I don't kid myself into thinking I'm a good player, but..

[TommyTutone]

I have really been cleaning up at stud. The only education I have is reading Theory of Poker (so I can figure pot and implied odds, and generally count outs), plus 20k or so Hold'em hands. Despite that, over the past two weeks, I have had two losing sessions (losing $80 combined at 1/2), and many winning sessions (winning $400ish at 1/2). It is not unheard of to be pulling down 6-8BB per hour.

I KNOW I need to Ray Zee because I still think I may be playing too loosely, but the fact that it seems so many people are playing with any opening hand and chasing forever tells me that there is a lot of money to be had at this game at the smaller stakes, almost like a well-kept secret looking at the few posts on this board. Hell, I've all but given up hold'em for the moment, playing only in freerolls or low entry tourneys when I get an itch.

Does anyone else have similar experiences, or have I been lucky? (p.s. I've not really played stud at Party yet, is it equally fishy? I've been hitting a lot of the smaller sites: Absolute, Interpoker, etc.)

[Al_Capone_Junior]

[ QUOTE ]
It is not unheard of to be pulling down 6-8BB per hour.


[/ QUOTE ]

Over any significant period of time, yes it is, and it's not anthing even remotely close either. You have simply been running very lucky over your two weeks of playing.

al

[TommyTutone]

I know that to be true of Hold'em, but I had (apparently incorrectly) figured that between the extra round of betting in stud, combined with fewer people at the tables, that it would be easier to at least break 2BB per hour, and against poor players, to do even better than that.

[MRBAA]

Actually, at party 1-2 stud and paradise 2-4 stud, I had win rates of about 4bb hour over many months of playing. I have comparable results playing live (less bb hour due to less hands hour) at 5-10. I think low stakes stud players are just as clueless as low stakes he players, but the added information of exposed cards gives a good player a larger edge. As stakes rise, I think more players watch what's out, so this edge diminishes. However, it's significant that most big stud games have an over ante - to increase the luck factor and keep bad players from going broke. Big hold em games are typically structured the same as small ones, ie., there's more luck inherent in the game.

[BeerMoney]

These games have huge swings. Watch out. There will be times where you consistently show down second best hands, or your good starting hands never improve.

[MBTIGUY]

Listen to your own advice and don't kid yourself.
I'm not a hold 'em player but I'm guessing the experience of 20K hands isn't a lot of transferable skills.
Obviously, TOP is a mandatory book but for someone starting to play stud, I'd STRONGLY recommend Roy West's "7 Card Stud: How to Win at Medium and Lower Limits." This will give an idea of starting hands and how to proceed street-by-street.
There is money to be had at these levels. I play at Paradise. Party is incredibly fishy. Poker Stars is beatable but tougher.
The other guys who have posted are worth listening to. Read this forum often. They know a lot more than me but I can validate what they are saying - a two-week hot run is nothing, nothing, nothing. Your current rate is unsustainable. The key question is how well will you play when your hot run turns cold.

[jedi]

The reason you've been winning is because I've been giving you my money [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] See you on Gaming Club again, hopefully I'll have plugged my leaks.

[Raven]

I once won about 900 $ at party 1/2 stud in a 30 hours week playing two tables. After that I was even money for about 100 hours of play over 2 months ... Just for you to see that it can happen.

And you should give Stars a try, the low ante there really reward tight play and make the games not so tough and lower the variance (for me at leat).

[SevenStuda]

Only time will tell if your getting lucky or you really are good. The amount that your taking down in the stakes that your playing make it seem like luck to me.

-Dimitri