2 hands Stud hi 1/2

[Wahoo73]

I won't comment on hand #2, inasmuch as I agree with other responses you have already received.

However, I think hand #1 is worth a reexamination and an alternative way of playing it. As others have already noted, the conventional wisdom play on 3rd street is to fold. But occasionally a stud player is dealt a hand where the combination of his cards, his position and the others' door cards make his foldable hand a hand that instead ought to be raised. I think your situation in hand #1 is a good example of this, i.e., either fold or raise, but don't limp in.

My reasoning for this is that you are in early position with the highest door card, with the next two highest kickers above the door cards, and with the top end of your straight draw very much live. With the door cards visible you can pretty much rule out anyone drawing to a low-to-medium straight or a club flush draw, making this the kind of hand that if you represent strength from the beginning by completing the BI you can narrow the field so that anyone who calls you can be presumed to have at least a pair. Plus, a top end straight drawing hand like yours is actually one that plays better against a small field instead of a large one.

[Andy B]

If you're going to raise third street with this dog, there should be a reasonable chance that the entire field will fold. I don't think that that will be the case in a high-ante $1/2 game, like, ever.