Complete or just call the bring-in?

[Big Dave D]

Unless I'm reading it wrong, the Stud/8 Zee book recommends mostly just calling the bring-in. The SSII section on the same recommends nearly always completing. Any thoughts on which is best and for what situations?

cheers

Dave

[Micturition Man]

I can't remember if that's what Ray Zee recommends but I think it might be. I know a lot of 2+2ers seem to play that way.

Anyway it's wrong.

The looser and lower ante a game is the less advantageous it is to raise with hands that are not great, but still, your standard 3rd street strategy should be to complete when opening.

In some ways it's actually less tempting to limp in stud 8 than almost any other game, because if you have a playable hand getting reraised by a better hand is usually not that bad. (Compared to stud high or LHE for example.)

[SweetLuckyMe]

It depends on a lot of factors, like who's in the hand, what their tendencies are and what you've got for a hand. Completing is generally a stronger play for numerous reasons. However, there are quite a few circumstances where it's not optimal.

[PokrLikeItsProse]

p23: In general, you raise on third street only if you have a hand that plays better heads up, or if you have a hand that is very strong and several people are already in".

This is generally the way I play, at least in early position. One important skill in stud/8 is learning how to build a pot, and how you go about doing it depends on how your opponents play.

The important thing to note about stud/8 is that you usually have less of a chance to steal the antes, so you generally should just not make raises whose main value comes from possibly stealing the antes. This is especially true if one or more low cards are showing between you and the bring-in.

With aggressive players behind you, it is often a good idea to limp in with your strong hands in early position because you have an excellent opportunity to go for a limp-reraise. If players at your table often raise limpers with their playable hands, but just call a completion with many hands, you are leaving money on the table if you leaving money on the table if you complete too much.

[Beavis68]

I play in pretty loose games where people will call two bets cold with 44T.

I approach it like I do in Omaha8b. Do I want to build a pot or get heads up? I usually come in for a full with straight cards, especially two suited. FTP has a pretty good sized ante at the low limits, so just picking up the pot isnt bad. In tighter games I limp more to keep people in.

[Andy B]

I don't think you can say that you should usually be calling or usually be completing. It depends on a lot of factors:

1) Your hand
2) The cards that are out
3) Whether anyone else has already called
4) Who is yet to act

And others. I mostly play live. I'd guess that I'm about 50/50 between limping and completing. I do play more aggressively in a $30/60 game than I do in a $6/12 game.

[Jackal69]

it also depends a whole lot on the size of the ante [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]