Need strategy advice

We play "guts" in our home game. Loose game with 6 or 7 players. Each player gets 3 cards. Then the dealer says "1, 2, 3, drop!" at which point each player must decide to drop out of that hand(but not the game)or play against the other players. Then the remaining players get their final 2 cards to complete their hand. The winner scoops the pot while the losers match the pot. If no one stays in, redeal. If only one player stays, he challenges the deck. Question: What is the minimum requirements on the first 3 cards? I was thinking medium to high pair. Is this correct?

i usually only stay with at LEAST J-J and at least a queen kicker, or an A-K-big some people will stay with only 1 ace or 1 king.

Guru,

You guys might want to try using a chip to declare in or out instead of the card-holding thing. the (slow) releasing of cards will eventually cause a problem.

I agree with this. With 6 or 7 players we always hold a chip in our hands if we want to contest the pot or empty if we "drop."

You know, I've played lots of different variations of Guts, and the one I've never understood is the "challenge the deck" variation.


I just don't get why it exists. I mean, the real guts moments are the times you hang on to a 7 high in a large pot because you think everyone else will drop because they don't want to risk matching a large pot and won't go in without a premium hand. If you have to then run your hand out against the deck, well then it's suddenly CORRECT to play like a weak-tight scaredy-cat. Why would you want that?

When we used to play guts, which is seldom these days since our poker has stepped up a bit, we played two cards to a player, three in the widow, rotate player utg, and either declare in or out. Last player has advantage, but must still compete against three card widow. No one stays, then no one sees widow, and all re-ante. Counting cards was the name of the game. Aces were good, kings after an ace or two was out (we kept going all the way throught the deck). Sometimes even queens. Pot gets lrge due to antes.

We played the drop method a couple times, still with two cards, but if everyone dropped, high hand matched. Got kinda scary fast, so one night was enough.

At the risk of sounding immodest, I think this advice is the best that you'll get. In a very loose guts game, there are essentially two things to consider: the risk and the reward.


The former is actually much lower than one may think, all things considered. With so many players staying in, it is true that the risk of being drawn out on is big. But so too are your chances of not being the worst going to raise.


The latter is tricky. When the reward gets big enough, even the loose players will drop. You should not tighten up because of the greatened risk;the risk to reward ratio is still the same. You should tighten up though, because your opposition is tightening up. You always want to have better starting standards than your opponents in the unique game of guts because there is no betting and, thus, there is no bluffing.


Note: the hands should be played like seven-stud hands are played on third street.


Early on you'll need nothing more than three high cards to call.


When there are only 5 people that are going to stay in you'll need a small pair.


If there are predictably 3 or less players you'll need, as you said, a big pair or a medium to small pair with a high side kicker


Look for tells when the pot gets big enough. If the pot is overwhelming and only two opponents stayed in on the previous round, you should consider hanging on to a pair of anything or a measly ace-high. You look around and think everyone is going to drop. Now you can go for it.


After reading a lot of poker literature(almost none of it was on guts)the strategies to be applied in guts seem to be based on psychology and always having better starting standards than those around you. This game should be taken seriously, for it can make or brake you.


Remember, the risk is only not to lose. As long as you have one idiot in the bunch you can stay in with hands that are otherwise only marginally worth it.