7-Card Stud: Common Poker Mistakes

7 Card Stud, Beginner Strategies
August 10 2008

Improving your game in any variation of poker is all about filling in the holes. Believe it or not, most poor players commit the same mistakes at the table. In 7-card Stud there is a short, but very common list of mistakes that cause players to bleed chips. This keeps their bankroll shrinking instead of growing.

In 7-Card Stud, just like in all poker variations, the most common mistake among beginners is playing too many hands. The best part about this common fault is that it is one of the easiest to fix. All you have to do is force yourself to limit the number of hands you play.

One common mistake found solely in 7-Card Stud is failing to pay close attention to ‘dead cards’. Dead cards are the cards that are showing in your opponents’ hands. These cards are dead because you cannot be dealt them to improve your own hand. Knowing which cards are still available to you is vital in 7-Card Stud because it can often mean the difference between making a bad bet or a smart fold.

Another common mistake is chasing a draw that will not give you the best hand. This is a common occurrence for beginners who make a pair and keep betting, hoping to make three of a kind or two pair, without realizing that even if they make their draw they likely won’t have the best hand at the table. Being able to recognize when a making a draw will give you a winning hand is a must-have skill for winning in 7-Card Stud.

The final mistake on this list is calling too much. This can mean calling when you should be folding, or calling when you should be raising. In the long run, both will cost you chips. Whenever you have a solid hand in 7-Card Stud you should raise to not only get chips into the pot, but also to force any players on draws or with mediocre hands to fold.

You may think you want these players on draws in the hand with you, but your aim should always be to win the hand no matter how big or small the pot. The more players in a hand, the less chance you have of winning because the chances are greater that someone else will make a better hand than yours.

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