Reading Hands in 7-Stud: Part One

BY: Ashley Adams
Contact at: (Asha34@aol.com)
Author of Winning 7-Card Stud

I travel around a lot in the United States and Europe and play poker wherever I go. I've just returned from a tour of the Midwest and South, playing in Ohio, Mississippi, Louisiana and Missouri. I drove 3,000 miles, driving through ten states along the way. During the entire trip I wore one my many poker room baseball caps - usually the one from the World Poker Finals at Foxwoods. It proved to be a great conversation started - with people at the poker table and, surprisingly, with the dozens of people I met in the restaurants, bars and lobbies of the restaurants and motels I stopped in.

Invariably, people asked me about playing poker. Most of them asked me questions about the World Poker Tour on the Travel Channel on Wednesday nights. They may not have been poker players themselves, but they watched this show regularly. These non-players and many casino players alike asked questions about the moves they saw and the commentary they heard on this show. These questions often centered on their perception that these professionals can "read" their opponents' hands. "How can they do this so well?" they asked me. That question has inspired me to write this column about reading hands in 7-Card Stud.

Figuring out a hand in Stud is more complicated than figuring out a Hold Em hand, though the process is still essentially the same. At heart is really a process of deduction - narrowing down the possibilities of what your opponent holds based on all the information you have presented to you as the hand progresses. In both Stud and Hold Em two major piece of information are your opponents' betting actions(whether they have bet, called or raised) as well as their general style of play (what type of a player they are). However, in Stud, uunlike Hold Em, the observant player also has the advantage of seeing many cards in front of each player. The successful "read" in Stud requires a knowledge of these up cards, as well as remembering what has been folded as the hand progresses. A successful Stud player must put all of this information together to get an accurate read of his opponent's likely holding.

Most new players trying to read an opponent's hand in Stud spend too much energy on trying to figure out the wrong things and not enough energy focusing on the right things.

Most players new to poker think that the key to figuring out an opponent's hand is in finding some giveaway mannerism or "tell" that reveals what they have. They've seen the poker movies where players exhibit certain behavior, idiosyncrasy, or gesture that gives away their hand. In these movies, when a player twirls his ring it means that he's bluffing; or when another player listens to the sound of pulling apart his Oreo cookie he really has a hand.

It's true that some players do certain thing when their hands are strong and other things when their hands are weak. A knowledge of general tendencies is useful to be sure. Mike Caro, in fact, has written an invaluable book on the subject called, Mike Caro's Book of Tells, the Body Language of Poker. He's also come out with a video. Both are extremely useful.

However, focusing a lot of energy on finding each player's individual tells, of the ring twirling variety for example, for the inexperienced casino player especially, is usually fruitless and often an unnecessary distraction. You might notice, for example, that your opponent blinks a lot. But does this mean strength, weakness, or just that he has too much cigarette smoke in his eyes? In the context of casino poker, where the typical visitor plays with any particular opponent for few hours over the course of their stay, this is usually impossible to know. (Clearly, though, if you're a regular at a casino or if you play against guys in a home game each week this may be worth doing). While it might be good for the screenplay, finding these "giveaway tells" rarely plays an important part in really reading the likely holding of your typical casino opponent.

Rather, in the typical low and mid-limit casino poker games, figuring out your opponent's likely holding is much more a product of three other general pieces of information: their general style of play, the betting actions of the hand, and the exposed cards. The successful stud player needs to focus his energy on these areas first, before worrying about his opponent's tells.

I'm going to treat each of these subjects separately. I'll show you what to look for and then how to use what you find to put your opponent on hands. This will make the process appear to be very difficult and cumbersome at first. It isn't. As you practice doing this you will eventually do it almost unconsciously most of the time. You will eventually put these "clues" together to read your opponents and then use the information you gain to your advantage. In time it will become almost as naturally as breathing.

Lesson One: Categorizing Opponents

You want to categorize your opponents. This means broadly defining the type of player they are. Focus on the big picture at first.

Here are the general categories you should begin with: LOOSE and TIGHT. A LOOSE player is one who calls a lot and folds little. He is likely to stay with many hands that are less than optimal.

It will take some but not much observation on your part to define your opponent as LOOSE. If he generally calls the bring-in, raised or unraised, folding in a full eight-person game less than one out of three times then he's generally a loose player. Of course there are exceptions. The game itself could have so many loose players that everyone is calling the initial bet. You could be up against a player who changes gears a lot and who is just playing loosely for only a brief period of time. You may have a player who has just had a string of good cards. But, in general, over time, if an opponent calls more than one hand in three or so then he's a pretty loose player. Categorize him as such until and unless you see a reason to change your diagnosis.

Alternately, if a player folds hand after hand - often going five or six hands without calling a bet on Third Street - then categorize him as tight. Yes, it's true that this can happen with a tricky player who changes gears a lot. And it can also happen occasionally to a loose player who has just caught a run of very bad cards. But, we're speaking in generalities. So if your opponent seems to be playing fewer than one hand every five or six hands then put him in the tight category.

OK. That's it for the broadest category: LOOSE and TIGHT. Put your opponents into these two broad categories and you're way ahead of most of your opponents. But how do you use this simple "read" to your advantage?

Simply put, if someone is TIGHT, tend to believe that they have the hand they are representing when they make a bet. Of course this isn't a guarantee that you'll be correct in your read, but it's a start. For example, if a tight player raises the bring-in with an Ace, tend to believe that they have a pair of Aces. This means that you need to remember that the player who is raising is tight. And you need to pay attention to the hand he has showing.

Alternately, if a player whom you've characterized as LOOSE calls a raise, don't necessarily give him credit for having a hand that you would need to call. While you would only play certain hands on Third Street for a raise, a loose player will call with many other hands. Don't give them credit for necessarily having a good hand when they call a raise.

Putting your opponents into these two broad categories is a necessary but insufficient task if you are to get a good read on their likely holdings. If you really want to take advantage of your opponents you need to add a couple of additional characterizations to your repertoire.

Figure out whether your opponents are PASSIVE or AGGRESSIVE. This is also pretty simple, though it may not be easy. What you're looking for is how often they raise. A player who raises a lot is said to be AGGRESSIVE. One who tends to call instead of raise is said to be PASSIVE.

Think of these categories in connection with the prior two you've identified. You will have four categories when you make these connections: Tight-Passive (also known as weak-tight), Tight-Aggressive, Loose-Passive, and Loose-Aggressive (also known as a "Maniac"). The Tight Passive player folds a lot and rarely raises - and often folds to pressure even when he has a pretty good hand. The Tight Aggressive player is selective but generally raises when he has a strong hand - and doesn't back down to pressure easily. The Loose Passive Player tends to call and not raise, and stays in with lower than average hands. The Loose Aggressive player tends to play most hands and is usually in with a raise - even when his hand is weak.

Concentrate on putting your opponents into these four categories. In conjunction with his action and the cards that have been and are exposed, it will help you figure out what he is likely to hold. But don't just leave it to memory. Keep a log book or playing diary where you write down each player's general tendency. And remember to always be willing to change your initial assessment based on new information.

Next Column: Reading Hands in 7-Card Stud, Betting Action and Exposed Cards

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