Poker Card Stud Game

Down the River

Seven-card stud, also known as "down the river," is a game with enough zip to satisfy exotic tastes. It requires card-reading ability, recall of cards that have been folded, and attention to the probabilities. It is full of uncertainty and has a vast range for deception. Each player receives three cards before the first bet is made. Two are dealt closed and one open. After the first round of poker online betting another open card is dealt and so on until players who have remained in the pot have two closed cards and four open cards. The seventh card is dealt down and the hand is completed with another bet. Consider first the problem of staying on the first bet. Suppose you are dealt K. and 9' down and 8' up. The player to your right is high and bets 10 cents. What should you do? If you answer "call" or if you answer "fold" you are wrong! You have failed to consider the fact that the evaluation of your hand at each point is relative and the amount already in the pot at any particular point must influence your action. You did not have all the pertinent information. The correct response to the question "What should you do?" should have been "How much did we ante?" If there was no ante of any kind, you should clearly get out. If each of six players plunked down a fat dollar for the first three cards, you should call for 10 cents with K 9, and 8.

Some Problems

Another aspect of the problem that warrants me 'attention is the attitude or style of the players in the game. If all of the others playa tight, cautious brand of poker, you'll be badly beaten if you play loosely. On the other hand, if you play overly tight while the others play a loose, friendly sort of game you11 probably win, but it will also be the last time you are invited to that game. You cannot expect another invitation to a loose game when you play it cozy. Most of the games you are in will be loosely played, so there is no need to play too close. In a hi-low stakes game, of course, you must play carefully. Suppose the stakes permit bets of $1 to $5. If they don't invite you back, that is tough. You must play each hand with grave regard for the cost, the chances of improving your hand, and the reward for holding the highest hand. Most of the others will be playing tight in a high-stakes game anyway. The problem of the first action is discussed in some detail in most books on poker, but the standards set down are rigid and too severe, in my view. One writer on the subject states for calling the first bet in seven-card stud will result in playing in one pot out of seven. Assume that everyone in the game has read the same book and been impressed by the author's persuasiveness or promise of riches and is using the same standards. A little more arithmetic for which my mathematician friends have a fancy name, binomial expansions, gives us these facts. The expected results for the following events in a six-handed game, if each player's prospects are considered independently, are:

Events in a Six-Handed Game

(1) 39.7% of the time none of the poker players in the game will have the requirements for staying in! This is two out of five deals I Did you ask what happens to the ante in center of table? I have been wondering tool
(2) Another 39.7% of the time one player has the requirements. He must get the ante I There is no contest in eight of ten deals.
(3) In 16.5% of the pots (one in six), two players stay for the first bet. In some situations, you are instructed to drop on the next card unless you improve.
(4) 3.7% of the time (four pots in a hundred) you11 have three players after the first bet.
(5) In about 0.5%, or one deal in 200, you'll have four or more players after the first round.