Psychology - 2
This play costs only a fraction of a bet in mathematical expectation but gains you a tremendous amount in future action on subsequent hands.
There are also other ways to affect your opponents’ play on future hands in stud eight-or-better.
As an example, you may want to make what you think is a bad call if you believe this play will keep other online poker players from running over you.
If you find that you have been forced to throw away your hand on sixth street two or three times in a row, you must be prepared to call the next time with a hand that you normally wouldn’t call with, even if it costs you several bets.
This is because you can assume that your opponents have noticed your folding and are apt to try to “squeeze” you out.
Another less obvious situation where you should think of the future is to sometimes limp in early position on third street with a strong hand – such as a pair of aces and a small card, with one of the aces up.
Then check again on fourth street and perhaps on fifth street, even if there was no raise on third street and even if you receive small cards.
Not only may you catch someone stealing, but this check also might allow you to steal the pot yourself in a future hand when thee has been almost no betting on the early rounds ( especially when you catch a small card that pairs you ).
You can get away with a steal because you have shown your opponents that you are capable of checking a big hand twice.
Thus someone with a mediocre hand may not call the double-sized fifth-street bet.
In general, you should evaluate any play you make on its merits alone, that is, on its expectation in a given situation.
However, you occasionally might want to do something that is theoretically incorrect to create an impression for the future.
One you have opponents thinking one way, you can take advantage of that thinking later.
Finally, keep in mind that these types of plays will work against opponents who are good enough to try to take advantage of their new-found knowledge, but who are not good enough to realize that you know this and that they should therefore ignore it.
In seven card stud eight-or-better, as in all forms of play , there seems to be a large group of players who like to “realize things.”
You must know how these people think and whether they are thinking only on the level that you are giving them credit for.
If they think on a still higher level, you have to step up to that level.
