too many hands?

[sds4255]

If I want to be a profitable 7 stud player, how many hands on average will I see a 4th card out of 1000? My average is right around 20%? Too high or low?

[bigredlemon]

depends on the structure. How are the antes in relation to bring in and small bet?

Unless you're playing no ante, I think that's probably too low. If you're that tight, your hole cards are probably easily to read, and that'll be the death of a stud player.

[lstream]

I watch this statistic myself, and it usually is 20-25% counting bring-in. Seems like a few of the regular stud players are in the same range. Obviously some sessions will stray from this range, but not too often it seems.

[sds4255]

usually online play at 2/4 with .25 ante

[Andy B]

Depends on the game. If it's aggressive, you won't be seeing fourth street when your the bring-in with garbage as often, and you won't be able to limp as often, either. In a loose, passive game, I think I'm around 25%. In a tighter game, I'm probably under 20%, although I try to avoid tight games as much as possible.

I wouldn't worry too much about aiming at some pre-conceived percentage. You might get a very good or very bad run of cards, and you shouldn't throw away a decent hand just because you've been playing a lot of hands lately. You shouldn't limp in with a dog just because you haven't seen a pair in an hour, either. You should evaluate each hand on its own merits, taking into account the cards that are out, the action thus far, game conditions, etc.