Live cards can never be overemphasized, especially when you have the high hand.
A common situation on fifth street is to be high with a big pair and be up against a four-card low hand with a pair.
Your high hand now must be live, because you often will run into two pair on the end and you must be able to beat this hand.
When high, you have to start with very live cards and you must be prepared to fold if your cards start falling dead.
In multiway pots, small two-pair hands will come up frequently, and you will need a live hand to withstand the heat if the action picks up. (See seven card stud For advanced Players for more discussion on this topic.)
In seven card stud eight-or-better, unlike in many other forms of poker, inducing bluffs is almost impossible.
But you sometimes can get a player to bet a slightly weaker hand, which you can then check-raise.
The typical player usually is happy to check down his hand when he doesn’t have much and is very happy to get a free card when he is weak.
Reading hands is very important in this game, as it is in all poker games.
In Texas holdem, for instance, the flop can change the value of your hand significantly, and in seven card stud, hands are changed by the scare cards. But in stud eight-or-better, hands don’t change very much.
Players appearing to go low usually make low hands, and players appearing to go low usually make low hands, and players appearing to go high usually make high hands.
As an example, if someone starts with a king up, he probably will show you a high hand if he plays to the end.
This means that getting a read on a player early in the hand is crucial, even though some of the apparent low hands change or can conceal high hands.
But the way a person plays his hand early on should give away his foundation, and the advanced player can use this information later.
So it is important to put someone on a hand early, and then to well-define this hand on a later streets when the big money goes in.
When you start with three good low cards and catch bad on fourth street, it is generally correct to fold, as long as the pot is not too big.
Some players automatically will fold in this situation. When you are against these players, you always should raise on third street, even if you think you have slightly the worst hand.
If they catch bad on fourth street and fold as expected, you have gained equity.
On the other hand, some players who start with three small cards will always call on fourth street, even when they catch bad.
Now to gain equity, you want to keep the pot as small as possible. You gain by folding correctly on fourth street when they don’t.
Introduction / Position / Playing the High Hands / Bluffing / Slow-Playing / Knowing Your Opponents / Raising Aggressively / The Toughest Decision of All / Staying to the End / Pairing the Door Card / Keeping Track of the Cards / Scare Cards / An Expert Play / Another Good Play / Quick Notes / Afterthought
