A long time ago, when I was teaching school in South Central Los Angeles and dinosaurs ruled the earth...Alright, so I exaggerate, but although real dinosaurs did not rule the earth, dinosaurs did rule the poker world. By this I mean to say that the most popular game played in the big poker casinos of the Los Angeles area was seven card stud. Whether you were a 1-5 spread limit grinder like I was or a big time 20/40 player like Chip Reese, stud was the game of choice. Of course, by the time I left California in 1991, Holdem had challenged and passed stud as king of the poker games, and the dinosaurs either adapted or died out. <READMORE>
I have been around long enough to know that things change. Like a pendulum that swings from one side to the other, for a while the USA is conservative, then it swings back to liberal. For years we can’t get enough sitcoms on tv, then we are drowning in reality shows. Lately the poker pendulum has been gaining momentum, and stud games, in all their varieties, are suddenly back in. It’s not like NLHE is going anywhere, or losing its hold as champion, but more and more players are learning to play stud.
Stud is played only for high hand, Razz is played only for low hand, and Stud8, or hi/low is played for both. Like Omaha hi/low, in Stud8 the low hand can only be 8 high or lower to even qualify and contend for half the pot. Thanks in part to the big money HORSE games and tourneys, interest in all these games is at a new high.
So what is the 98 pound stud weakling to do to get on the road to stud-dom? The first thing is to start exercising some new poker muscles. Card memory is much more important in stud than it is in Holdem. The ability to remember all the upcards that were folded is crucial to studly success. If you hold kings and jacks on sixth street and you fear your lone opponent has a set of 6s, knowing that both other jacks and one of the kings were all folded earlier means you are drawing to one out rather than four. A pot that holds 18 big bets in it may tempt you to draw to four outs, but not one.
Fortunately we all have all the memory exercising equipment we need in our homes already – one standard deck of cards. Start by removing all the deuces, treys, fours and fives from the deck and shuffling them. Then lay them out in four rows of four cards each face down. Flip over one card and then try to match it with the next card you choose, both rank and color. If your first choice turns out to be the four of hearts then only the four of diamonds will match it. If you are successful, remove both cards to a separate pile and choose two more. If you did not make a match, then turn both cards back over and leave them right where they were as you continue and try again. Any time you turn over the same card for a second time without making a match, give yourself a point. Once you are able to consistently beat this game with either zero or one point you are ready to up the ante. Next play with 6 cards, then with 8, then finally with the entire deck.
So, once you are able to memorize all ten digits of the phone number of that really hot girl/guy/aardvark after downing half a keg of Budweiser in your local singles bar are you ready for a stud game? Not yet grass-stain, errr, grasshopper, but you are getting closer.
Next you have to work on your math skills. There are two ways to go with this one – the scientific way or the intuitive way. One simple test to determine which way is best for you is to answer the following question as quickly as you can. What is the value of pi?
If your first thought is “It depends what flavor it is and how hungry I am,” then you should probably stick with the intuitive method. If you had basically the same answer, but also added that I left off the “e” at the end of the word “pie” then you are likely best off with the intuitive method, but may be capable of learning some bits of the scientific way.
If you immediately thought of “3.14”, then the scientific way is the right way for you. If you took it out anywhere past four decimal places then skip right over the next section and instead spend your time polishing up your pocket protectors and working on your social graces in case you ever make a televised final table.
For the real scientific method you compare the true odds of your winning the pot against the odds the pot is laying you for that call. I suggest you read one of the informative, yet dry, books written by that king of the poker nerds, David Sklansky. I recommend the one he co-wrote with Mason Malmuth and Ray Zee, “Seven Card Stud for Advanced Players.”
The intuitive side won’t make your head hurt as much. Basically, in limit poker, since any current bet is usually small compared to the pot size, figuring out when to draw and when to let it go becomes more of a math exercise than a contest of wills. An open-ended straight draw usually gives you 8 outs, and a flush draw gives you 9, so any decent sized pot is often worth going after with either one. I suggest you read the stud section of S/S2 for a more detailed, yet understandable, explanation of this concept.
One final word of advice. Most of the really buff people I know have a personal trainer. Find somebody who can not only teach you the fine points, but also put you onto a more personalized training program. This way the next time you bring your laptop to the beach, no stud shark will be able to kick sand in your brain and steal your virtual girlfriend.
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