General Strategy
The Third Street is the place where all most important decisions are made. You should decide would you like to play your hand or not and how to do it. There are different hands: some are good to play in multi-way pot games and other - in shorthanded pots. The first ones represent drawing hands, for instance three-straights, three-flushes and their combinations, while the second ones are usually big pairs.
Seven-Card Stud players should develop the skill of being very selective about the hands they receive at the beginning. When you play too many starting hands tha problem is that the consequences of your mistakes will be reveald in following betting rounds. For instance starting with nothing, at the end you may be drawing with a hand that you shouldn?t have in the first place. Such mistakes can cost you a lot in the long run.
Here is a list of issues that you should take into consideration when making a decision which hands to play:
- Remember what cards have already gone
- Pay attention to the number of players in the pot when your turn to act comes
- Give heed to the type of table you play at: loose or tight
- The number of players is also worthy of notice
- If the pot has been raised, remember who has done it and from what position
- Compare your current position with the raiser?s
The two factors crucial to know are the number of players in the pot and what cards are out. Considering these two it may happen to be right to throw the best hand away on Third Street. Let us take up such situation: a multi-way pot game; your hand is (J-J) 7; one 7 and both other J are out. The right decision is to fold even though nobody has a bigger pair or bigger upcards than a Jack. The risk of raising or calling is not acceptable, because there is little chance that you hold the best hand with all the cards being out. However being in an ante steal position you can decide to play this hand as well as when you have all cards live in a multi-way pot game.
Besides remembering the cards out on the Third Street, we highly recommend you not to forget to watch the other cards as they are turned up.
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