Seven Card Stud Poker Strategy - Reading Your Opponents Hands

"Feel for the Game" - A very crucial part of the Seven Card Stud Poker strategy in knowing what you're up against in each round. Of course you can rely on a good hand such as a Flash or a Three of the Same Kind, but the odds are slim for you to have such a good hand combination round after round. If you have such luck then you do not need to learn seven card stud strategy at all, but such a lucky Seven Card Stud's player doesn't exist. A good 7 Card Stud knows how to win even with a Medium Pair strategy at third Street but he cannot do so without being certain that he might win.

But how can a Seven Card Stud player read his poker opponents hands? Well, directly he can't, that's obvious - they're hidden. But how many cards are there to read in a Seven Card Stud game? Only three.

According to the Seven Card Stud poker rules you have two hole cards in your opponent starting hand and then a third hidden card during 7th street. Most players do not even go all the way to "showdown" which means that you merely need to read few hands and that's not a lot of work. All players have certain poker starting hands requirements, knowing what they these are can boost your hand reading strategy.

Reading hands during a Seven Card Stud poker game is part intuition, part logic and a big part of experience. Stud players often refer to this skill as "feeling the game". Feeling the game comes with time; it doesn't just happen out of the blue and there are issues you must be aware of before mastering this skill. You must learn how to read opponents during a Seven Card Stud session. Feel free to try one of our free online poker games to test your reading hands strategy

Reading hands is a large part of the Seven Card Stud poker strategy, without it you're risking your money at each round. This skill may help you to make more calculated decisions during every round, but only if you manage to "feel for the game". There are small things to know that may increase your skill, such as tables limits and reading hands strategy combination. Not only different limits change this strategy but players types do the same.

Daniel Jenkins, Editorial Staff. 2006-01–22