7 stud hi, and position?

[deviouz]

I have recently begun playing 7 stud hi for the first time,
and found it much more interesting and fun than hold'em, but I have a great deal of troubble with position play, and i never know where Im at, for instance' when I can raise for a freecard? if Im last to act in one street I suddenly is not on a later street?, very confusing to me as a I only played hold'em before, as you can guess I'm a total noob, I was hoping some nice guy could explain this to me, also wich hands you can play up front? I have a feeling very strong hands like in holde'm is not neccesary here but I may be wrong, right now, Im playing 0.50/1 at party,
the startinghands I play from all positions in unraised pots are
any 3-straights,
any 3-flushes,
all pairs, regardless kicker
1 gap connectors, (8 T J)
gutshots
AKs and lowcard

I may be out in the blue here too,
as I only found these hands from simulations,
and I have no idea how they play against human oponents.
any guidlines would be nice, thank you

[Brad1970]

Try reading the FAQ sticky by AndyB. It may answer some of your questions.

[deviouz]

thanks but I found nothing about position play,
the hand requirements is good to know,
but the oponents I play with play any 3cards,
I think maybe I can be some what looser against them?

[lambchop]

First off .50/1 at Party is a crapshoot because of the super high ante structure (.25 ante .50 BI I think). If you are last to act you should be playing a wide variety of hands in an unraised pot. You should be a little more selective in early position but if you are in a very loose passive game where there is no completing/3-betting then you can loosen up here too. Live three flushes will win you a lot of big bets in this game.

As for raising to get a free card, you generally want to do it when you need it and when if you catch a card that will make you act first on the next street it will improve your hand, for example:

You: (A[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]K[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img])2[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] ___bring-in
Villian 1: (xx)9[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]___call
Villian 2: (xx)J[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]___call

Fourth Street

You: (A[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]K[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img])2[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]J[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] ___raises
Villian 1: (xx)9[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]Q[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]___bets___call
Villian 2: (xx)J[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]2[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]___call___call or fold

Now I'm not saying raise in this spot everytime, but you see if you and the two villians brick low then you can check behind for the free card because the 9[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]Q[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] will be first to act and you last, but bet if you hit a low club [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]. If you hit an Ace,King,Jack, or Two and the other two brick you go first and bet out and you will probably get some folds. But this is an example of when you *might* want to raise for a free card, not saying this is the only time or do it everytime here...good luck on the tables!!

[deviouz]

Thanks! very informative and what about the hands I play, you think it's to loose?

[PoorLawyer]

[ QUOTE ]
Thanks! very informative and what about the hands I play, you think it's to loose?

[/ QUOTE ]

yes. have you read any stud materials? I would recommend it.

[lambchop]

You're specific starting requirements are too loose. You want to play more hands in this game but NOT any three cards. AKx is typically NOT a good hand, but it can be played for cheap in late position if it's completely live and has say a live two flush with it...(note: this is in reference to the .5/1 game on Party). Early position it's almost always a fold in a loose passive game.

You will make most of you money on good solid hands, but I think with this game you can see fourth with a variety of hands but prepared to fold quickly, don't get tied to a gutshot str8 draw if your cards are dead. Three flushes and three str8s can be easy folds on third too if the cards you need are dead. You always wanna play live hands even if you are playing "looser." Pick up Roy West's book, I believe (others will disagree) that it is a great beginners stud book. If you have SSI read Reese's section then pick up Seven Card Stud for Advanced Players.

[Red_Diamond]

[ QUOTE ]
First off .50/1 at Party is a crapshoot because of the super high ante structure (.25 ante .50 BI I think).

[/ QUOTE ]

Chip Reese mentions in a high ante game like this the bring-in is FORCED to play his hand. I'm not so sure. Even if the pot HASN'T been raised, but you find yourself with 27Q rainbow, I'm not so sure completing is worth it even if your queens are live, especialy if higher cards are showing.

[Andy B]

One problem with making a free card play in stud is that you don't know for sure who's going to be acting first from one round to the next most of the time. I suggest that you worry less about this specifically and worry more about some more basic stuff, like starting hand strategy.

I strongly recommend that you find a game other than Party's $.50/1.00. The structure of that game is really messed up, and if you learn to be proficient at it, that should skew your perception of how poker is played. Stars and FT offer games at the same level with saner structures. The structure of Party's $1/2 game is OK.

As far as your starting hands, you're playing way too loose. I'm not going to be exhaustive here, but this should give you an idea of how to think about starting hand strategy. This isn't limit hold'em where you can just memorize a chart and get by.

First and foremost, you have to consider the cards that are out. Playing live cards is of paramount importance. Obviously, you can play (77)7 if the case Seven is gone, and Aces are usually worth playing even if both other Aces are dead. Generally, though, you want to stick with hands that have a good chance of improving to the best hand.

Straight draws suck. Yes, QJT is a perfectly playable hand if your cards are live. Most players lose money with straight draws. I don't make much with them, and I consider myself to be pretty proficient. Most players stick around too long when their cards are falling dead, or when it becomes likely that a straight won't be enough to win. I personally toss 654 and 543 for the bring-in. I would avoid straight draws with gaps unless all three cards are Ten or higher, and even then, those certainly aren't an automatic play.

A three-flush with 0 or 1 of your flush cards gone is a very good starting hand. With 2 gone, it's a lot weaker and may not be worth playing. (In your case, it probably isn't worth playing.) With 3 gone, you should usually fold for the bring-in unless you have a good chance to steal or your hand has something else to recommend it.

With a pair below, say, Tens, both of your trip cards need to be live, and your kicker should be reasonably live. To play a smaller pair for a full bet, you should probably have an Ace kicker or a straight flush kicker. With bigger pairs, you might play with one of you trip cards gone but you probably don't want to play with both gone.

AKx isn't much of a hand in stud. It's a very good starting hand in hold'em. You get three cards all at once to see if you can make a pair, and top pair/top kicker is frequently enough to win, especially in limit. In stud, you pay for your cards one at a time, and one pair doesn't win nearly as often.

You want to read 7CS4AP. I assume you've studied poker some, so presumably it won't be too difficult. West's book has a lot of substandard advice.

[deviouz]

thanks guys for all the good info [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

I believe you guys if you say its too loose, and I will make
some adjustments, I play with unaware loosies, so I think maybe I can loosen up just a little, I probably skip the low 3-straight and one gap connetors, I have read Seven Card Stud for Advanced Players. wich is the only good book I knew about stud, I will be looking into west's book too shortly, what is it called btw?