Playing Short-Handed
For some reason, more players walk in stud eight-or-better than in almost any other form of play , and your table frequently will not be full unless the game is very good.
Consequently, you must be skilled at playing short-handed, much more so in this game than in other games.
When playing short-handed, high hands go up in value and the game becomes more like seven card stud, with the high hands contesting each other.
Low hands that have high possibilities also go up in value, and high hands with low possibilities, even though they may not be the greatest lows, go up in value even more.
The hands that you want to stay away from are low hands that have no straight or flush possibilities, unless you are playing as a complete bluff.
But if the game is fairly tight and short-handed, which is typical of many games, most of your opponents will throw away their hands on fourth street if you catch good and they don’t.
This will give some bluffing opportunities.
Introduction / Playing in Tight Games / Playing in Loose Games / Playing Short-handed / Big Games Versus Small Games / Running the Game / Afterthought
