Winning Third Street Play in Seven Card Stud

Seven card stud is a variation of poker that has been played for almost as long as there has been poker. Before the explosion of televised poker, it was competitive with Texas hold'em as the most popular poker game to play. However seven card stud is still widely played, and most professionals are not thought of as all around great poker players unless they know their way around a seven card stud table.

Your first big decision in seven card stud will be how to play third street, meaning what to do after you get your first three cards. This is an area where many hold'em players get into trouble. You may think that two good cards, either high cards or suited or connecting cards, are sufficient to enter a pot in seven card stud. This is generally not the case. You really want three cards working together to play a stud hand. Much more than in Texas hold'em, in seven card stud, if you start with the best hand, you will very often end up with the best hand, so give yourself that edge over your opponents and start with better hands.

You also must pay attention to the exposed cards in seven card stud. Even if you have three cards to a club flush, if you have no big cards and there are four clubs exposed in other players' hands around the table, this is not a hand you want to play poker with. Similarly, if you have two eights in the hole and an ace showing, this is a hand you would often consider playing or even raising with. However, if there are an ace and an eight showing in the hands of other players, you will have a hard time improving, so unless you think it is likely your bet will win you the bring in and antes, you should probably wait for another spot to play.

If you play a hand because it has two good cards when the third one is a rag, what will often happen is you will catch just enough on fourth street to keep you invested and cost you more bets. Since there are more betting rounds in this game than in hold'em, this can get expensive. Try to stick with hidden pairs with big kickers, big pairs with big kickers, trips, three cards to a flush and three cards to a straight. This will keep you out of trouble while still allowing you to win big pots.

This article is compliments of PokerListings.com.