Any Pair in Stud

[BeerMoney]

Playing any pair in 7 stud is analogous to any ace in Hold Em.

[Michael Emery]

I remember when I first started playing 7 card stud years ago. It was in my dads home game with some of his friends. Before I had read any material on it I automatically thought any pair was gold. I didnt give a shiznit about what other cards were out, whether my cards were live, what my kicker was, what the action was to me, or anything else. All I knew was I had a pair and I was damn sure going to the river with it jamming all the way. For some reason I used to think the odds of anyone else having a pair were ridiculously high. That was fun. Then I learned I have to play in this tight fashion to get the money. /images/graemlins/frown.gif

Mike Emery

[BeerMoney]

Mike, I was playing hold 'em at Foxwoods, and some dude UTG, looked at his first card, saw it was a 4, and said, "well, i'm folding anything with a four in this position"..... So, basically saying, if you just look at your first card in that position, you can tell if you'll be folding..

I think about stud hands the same way, except you look at the first two. if you have a 8 and a 4, offsuit, you're probably not gonna be playing!

[blackize]

I think it depends on the game whether or not you can get away with this. I haven't played much stud above 2/4, but there are tables at 2/4 and below where you can be assured there will never be a raise behind you and thus you can safely limp in for the possibility of catching trips on 4th or perhaps 5th. In games such as I describe you will almost always get paid off when you make your hand and you can easily fold if you dont.