud I strongly suggest that you give mixed games like Horse poker, 8 Game Mix and 7 Game Mix a shot. Each of these includes all 3 Stud game. 7 Game Poker is one of my favorites. It is only available at Full Tilt, the home of the newest craze in online poker: Rush Poker.

Choose your own Stud Poker Strategy

Since there is a plethora of different hand combinations to win at seven card stud poker, it just takes one to win. You need to understand what makes a good hand and when to bet hard or get out of the game because there are no "second chances" in seven card stud – like draw poker games where you might draw to a straight and etc. What you are dealt is what you have to work with. The hard part is learning by experience what works and what doesn't.

7 Card Stud Tips For Live Play

Because fixed limit seven card stud is pretty much straight forward, you'll need to keep as much about your hand hidden from the other players around the table as possible. While playing online provides a bit of protection from having your body language read by seasoned players and is a good way to avoid exuding common "poker tells" that give away the strength or weakness of your hand, you can still let too much slip about your online hand in subtle ways. One such way is the speed with which you bet on your hand, or the lack thereof. If you are so confident that you bet immediately without having a bit of time to figure out what to do, you might be seen as a bluffer (you can use this to your advantage in certain instances). If you take longer when betting, you might be seen as a threat, especially if you come back with a bigger bet. Online poker tells are there – detecting them is harder – but possible.

Knowing When to Fold 'Em In Stud

If the first four cards of your hand are in line for a flush or a straight, you have an approximately 45% chance of making that hand. Is this a high enough percentage in your "corner" to allow you to continue to bet on being dealt that flush or straight? That depends, of course on your playing style and whether you are aggressive or conservative. Basically, what these odds say is that around 4 people who keep betting their hand (nothing said about checking, which is free) out of 10 who have a similar hand will end up making the straight or flush and possibly taking the pot. That leaves 6 others out of the 10 who kept betting on the hand based on these four cards who lost. The more often you play fixed limit seven card stud, the better you will understand what constitutes a workable hand and what doesn't. And also when its best to hold on to your cards and play them out and when folding makes the best sense.

• 7 Card Stud Tips