Can I pull a JohnnyBax? (Stud tournament tips)

[Yuv]

I finished 3rd in a PLO tournament on stars and got a place on a 500$ freeroll.

Only problem - it's a stud tournament and I've never played one in my life. Obviously I don't care much about the tourny, but it would be nice to get some tips before I start. Assuming most players aren't stud experts, I'm guessing the level of play will be extremely low.

Any thoughts? Some vague concepts I should know about? (other than not calling when I can't beat my opponents shown cards:))

[ansky451]

I'm by no means an expert, but I'll share what I know.

Don't call a raise from a tight player if you dont have a pair higher than his door card. ie: dont call with ttJ, if he opens with xxK.

Don't chase a draw if your opponent pairs his door card. ie: you have 4 spades on 6th, and you opponent shows, xxAKTA
You may already be dead to a boat, and even if you do hit you can't win any extra bets because you cant raise because he may have boated on the river.

Early on play very tight, and play big pairs or monster drawing hands only. If it gets late, and its folded to you and only a couple player are left to act, raise if you have a good up card, to take the antes.

As I said, I'm no expert, so that's what I got.

[ClaytonN]

You're dealt three cards, one up two down.

If you're dealt a high pair, play it aggressively. If you're dealt a mid pair/low pair, play it like a mid/low wired pair in hold'em. Try to get mid/low pairs to hit a cheap fourth street, if there's a lot of action go away.

Keep a tab on the other up-cards other people have, as it will further help you calculate your odds of making your hand. For example, if you have a four-flush on 5th street but notice that 5 hearts have already been in play in other people's hands, then you're looking at a 4-outer for your flush.

With that in mind, play three-flushes and three-straights, higher card ranks the better. If you miss on fourth street, it's best to just not continue on with the hand. Again, if there's a lot of action on 3rd street, it's best to just get out with your 3straight or 3flush unless you have a lot of cards that favor you on the deck (ie youre holding 3 spades and nobody elsde has spade upcards).

It all boils down to your knowledge of poker in general for you to succeed in an event like this where you're playing stud for the first time. You're going to be playing against idiots, so play ABC poker and don't go on tilt.

[smb394]

No 7CS expert here by any means, but check out the Stud (http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=stud) forum, they might know a bit more.

[Yuv]

Finished 56 out of 880. A profit of one dollar and fifty cents, baby! lol

Thanks for the tips. I'm so bad at this game. Had a crazy run on the 2nd hour, finished it as the chip leader, but the stakes got insane and I stopped getting lucky, so 1.50$ it is. I'm going to celebrate.