Texas Holdem Poker

AN ACE AND AN ACTION BUTTON

by: Lou Krieger

When you play 7-card stud eight-or-better, high-low split, (7-stud/8) the game is frequently played with an action button. Whenever a pot is scooped and exceeds some predetermined amount, the winner has to post an “action bet” on the next hand. It’s not a kill-pot since it does not double the stakes; it is simply a blind raise to increase the action on the following hand. Players who act before the action button cannot complete the bring-in. Instead, they can only call the bring-in if they intend to play. Once the action button has raised, and the action gets back to them, they are free to call — or raise — the action bet.

In a $20-$40 game, the bring-in is five dollars, and the action button’s forced raise is twenty dollars. This structure has definite strategic implications when you see scare-cards call the bring-in for five dollars and it’s your turn to act. If there’s an ace that has called the five dollar bring-in, and you are not prepared to call a double raise to forty dollars once the action button’s blind raise is played and the ace acts again, do not play your hand. When an ace calls the bring-in for five dollars and there’s a forced raise behind him, you can be almost certain the ace will reraise and make it $40 to go. If you have a three card eight — or even a rough seven — this really isn’t the kind of holding you want when confronting a double bet and are looking at an ace out against you.

There are better opportunities to invest your money. In these circumstances, take your three-card rag low and dump it as quickly as you can. If there was no action button, and you could take another card off the deck for five dollars — it’s usually worth a call. If the aces catches a banana on fourth street and you catch a baby, you can afford to play since you now have the best low draw. Having caught a banana on fourth street, the ace now needs to catch two low cards out of the next three to win the low end of the pot, while you only need to catch one.

But calling a five dollar bet is a lot different than calling $40. Like most things involving money, poker is often a question of getting the best bang for your buck, and paying $40 to draw against the most powerful card in the deck is a bad bargain. The fact that you’ll see many people do just this doesn’t make it correct; it merely makes it a good game — and if your opponents exhibit this behavior on a regular basis, you should win your share of their money in 7-stud/8.

If you are playing against skilled 7-stud/8 players, you also need to consider the hands they might have when calling a five dollar bring-in with an ace already in action. A skilled player recognizes the power of an ace, and if he calls, you can be sure he also has a rather strong holding. When this happens, and you suspect that player of going low, you need to have a very good low draw in order to contest this pot. Not only do you have to overcome the ace if he is going low, you now have to overcome another low draw who figures to have a very powerful holding, such as three cards to a six low, or a two-way hand, like 7-6-5 or 7-4-3 suited.

Seven-stud/8 can be a frustrating game. It takes patience to wait for good starting hands — they don’t come around all that often — and not every player exhibits this quality all the time. This game takes patience and discipline to play successfully. Three cards to a low don’t come around very frequently, and discipline is required to throw them away when you don’t appear to have a shot at the high end and appear to be up against a superior low draw.

In fact, the inability to release second best low draws is a major leak in many 7-stud/8 players’ games. You would be surprised how often you see three or even four players continuing on with a low draw when it is quite obvious that they are not drawing at the best low. For them to win, the other low draws all have to bust, and that’s a long-shot at best. While you won’t see too many players continue on with their low draw if they catch a banana or two, these same players will continue along in a hand even when they strongly suspect that theirs is not the best low. This doesn’t make too much sense when you stop to think about it. After all, a second or third best low is not much better than missing your low altogether. While every now and then you’ll appear to be up against two better looking lows, only to find that they paired twice and are now high hands — but that does not happen often enough to make calling with the third best low anywhere near a profitable play.

It may seem paradoxical, but this game also requires a willingness to gamble. In fact, the road to losing days at 7-stud/8 is often littered with four-card lows that caught bananas on fifth, sixth, and seventh street, and two pair high hands that are scooped when a low hand backs into a straight or flush and scoops the pot.

There’s more to playing 7-stud/8 than meets the eye. Unless one is patient, willing to release three-card lows that do not look like the best low or do not offer some scooping potential, and has a willingness to gamble under the right conditions, you might be better off in the long run playing a high-only game, such as 7-stud or hold’em. But if you have the discipline coupled with a willingness to gamble under the right conditions, this is a game with a lot of opportunity.

7 Card Stud Articles by Lou Krieger

This is where you can find all articles relating to 7 Card Stud. Introduction to 7 Card Stud - Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 An Ace and an Action Button - 7 Card Stud is often played with an Action Button learn more. Two for the Price of One -

 

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