10-20 Stud8 Hand

[grb137]

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Zee has a nice list of playable 3rd street hands in his pamphlet. I'm pretty sure a pair of 6s aint on the list.


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well, you made me go and pull-down the book from the shelf. I'll admit baby pair with baby kicker is on the list, I forgot that this list isn't one of playable hands, but one of "starting hands" - where he gives his opinions of various starting hands that people play.

What I seem to read on pages 18-19 regarding this hand is that
1) its "dangerous" and "very marginal"
-- I happen to agree

2) its "worth playing only when it appears that no one has a strong hand"
-- in this case, you've got FIVE other players - surely at least one person has a strong hand

3) "you shouldnt play these hands unless the situation appears advantageous"
--- I think 5 others players makes it very DISadvantageous.

4) "you prefer to play this hand heads up with a player whose upcard is lower..."
-- we're talking about FIVE other players, not heads up


However, I'll concede that Zee makes rooms room for certain situations where this hand is playable:
- if your kicker is a SF card
- if you can limp
- if you are heads up against door lower than your pair
- if your opponents are not completely live and your cards are very live

Seems like most on here find the fact that you're on the end as reason enough to peel one off. I think the more weighty factors make this and easy fold:
1) with your call, you're looking at a 6-way hand. This means that you are against other low hands (thus making other babies much more dead than the exposed cards would dictate). It makes the possibility that your 6s are completely dead VERY high. It also makes the possibility that someone is limping with a higher pair (e.g. the guy with the 10 on your right) much more likely.
2) In general, I believe that the tighter the structure, the tighter you need to play. With this structure, I think your best bet is to fold cheaply on hands like these that are "very marginal."

Anyway, based on our informal poll here, Zee was right: "Most players will play small-pair, small-kicker starting hands. They are hard to throw away because they look so good."