7-Card Stud Tips for Texas Holdem Players
Do you count yourself among the growing number of poker enthusiasts who are gradually growing just a bit weary of Texas Holdem? I realize that there’s something almost blasphemous in the question I just asked, and that I am very likely to invite tons of hate mail directed to my home address for having prodded the world’s most popular community card variant even in a tiny way. However, my job is to call them as I see them, not to play to the fickle whims of the crowd. And, in that spirit of bold honesty, I must say that Texas Holdem is rapidly approaching a point of market saturation from which it may not ultimately recover.
Now, I understand how ridiculous that statement might seem, based upon the unbelievably wide range of televised online poker tournaments, almost all of which focus upon Holdem. But it is the very presence of this televised boom that leads me to believe a breaking point is in the offing. People will always love the game of Texas Holdem, both on the professional circuit and in home matches, but it is inevitable that at a certain point there will be a natural curiosity to experiment with other poker variants after years and years of unbroken Holdem matches.
It is in your best interest to be prepared for this approaching sea change, and I would like to suggest that you may want to invest some serious time in learning - or relearning, as the case may be - the great and noble game of 7-Card Stud. You would be wise to remember that this is in some respects the “source “of all community card variants, probably a game you learned well before Texas Holdem, and all indications are pointing to a massive comeback.
And so, if you are returning to 7-Card Stud after a long time away, what should you remember? First of all, you will be dealt three cards in the starting hand, as opposed to two as you’d get in Holdem. Two of these three cards will be face-down, followed by a single upcard. Thus, you will be able to see immediately one card in the hands of all of your opponents, and they will be able to do the same. This distribution of knowledge at such an early stage in the game (before “third street,” as the first bet is known in 7-Card Stud) can have a tremendous impact on the psychological warfare which will ensue.
Secondly, you want to remember that your hand should always be fairly well assembled by the time fifth street arrives. I am not the kind of player who recommends hanging in there all the way until sixth street - which is the equivalent of Holdem’s river card - in hopes of pulling out an unlikely miracle. Of course, this can happen from time to time, and everyone is bound to get lucky on a certain portion of hands, but it is not a smart winning strategy and not one which you should embrace when preparing to make your way from Texas Holdem to 7-Card Stud.