PL 7 Stud Hand

Home game, $300 buy in, dealer antes $5. Most of games are HE, O8, 7 hilo etc... no wild cards. We play either $10-20 or PL. Game is very aggressive, but extremely loose.

Anyway, 3rd hand dealt (ie. everyone has equal stacks of $300 approx.).

I'm dealt 5-6-7, all spades. Damn...why couldn't they call hilo.

J bets $10, gets 3 callers. I decide to just smooth call. BTW, we almost never play 7 stud high only, and when we do its usually limit.

Fourth Street:

(J) 2
(7) 3
(5) 6 (me).

J-2 bets $25, 7-3 calls, I decide to just call.

Fifth street: J pulls 9, 7 pulls Q, I pull 4 clubs.

Jack checks, Q bets $100. He is a maniac, and I am almost 100% certain he is bluffing. With my small pair, 4 straight and backdoor low, I reraise my final $80 (I lost first few hands of night).

J folds, Q, realizing he is beat, calls because the pot odds frankly warrant it. We turn over our cards: all he has is a pair of sevens.

I don't improve, neither does he, and he takes down sizable pot.

Did I make a good play with a bad outcome, or do I need to brush up on my seven stud. Obviously, if this had been limit it would have been much easier to play.

Thanks.

Tim

Well, you had the best hand and got your money in the pot in a +EV situation. That being said, I think you may have made the wrong play. Even if your maniac's only got the one pair, you still have to improve to beat him. I'd simply call the 100 because:

1. There might be no more betting if I don't improve, and I save $80.
2. If I do improve, he still has to call me with his pot odds.
3. There's an off chance the lone pair of jacks might come in for the lower bet, which is good for my hand since it's the best draw and needs to improve anyway.

Mind you, I think the outcome of your calling would likely have been identical, except that maybe you could fold on the river if you get there and don't improve at all. More likely the maniac would try to push you out on 6th for your last $80, and you'd call. Still, I don't see any harm in just calling, and potenially more gain.

I think you played it fine. The extra eighty dollars should gaurantee that the jack doesn't come along. And you want to give yourself the best chance to win this pot. By eliminating the jack you give yourself a better chance to win with trips or two small pair which is much more likely than the straight. I don't know about third street, but the hand sounds fine to me.