Loveable Rogues Poker

by Ashley Adams

First published in Poker Player Newspaper

Ed note:  The first part of this article has been posted on the Loveable Rogues website under Poker Articles

In my prior article I addressed starting requirements of stud and how they differed from hold ‘em. Let me address the later streets in this the second part of this two part series.

If you are selective on Third Street, you will generally continue to bet your Premium Pairs, even if they don’t improve, unless you see opponents who seem to have surpassed your hand. On the other hand, if you are going for a straight or a flush with a drawing hand, you generally want to call or check, sticking around cheaply until you make your hand.

In Stud, unlike in Hold Em, you have extra information available to you to help you determine where you stand relative to your opponents – both in terms of your hand’s current value and its prospects for improvement. You need to take advantage of this information.

You need to keep an eye on the cards you need to make your hand, as well as the cards that may help your opponents’ hands. Stud is a game of live cards. If you see more than two of your Flush or Straight cards falling elsewhere, fold on Fourth or Fifth Street – before the bets double. Similarly, if you have a low pair and a high kicker and you don’t hit your kicker but see one of its rank fall elsewhere on Fourth, fold to a bet. Don’t go chasing with a diminished chance of making your hand. The other theoretical difference between Hold Em and Stud play is that those first three cards really define your hand in Stud – while it’s the flop that defines your hand in hold ‘em. In Stud, each subsequent betting round, beginning with Fourth Street, only brings you one more card for each new betting round. So, unlike Hold Em, where your hand is largely defined on the flop when 3/7th of your hand is made, on Fourth Street and each subsequent street in Stud only 1/7th of your hand is determined. It is Third Street when 3/7th of your hand is made – which will usually determine the general method for playing your hand as it develops.

Fourth Street will further define your hand to be sure – as will each subsequent street. So you must be very attentive to what your opponents get. But for the most part, since you’re playing limit, you will tend to play on Fourth Street if you were in on Third Street and your opponent didn’t seem to improve. You’ll generally be leading the betting if you raised on Third. But aggression alone isn’t your only consideration. You also need to think defensively. If a player called a raise on Third Street with a 7 as his door card (his initial up card for example) and then hits another 7 – pairing his door card, there’s a good chance that he made Trips. Respect his bet and tend to fold unless you can beat Trip 7s. Similarly, if a player has a heart up and few are out, and then hits two more exposed hearts, and has just been calling bets before that and then raises with his three hearts, tend to give him credit for a Flush and respect his bets accordingly. Fifth Street is another round of serious decision making because this is when the limits double. You need to seriously reassess what your hand is relative to what your opponents have. Are you the top dog – then bet and raise aggressively. Are you on a drawing hand that promises to be the best hand if it hits? Then try to stick around cheaply, checking and calling. Are you behind with little chance of improving to the best hand? Fifth Street is the time to get out. Thereafter, if you’re in, unless you see marked improvement in your opponent’s up cards, or unless his betting action seems to indicate that he has you beaten badly, you will tend to call. So make your tough folds here, on Fifth Street.

One final note, Stud has one more round of betting than Hold Em. Stud pots can get large very large by the River. You therefore need to take this into consideration when deciding whether to call a bet on the River.

In general, unless you are certain that you are beaten you should call the River bet. There are exceptions of course – if someone bets into a multi-way pot, and someone calls the hand in front of you, then if you don’t have a strong hand it is generally safe to assume you are beaten. But generally, be willing to make the small mistake of calling with a losing hand rather than making the enormous mistake of folding with a winning hand. Similarly, you should generally bet on the River with any kind of a hand if you think there is any decent chance that your opponent may fold to a bet. And since Stud players often call on the River with substandard hands because the pots are so large, you will often pick up an extra bet when your opponent calls your bet with a weak hand.

Stud is a great game, with more information and more opportunities than in hold ‘em to exploit bad opponents. If it’s available in your card room (brick and mortar or on line) it’s good to at least know the basics so you can take advantage of juicy games – especially if your hold ‘em game doesn’t look very good or is temporarily full.

by Ashley Adams

First published in Poker Player

Maniacs present a problem at the table. They greatly increase the volatility of the game. Let me share my strategy for dealing with them. I think you’ll find it profitable. I was playing at my friendly neighborhood $10/20 Stud game at Foxwoods. I knew nearly all of the players at the table. All but one were tight players attracted to this tightly structured game.

But there was this one player I didn’t know – Aboud. I realized quickly that he was a maniac; he raised about every third hand. He wouldn’t stop until the pot was capped or until no one else raised him.

Aboud seemed to be winning. Mostly, against these straightforward, tight/aggressive players he won with his uncontested raise or when he bet out on Fourth. He seemed to be on quite a run. When I sat down he had two racks of reds and was working on his third.

Funny thing was, in this game I was the guy who usually did most of the raising – at least if I had any kind of a decent hand. I usually won at $10/20 by knocking these timid souls around. But Aboud was stealing my thunder.

I realized that I had to alter my strategy somewhat to take advantage of the changes at the table that he caused. I used his aggression to limit the field while I tried to get heads up against him – and then follow in his wake. So, for example, if I had a middling hand with a medium card and a high kicker I’d raise in front of him, anticipating that he’d re-raise me and knock everyone else out. I wouldn’t ever get into a raising war with him — all I wanted was heads up action. Then I’d play passively against his aggression.

On the other hand, if he initiated action in front of me, as he frequently did, then I’d raise – again aiming to knock everyone else out. In those rare instances when we didn’t succeed in blowing away our competition I would generally resign early and let someone else battle it out with Aboud.

Here’s a typical hand from that session. I had a split pair of 9s with an Ace kicker. No 9s or Aces were out. The bring-in to my right bet $3. Two players folded. I raised to $10. Two players after me folded. Aboud, with a King showing, raised to $20. The remaining players folded and I called.

I didn’t improve on Fourth. Neither, apparently did Aboud. He bet and I called. Had he paired his King or any other exposed card higher than my 9 I would have folded. As it was I called him all the way.

On the River I received a second pair – but not Aces Up. He bet his King and I called. He beat me with trip 7s – well concealed and probably made on the last card. Though I lost, I was certain that I had played the hand correctly – and I continued with the same strategy for the four hours I stayed in the game.

Aboud and I had many battles that evening. Though he had over $1,200 when I sat down, by the time I left four hours later he had blown through nearly $1,000 of it. The other players didn’t change their strategy at all – just playing tight while letting Aboud and me battle out most hands. Some of them made a little money by playing their very few excellent hands very hard against him. Most of them, however, lost money. I, on the other hand, was fortunate enough to walk away with over $700 of Aboud’s money — thanks largely to a strategy that isolated him and then played passively against him. The same strategy for playing against a maniac should work for you.