Stud hi-lo game

I was playing in a good 10-20 game when I picked up

356 of spades.


Bring-in was on my immediate right. I call. Face card

raises. Their isn't a single spade on the board. I

reraise. Face card reraises me. About 6 players see 4th street.

(It also looked like my 6 may have been good, a few players had 7, 8 or other faces showing)


I catch a blank 10. Face card bets. A good player to his left

catched an A and now shows 8A. This player has the only

possible 4 card low. He raises to shut everyone out.


3 players fold.


Should I call here for 2 4th str bets cold? (The pot was quite

large.)


I did. Ended up being capped. Lost a lot of $.

i would definitely call. the pot is huge with all the raises called on 3rd.

especially since:

at worst you're up against a 4-card 8.

your flush draw is live.

low straight is possible too.


see that 5th card and decide from there.


you may not have a super strong hand in either direction, but you are still in contention for either hi or low, with some chance to scoop.

I would have never raised with your hand on 3rd. street, but I would have called the one raise. You have the start of a potentialy great multiway hand (but as you found out, it is not made yet)and I don't think you want to drive out customers.


On fourth strt you just don't have the odds to chase in a 3 way pot as you are way behind both hi and low.

what happened with the rest of the hand?

what did you and your opponents get on 5th, 6th, and 7th?

No matter how good your draw may seem on 3rd it's still the early stages of a draw. With 7s and 8s out in other hands, this implies a lot of low cards in th pocket for these players. This means you may be drawing slim for low, and need to make the flush for high, so don't go and reraise with this hand on 3rd. It achieves the big pot to tie others on, but by catching a total blank on 4th, it has done the same to you. If there wasn't more than 1 or 2 low cards out on 3rd, and they didn't stay then raising is a better move, as low cards are much more likely to be live.

What low cards were out on 3rd? If something like 2 3's and 5 (which is alright ) are out thats different than if 2 A's and 2 4's (which isn't so hot) . If you spades are live and your low cards are live and you already called 1 bet on 4th you are getting about 18-1 if its not reraised and it gets capped you are still getting about 20-3. (Assuming only 2 others are on 4).

With your flush, low and straight chances its tought to fold here. Especially w/that bloated pot.


I don't think you are in as much trouble as the others say.


As for those you don't like the reraise on 3rd: Are you serious? You have a great hand multiway hand and even short handed this hand is quite good. This hand is even playable heads up in stud hi only. (against a known overpair)...

I'd fold.


Remember that so far you have only a 3-card hand. You have about a 50% chance of improving to a 4-card hand on 5th street, but those who would call here are not sufficiently considering the cost of chasing the 5th card on the expensive streets. I think maybe they're also overestimating the chances of your making a winning hand.


The math gets too complicated to work out with anything except a simulator, so the best way to test this is to run it through Turbo 7CS/8 and see what the sims say.

it wasn't one bet already called on the turn and then a raise, it was call two cold. And you are in the middle of an agressive "high hand" who is representing trips and a 4-low hand with an Ace. They are going to pound you every time here.


After you catch a blank on 4 st. you only have a call if it's one bet and you can close the action or are reasonably sure it probably will be only one bet.


You are in BIG trouble when you catch the blank. Now you have to catch nearly perfect-perfect to the flush or str8t and still may lose to a full. You are way behind going now for the low hand.


I could quote from either Doyle or Ray about the 3rd st. raise usually being incorrect or the fold on fourth usually being correct. The bloated pot is the only reason to maybe take a card off, but you did that to yourself with a bad raise on 3rd st. Good players will sense this round will be capped and not go on for 4 bets here.

You never say how many 4's, 2's, 7's are out.