4/13/2022»»Wednesday

Three Streets Poker

4/13/2022
Mason Malmuth

Check/Check – Implies the action on a certain street gets checked through, i.e no wagering takes places. Bet, Bet, Check – Describes a line taken across three streets were a player bets the flop, bets the turn, and then checks the river. Raises in poker are also assigned numbers to help us easily understand where appear during a betting. Texas hold 'em (also known as Texas holdem, hold 'em, and holdem) is one of the most popular variants of the card game of poker.Two cards, known as hole cards, are dealt face down to each player, and then five community cards are dealt face up in three stages. The stages consist of a series of three cards ('the flop'), later an additional single card ('the turn' or 'fourth street'), and a. Weekly Poker Hand #314: In this hand from a live $25/$50 cash game, I get 3 streets of value with AK! Even in multi-way pots, you should still bet thinly for value! If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to sign up for a free 7-day trial membership at PokerCoaching.com for an interactive learning experience from Jonathan Little.

Two Plus Two Magazine, Vol. 8, No. 7
  • General Guidelines
  • Seven Card Stud
  • Limit Texas Hold'em

Play on the Later Streets

Even though the most important decision you will make in seven-card stud is on third street, you don’t want to neglect the later streets. Winning depends on correctly assessing an infinite number of situations, and errors in judgment can spell disaster. The tips that follow will help you to recognize and take advantage of profitable opportunities, as well as to dodge the perils, often encountered on fourth street and beyond.

It’s very dangerous when an opponent pairs his door card.

When this happens, you should exercise caution, as there is a good chance that your opponent now has three of a kind. And even if he doesn’t have trips, he’s still likely to hold a quality hand. So unless your hand is also of high value or the pot is large, you should throw your cards away.

If you make what appears to be the best hand on a later street, you should bet out.

In seven-card stud, it’s generally a mistake to check a hand that you think is the best. For example, suppose you make a flush on sixth street. Since some of your suited cards are exposed, your opponent will suspect a flush, and if you check, he will often check behind you. As a result, you not only might lose a double-sized bet, but the free card you give may cost you the pot as well.

It’s sometimes correct to check and call.

Suppose your opponent catches a third suited card and you think he may now have a flush. Although being aggressive in many situations is the best strategy, this is not one of them. The correct play here is to check and call. If your opponent does have a flush, you save money since you don’t have to call a raise; if he doesn’t have a flush, he often will bet to represent one, so the money goes into the pot anyway.

You usually should call on fifth street when you have a small pair and a high overcard to an opponent’s probable pair.

In seven-card stud, it’s often correct to chase, particularly when your hand has a strong potential of beating the hand you are up against. This means that you should call a fifth-street bet from a probable high pair when you have a smaller pair and an overcard kicker, especially if your kicker is an ace, as long as your hand is live and you have no reason to believe your opponent has two pair.

If you go to sixth street, almost always go to the river.

5th street poker

In general, if you have called the fifth-street bet, it’s correct to also call the bet on sixth street and look at the last card. The reason for this is that the pot typically has grown large enough and you usually have enough ways to win, even with a weak holding, that it’s profitable to call. However, if your opponent makes something extremely threatening on sixth street and your hand is weak, it obviously is correct to fold.

If you can beat a bluff, you usually should call on seventh street.

Unless your hand is completely hopeless, folding on the river can be a costly mistake. You have to catch a bluff only once in a while for your calls to be correct. This is because the typical seven-card stud pot is large relative to the last bet.

Spread Limit Strategy Changes

Most of the strategy already discussed for structured-limit games also applies to spread-limit games. However, there are a couple of basic differences.

Three streets poker rulesStreets

First, you should be willing to play a lot of weak hands for just the bring-in — typically either 50 cents or $1 in a $1-$4 or $1-5 seven-card stud game. But remember to consider your position. If you are early to act and a lot of high cards are behind you, it’s still best to throw away all weak hands, even if the cost to enter the pot is only 50 cents. In most cases, you also should discard speculative hands if someone raises after you have called the bring-in.

The second major difference in strategy concerns raising. When you have a good hand, you definitely want some opponents. So you generally should not raise the maximum on third street if no one has yet voluntarily entered the pot. Wait for the later rounds to bet the maximum.

For example, suppose you have a big pair and no one is in the pot yet, except for the bring-in. In this situation, it is usually best to raise only $2 instead of the $4 or $5 maximum to ensure that you get some competition. You don’t want to win just 50 cents with a pair of aces.

Selected Odds

Knowing the precise odds is not necessary to be a successful poker player. All you need is a good understanding of your chances in a given set of circumstances. This being said, what follows are some of the more useful odds for seven-card stud, which are provided mainly for their interest alone.

The First Three Cards

Starting HandOdds
Three of a Kind424-to-1
A Pair of Aces76-to-1
Any Pair5-to-1
Three Suited Cards18-to-1

Other Odds of Interest

● If you start with three suited cards, the odds against making a flush are 4.5-to-1.

● If you have four suited cards on fourth street, the odds against making a flush are 1.5-to-1, but with only three suited cards on fourth street, the odds increase to 8.5-to-1.

● If you start with a pair, the odds against making two pair are 1.4-to-1, and the odds against making three of a kind or better are 4.1-to-1.

● If you start with three of a kind, the odds against making a full house or better are 1.5-to-1.


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Weekly Poker Hand #314: In this hand from a live $25/$50 cash game, I get 3 streets of value with AK! Even in multi-way pots, you should still bet thinly for value!


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