Strategy adjustments for antes in h/l stud...

How would I approach these H/L stud games differently, as far as playing fast or slow goes?


1) My home game, which is 5/10, with the dealer anteing $5 and a $2 bring in (no rake)


2) The 15/30 at the Trop, with a $12 per hour time charge, $2 ante, and $5 bring in


3) The 3/6 on PartyPoker, with a $0.50 ante and a rake of $1 per $20 in the pot

The answer, as always, is "it depends...." ;-)


The home game has the most money, compared to the betting size, in the pot before any third street action, than the other games. All other things being equal, you should be playing faster in this game than others, making more naked steals of the antes, playing somewhat more hands, etc. But it depends (heh) on the character of the game. Ante stealing can be seen as being as unsportsmanlike the way checkraising sometimes is. And if it's a rammin' jammin' action game, stealing won't happen in the first place. What are the other players' strengths and weaknesses? Does the money involved really matter to them?


(For that matter, home-game high-low stud is often played with no qualifier for low, and with a declaration at the end. These change the game dramatically, requiring substantially different strategies. You don't say one way or the other, but I thought I'd raise the question.)


The Tropicana game is a standard structure; play that one by the book.


Is there a cap on the rake at PartyPoker? If not, I would recommend playing a lot more slowly in early position on 3rd street, although I might turn up the aggression if I'm a late opener. An uncapped rake has a huge implication for heads-up confrontations, in that the rake can wind up bigger than the antes, and both players wind up losing money in the hand if they split. I would do what I could to play hands multi-handed, and choose my starters accordingly.


Even if the rake is capped at something reasonable like $3, well, the pot starts with $2 in antes, and heads-up if the high hand makes the low draw pay on every street, the rake will be greater than the antes and bring-in. Think of that when someone open-raises your (8s 6h) 2c with a jack showing in late position.


Hope this helps.