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Advanced 7 Card Stud Hi/Low
Seven card stud hi-lo is a fast game with numerous bets and raises. Many hands will end up in a three-way betting and raising war. What this means is that one player has a lock, or close to it, for high and another player a very good low hand. The third player is the one who pays the bill. If there is heavy action around you in a case like this, do not pray to hit a miracle card. Just get out of the pot.
Winning the Whole Pot
As said in the general chapter about seven card stud hi-lo, your main goal is to win the whole pot. This can be done in a couple of ways. First, you can have the best high hand, and there is no low hand out there. Second, you can have a low hand that turns into a high hand as well.
A lot of the value in seven card stud hi-lo is when you have a concealed hand that appears to be low, but is actually a high hand. An example is 88A84J4. In this case, you start with a pair of eights with an ace showing and raise correctly. Then you bet and raise all the time, but you slow down a bit when you catch the jack. Any opponent would put you on a low (or draw to a low with one or two pair), giving you a good chance to extract the maximum out of the pot.
Another example is if it looks like you have made a very good low, but you actually have an ace-high flush. This is one of the best situations this game offers.
Your best chance to win both the high and the low share of the pot is when your hand consists of either:
- An ace (showing).
- Three small cards to a straight.
- Three cards to a flush, with at least two of them being small ones (and a small one showing).
The Ace, an Extremely Powerful Card
In this game, the ace is extremely robust. The ace is larger than life and greater than mountains. This is because of the dual nature of the ace; it is the boss card for both high and low hands. So therefore you should always raise when you have an ace showing, at least when you are first in after the mandatory bet from the smallest up-card. If you start with AAA, raise! If you start with 23A, raise! If you start with 9JA (an awful hand), raise! You should profit from this ante-stealing alone, but the ace also enables you to frequently out play your opponents on later streets. If you catch badly (and the opponent does not catch perfectly), you can fire a second barrel at him anyway, representing a pair of aces with high kickers or a quality low draw.
However, this is all the bluffing you should do, betting heavily with an ace showing. Otherwise, you should maintain a tight, mathematical approach to the game
When an Ace Raises
When an ace raises, you should not play many hands. Dump all of your high pairs because you do not know if the ace is going high or low. Even when playing against a maniac, keep in mind that he is starting with the best card in the deck.
When You Catch Badly:
Much of your advantage will come from correctly folding early in the hand, usually on fourth or fifth street. Basically, you need to fold in spots where your opponents will not. You generally want to know by fifth street if you plan on calling all the way to the river. If you have 345 (all of spades), you have a great starting hand. However, if the next card is J of hearts, and your opponent shows XX54 of diamonds, you are fighting up-hill. Dump it, or play it very carefully. If your next card is something like the queen of hearts, you have no business being in the pot anymore.
Ram and Jam
Suppose you have a hand like 7632 in a three-way pot. The high hand bets, and the player before you raises XX54. You should frequently fold this hand. Note that you have a very slim chance for winning the high and you may very well be drawing a lot for low. The best strategy is to throw away the hand. If you call, the high hand will surely put in another bet, and the XX54 will cap it.
Try to identify these situations yourself where you are the high hand or the XX54 hand and start betting and raising. A lot of your profit in this game is to ram and jam when it is correct to do so (and your opponents miss identifying the situations)
Pay Attention:
Paying attention is key at seven card stud hi-lo. Often, new players just call along, hoping to hit a good hand. They don't realize that most of their flush cards are out on the board and will even keep drawing to a flush or straight when someone has trips showing (hence, very likely to have a full house). Never play more than one game at a time when you play 7-stud hi-lo. You will need to memorize all the cards that have been showed and make adjustments for every exposed card.
A major part of any winning player's strategy has to be card memory and card analysis. Studying what is on the table and its significance is critical. Ask yourself:
- Does it help or hurt your chances?
- Does it help or hurt the receiving player's chances?
- Does it help or hurt the other players’ chances?
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