When you are dealt your second up card you are hoping to improve your hand by catching a card you need or by your opponent not improving their hand to beat the strong hand that you hold. As a general rule of thumb you want your hand to improve with every new card you are dealt. If you have a big pair and there is betting and raise, you have to consider that your opponent may have made three of a kind or two pair. In a limit game many players will automatically call a bet because it is still the lower limits. This is not playing winning poker. Unless your hand improves or you still have a good drawing hand you should bet out now. Again you will need to look at the cards that your opponents have and determine if they hold a card you need.
Fifth Street
On Fifth Street the betting limits are double if you are playing a limit game. If you are in a spread game you will likely be facing the maximum bets. If you have the best hand you obviously want to extract the most money from you opponents. If you have a monster hand you can slow play it and try to trap you opponents. If you have a good hand but you want to bet your hand to make if very expensive for those with drawing hands.
Look around the board. If you are beat by your opponents up cards you should obviously fold. You should stay on Fifth Street if you plan to stay to the end. If you need one card to complete a flush or open ended straight you will likely call to the end. This of course is based on what you see on the board. If you have a straight draw but another player has three suited cards showing you may be drawing dead to a flush. Look carefully at your hand and the board before you throw chips in the pot.
Sixth Street
You will not get to Sixth Street often if you have been selective about your starting hands and playing only the best hands after that. Once on Sixth Street you are committed to the end.
Seventh Street
Before you look at your last card watch your opponents look at their hole card first. You can sometimes detect some information from their facial expression as they look at their last card. If a player has missed his draw he may give a sight or look disappointed. If he immediately reaches for chips, the last card may have made his hand. This is known as a tell.
After the last hole card is dealt you know immediately what you have. The big question is what does your opponent have? With four up cards you are seeing 57 percent the other player’s hand. If you have been keeping track of the cards that have been folded you have some valuable information about the hand that the other player may hold. If you have not been playing attention you can only guess which is not the way winners play.
Start by looking at the player’s four cards on the board. If you add three cards to this what is the best possible hand he could hold? What possibilities can be eliminated because of the folded cards? Are there suited cards that can form a flush? Are the cards in sequence to form a straight? You won’t be 100 percent accurate but you will have an idea.
If you think you have the best hand and are first to act then you should be. Don’t try getting fancy attempting a check raise. Many players will call a bet with a hand that they would normally check to make sure you are not bluffing on the end. If you check they may also check and you have lost yourself some money.
If you were on a draw and did not make your hand and there is more than one player calling in front of you, throw your hand away. If however you are heads up against a single player and think there is any possibility that you have the best hand or the other player is bluffing then you can call a single bet,. You don’t want to be a calling station but it is better to call and lose the price of a single bet then not call and lose the whole pot if you were wrong.
Stud takes a lot of concentration but with a little practice you can be a winning player.
Until Next time remember:
Luck comes and goes.....Knowledge Stays Forever.