• Stud Poker Starting Hands Signals
• Stud Poker Starting Hands Games

Stud-Eight does have an exception to this general rule because an Ace unconnected to two other wheel cards (2, 3, 4, or 5) has value as a starting hand. However, only 20 of the 1096 hands in the last category meet that definition and these hands will only occur 1.36% of the time. And, frankly, there are so few starting hands that are worth playing in 7-Card Stud, that impatient stud players often jump at the chance to just have something worth pursuing.

Seven Card Stud Poker - 3 Card Starting Hand Frequencies. There are nine different types of recommended starting hands in Seven Card Stud that are usually, but not always playable in some way or another. Here you will see that these hands total about 23% of the 22,100 possible three card hand combinations in a full deck. 5-card Stud Rules - Incomplete Hands (For Betting Rounds) Any hand with less than 5 cards is an incomplete hand. In 5-card stud poker, before a betting round starts, the open cards of each player.

Starting Hand Categories for:

Seven-Card Stud and Seven-Card Stud High-Low Eight or Better (Stud-Eight) Poker

The following terminology is useful for discussing starting hands in Seven-Card Stud High-Low poker. The table below defines 12 types of starting hands along with a description and an example of each.

The twelve types of starting hands can be sorted into five broad categories that describe how they play. The categories of hands are: premium, big-possibility, one-way, situational and trap. The reasons for sorting the hands this way and the probabilities for each group are given.

Premium Starting Hands

The premium hands can often scoop pots without improvement. All total these starting cards are just 1% of all hands dealt. They should be played aggressively.

Trips. [Number of hands = 13, Number of combinations =52, Frequency = 0.24%, Odds = 424:1] Any rank is a powerful holding, however, low cards have the advantage of still allowing a low hand to form. Rolled trip Kings will never qualify for low. Another advantage of low rolled trips is that they are a powerful high hand that often looks like a low. In those cases the hand will generate lots of action from a player who believes incorrectly that he or she has a better high.

Aces with a low kicker. [Number of hands = 14, Number of combinations =168, Frequency = 0.76 %, Odds = 131:1] The lower the kicker the better this hand plays. Often the Aces will hold up for high unimproved or pick up a second pair to make Aces up to best two smaller pair. At the same time the hand can back into low to either scoop or save half the pot if the Aces do not hold up for high.

Big-possibility Starting Hands

The hands in this group win the monster pots in Stud-Eight. However these hands need to improve because they are worth nothing on their own. The hands in this group can be played aggressively early on. These are rare holdings but don’t fall in love with them. If there is no improvement and a lot of action on later streets the hand should be mucked.

Low connected-suited. [Number of hands = 6, Number of combinations =24, Frequency = 0.11%, Odds = 920:1] This is one of the most powerful hands in Stud-Eight because it can scoop the entire pot in so many different ways while generating lots of action from players betting on both halves of the pot.

Low suited. [Number of hands = 50, Number of combinations =200, Frequency = 0.90%, Odds = 110:1] If an Ace is included the hand has added value. This is a good hand for jamming other players. Sometimes the hand will complete a flush for high, sometimes miss the flush but hold up for low and occasionally make high and low. Either way you can bet aggressively if this hand improves to a high or low on Fifth Street and make the others pay for your draw to the other half of the pot.

Low connected. [Number of hands = 24, Number of combinations =360, Frequency = 1.36%, Odds = 60:1] Does not have the flush possibility but low straights often scoop. A good hand for freerolling if two low cards are picked up that don’t connect. A player with a made low and an inside straight draw can jam two high hands and be assured of winning half the pot, while at the same time retaining an outside chance of a scoop.

One-way Starting Hands

These starting cards typically compete for one half of the pot and are good for cases where everyone is competing for the same half of the pot. There are hands in Stud-Eight where all the players are competing for either the high half or low half of the pot. In those circumstances playing a “one-way” hand that figures to be best against the competition but can also back into the other half of the pot is a viable strategy.

Aces with a high kicker. [Number of hands = 10, Number of combinations =120, Frequency = 0.54%, Odds = 183:1] This hand usually competes for high only and it is best played against other players vying for high when it can scoop. It does poorly against multiple low draws because in that situation its only potential is for half the pot and the low draws can freeroll on later streets placing a made hand as strong as Aces-up in an uncomfortable position. This hand is most powerful when the Aces are wired because it will generate action from smaller pairs thinking that they have the best high.

Ace with two other wheel cards. [Number of hands = 20, Number of combinations =300, Frequency = 1.36%, Odds = 73:1] This hand usually competes for low only but it does have high possibilities. How well it plays often depends on where the Ace is. In most cases you want the Ace exposed so that you can threaten people with a potential pair of Aces or a potential low. That way if you pick up bricks you might win uncontested if your opponents also pick up bricks. If your opponents are weak on Fifth Street, betting an exposed A, 2, J has more fold equity than an exposed 2, 3, J.

Situational Starting Hands

Many Stud-Eight players automatically play the hands in this group. However, the viability of these hands depends highly on the situation. You should be very careful about when and how you play these hands.

High pairs 99, 10-10, JJ, QQ and KK. [Number of hands = 120, Number of combinations =1440, Frequency = 6.54%, Odds = 14:1] How well you play pairs will determine much of your profit in Stud-Eight. Automatically playing any pair as many players do will lead to disaster. As a general rule 99 and 10-10 should not be played. Paired face cards are only playable if they are the high hand on the board. You do not want to hold JJ in between a player with KK and another player with a low. The most likely outcome is that your two opponents will be dividing up your money.

Low pairs with a low kicker. [Number of hands = 98, Number of combinations =1176, Frequency = 5.32%, Odds = 18:1] These are starting hands that many Stud-Eight players will automatically play. However, as attractive these hands look, they come with a lot of problems. It is a poor start for a low hand because it has only two cards that count towards low and a poor start for a high hand because the pair is ranked so low. In other words, it is a mediocre holding to compete for either half of the pot, which means that often it will come away with nothing. Of the hands in this category, a low pair with a live Ace kicker is the most valuable because it has an outside chance of making Aces up. These hands are good for stealing antes and good for defending bring-ins against a steal. They play best heads-up against weak low draws. However, against players you know have strong holdings or against a large field these hands should not be played.

Three suited cards, one or more not low. [Number of hands = 230, Number of combinations = 920, Frequency = 4.16%, Odds = 23:1] If the suit is completely live and it is up against other high hands these starting cards have some possibilities. If the cards are connected and suited the holding is more valuable and the hand is almost playable against low draws. However, for unconnected cards, completing a flush is rare and in situations where a flush only claims half the pot you rarely have the pot odds necessary to play. As a general rule three-flushes with high cards play much worse in Stud-Eight than in Seven-Card Stud and should usually be avoided.

Trap Starting Hands

These are attractive looking hands that play poorly and should usually be mucked. Playing hands like these for half the pot is rarely worth the investment.

Low pair with a high kicker. Hands such as 3, 3, J or 5, 5, K, have little value and in most cases should be mucked. The exceptions would be stealing antes or defending against a steal.

Three low cards (unconnected and unsuited). [Number of hands = 180, Number of combinations =2700, Frequency = 12.22%, Odds = 7.2:1] The “Razz” hands should be saved for Razz. These kinds of hands are only good for half the pot and in most cases the best you can hope for is to get your money back minus the rake. Many Stud-Eight players automatically call with these hands and stay to the end if they pick up a low draw on Fourth Street. The problem is that often if they hit low it is second best low. Just as you want to avoid playing the second best high hand, it is even more important to avoid playing the second best low hand. The high hand scoops if no one qualifies for low but a busted low is worth nothing.

Final note: Three connected cards, one or more not low such as 8, 9, 10 or 9, 10, J play poorly in Stud-Eight and should be mucked.

A solid winning strategy in Seven Card Stud begins with your starting hand strategy. Starting hand strategy is vital because the first three cards you receive represent nearly half the cards you’re going to see in your hand.

When you start out with strong hands, you are more likely to improve to even stronger hands and win big pots.

Tight is Right

New Seven Card Stud players like to play lots of hands because they believe that anything can happen. That may be true but if you want to become a profitable poker player, you need to be restrictive in which hands you play. A loose starting hand strategy loses money because it costs money to play those hands and they rarely win.

Additionally, weak hands get you into difficult situations on later streets. If you start out with a mediocre hand, the odds are you’re going to end up with a mediocre hand. You’ll then have to make tough decisions, which will lead to you losing money over the long run.

A tight starting hand strategy, on the other hand, leads to profitable play on later streets. Your strong starting hands are likely to become even stronger and your decisions on later streets will generally be easier. In the end, you will make more money over the long run with a tight starting hand strategy.

Strong Starting Hands

So what makes a strong starting hand in Seven Card Stud? Well, the answer depends partially on the table conditions but there are some general rules of thumb that will take you a long ways.

Stud Poker Starting Hands Signals

First of all, you want hands that have potential. Look for three starting cards that work well together. If they are all suited, contain a large pair or even three of a kind, they are strong hands. Low suited hands should usually be avoided but high suited hands are pretty strong.

The best starting hand in Seven Card Stud is the three of a kind. It starts out as a very strong hand and it can improve to become even better. Plus, the hand is well-concealed. You’ll see three of a kind but your opponents will only see a single card. They will have no idea what you have.

Speaking of which, concealed hands are always slightly more desirable than obvious hands. For example, if you start out with two Aces in the hole, you’ll be in great shape. Your opponents will have no idea how strong your hand truly is. With rolled up pairs like that, your opponents will often underestimate you and call more bets.

Don’t forget to look at your opponents’ hands as well. Before you make the decision to play a hand, look at each player’s up card. If you have an Ace but see three other Aces out there, you’re probably not going to be making a pair of Aces any time soon.

You’ll also want to note this when considering playing flush and straight draw hands. If you see two or more of your outs already out there, you should usually fold your drawing hand. The odds of you making your draw drop significantly when two or more of your outs are already gone.

Aggression

Aggression wins money in all forms of poker. To play with aggression means that you bet and raise with your strong hands and fold your weak hands. Passive plays like calls should be kept to a minimum. This sounds like an obvious strategy but many new players fall into the calling syndrome. They call bet after bet with trashy hands, hoping to get lucky and hit a big hand.

Winning players know when to fold and you should strive to as well. If you have a hand that isn’t going anywhere, there’s no point in calling bets on long shot draws. Just save yourself the money and get out early. This will make a big impact in your long term win rate.

At the same time, don’t be afraid to bet when you are dealt strong hands. This is especially true in low limit games where the players rarely fold. Strong hands are more likely to win the pot than most hands so you should get money in the pot as soon as possible. You won’t win every pot, but you’ll win enough to be a profitable player.

With hands like three of a kind, three high suited connectors and big pairs, you should be willing to bet early for two reasons: first you want value for your hand and second you want to cut your opponents’ drawing odds. If you fail to bet, you miss out on value and you give your opponents a free shot at outdrawing you.

Smaller hands and draws should be played with more caution. Your hand has potential, but you should wait to see how it develops before you get too aggressive with it. Remember to keep an eye on the pot odds, the drawing odds and your opponents’ up cards.

Summary

Winning Seven Card Stud players are tight in their hand selection but aggressive when they do play hands. This is also called the tight-aggressive style. In all forms of poker, the tight-aggressive style wins money. It sets you up with strong hands and then it extracts money with those hands through aggressive betting.

Now that you have a solid starting hand strategy, learn about playing fourth street in Seven Stud.

Stud Poker Starting Hands Games

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