Remembering Other Cards

[bholdr]

IMO, remembering dead cards is not the most critical skill in stud play, however, it's by far the most important skill that doesn't translate to other poker ames. Starting hand selection is important in all games, a willingness to fold good haneds in the face of better hands is important in all poker games, quick math skills... But only in stud (all forms, razz, 5 card, etc) do pure memorization skills play such a big role.

I find that if i concentrate like hell, and am only playing one game at a time, i can remember virtually every card out and were it was dealt. this gives me a pretty big advantage over opponents that don't even think about it. However, i can't focus like that for long, and at the limits i play (1/2 and 2/4- just played some 3/6 this weekend- one of the first times i've done that) the poor play of my opponents kinda negates that benifit. So what i try to do is remember the 'texture' of the dead cards.

"are a lot of high cards dead? low cards? is one suit particularly live or dead?" I always make an effort to scan all the cards out before i call the bring in, and i adjust my calling/raising standards accordingly. I esp pay attn to how many of my opponents door cards have gone into the muck. So far, i've found that the most benificial time to remember dead cards is when drawing to a straight or flush- if two of my straight cards or more are dead, i'll fold a lot more willingly, and vice-versa, if none of my flush cards are dead and i have a four-flush, i'll almost always draw, even for two or three bets.


all IMO.

[PoorLawyer]

[ QUOTE ]
should i begin to worry at all about the suit of certain cards, or is that not nearly as important

[/ QUOTE ]

I dont know about the suit of certain cards, as this would only matter for putting them on a straight flush or a higher flush than you, but it is definitely important to know if your suit is dead if you are drawing to a flush or generally if you put someone else on a flush draw, what you think their chances are of hitting.

[Ray Zee]

the more cards you know the more bets you make or save at the end of the day. times that by 365 if you play every day.
might as well learn how to play the game and not half as--ed or you are doomed to not get too far along at higher stakes.
find what works best for you. but if each hand you are not in you practice it soon becomes easy to do.
without all the knowledge it is hard to piece together a players hand at the end and get that extra bet on the not so obvious ones. which btw come up often.
its no fun working but fun banking.

[Andy B]

Well, if your opponent has two or three clubs on board, wouldn't it be nice if you knew how many clubs had shown? This is somewhat less important if it came down [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] than if it came down [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], and remembering the ranks is usually more important, but the suits are good to know.

I took Ray's name in vain earlier this evening, and lo and behold he's made a few posts. If I did the same with DocAZ, do you think he'd make some posts?

DocAZ, that good-for-nothing bastard.

[img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[blackize]

I find that I can easily remember every upcard if I am playing just one table. If I am playing 2 tables I can keep track of my cards, my suit, and cards that would make my straight plus a little bit of the cards pertaining to other's hands. I read somewhere that being able to put your opponents on a draw or hand and knowing how many cards that will help his hand are dead is one of the most important skills a stud player can have. So once you get the ability to put your opponent on a hand card memorization becomse far more important. I cant give you any tips to do it better except to tell you to play more hands for play money if you want. The more information you can hold the better.