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Strasse · Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 2:00 pm Post subject: Short Handed Stud

Some of the common mistakes that I see people making when they play stud shorthanded is that they try and play too many hands to compensate for it being shorthanded. What they fail to notice is that as the number of players decreases, the amount of money in the pot to start also decreases, due to the ante structure of stud. In holdem, this is not the case, because there will always be a big blind and a small blind, and consequently, you really should open up your game a lot more. In stud however, the amount of hands you play should increase only the slightest bit. Whenever you pick up a good hand, you will most likely get payed off, since everyone else will be playing lots of hands, since they think that's what they need to be doing.

I also see lots of people playing their door card too often, and too strong. They will take a hand like (42)Q and bet the whole hand, losing a lot of money when their opponent calls them down, which will be quite often, due to the aforementioned increase in the # of hands they play. Instead, you should play your opponents door cards, not just yours. For example, if all your opponents are showing door cards 7 or below, you can take a hand like (JK)8, one which you normally wouldn't play full handed, and play it quite strong, since all 3 of your cards are above any of your opponents.

Finally, the last major mistake I notice from people is that they don't know when to slow down(I myself am guilty of this quite often too). Like I said, people will call you down far more often shorthanded, since they think you are one of the people playing too many hands. Therefore, when you start w/ the (KJ)8 in the last example, if you catch something like 53, and someone with a 4 door card is still calling, you can slow down and try to take a free card to catch a pair. It is usually still good to bet 5th street if your oppenent catches seemingly unhelpful cards, since the bet doubles here, and many people will call up until 5th to try and catch a small two pair, and fold if they don't. I will sometimes try to take the free card on 4th, if I think they will continue calling me. If I don't take it then, and they call my bet on 5th, I will definately take it on 6th if I havne't caught anything by then, since they will almost certainly call a bet on 6th if they called on 5th.

This post was made for the benefit of byamamoto, but discussion is of course welcome.

byamamoto1 · Bay Area Bidness Joined: 11 Aug 2005 Posts: 2189

so in terms of opening your game up without overplaying your hand ala the (24)Q example, what sort of hands go up in value. what sort of hands should you defend with the bring-in? for example if i have say (AQ)3 showing and an opponent completes with a 9, is this a hand i toss or should i try taking a shot that my hand may be at this point marginally better or has a chance to beat my opponents? In general what kind of hands will you play from the bring-in?

Strasse · Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 3:06 pm Post subject:

Zophar · Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 3:27 pm Post subject:

I think another group of hands that increase here are smaller pairs w/big kickers. Granted a pair of 10's w/an A kicker are ok full, but now a pair of 5's w/a Q kicker or 6's or 7's w/J kicker become ALOT stronger.

I'd also add that big concealed pairs become monsters and can be slow played well into 5th street, something I don't think is as advisible at full ring.

mathman1115 · Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 8:02 pm Post subject:

good OP Strasse. When i do play stud and it starts to get shorthanded, i usually sit out lol. I hate shorthanded poker games, especially stud. One of the things that attracted me to stud are the large pots, which, like you said, won't happen in a short handed game.

One question, which Zophar touched on slightly. Say you are shorthanded, 3 or 4 players, and you start with a monster, like rolled up 222-999 or a pair of aces with a big card. Should we still play these strong, to make our opponent "think" we are attempting to represent a big hand, hopefully having them play back at us? Or do we slowplay, let them catch up, and then attempt to get paid off in the later betting rounds (knowing there is a chance they can catch up too much and beat us out of a big pot)?

Strasse · Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 10:02 pm Post subject:

byamamoto1 · Bay Area Bidness Joined: 11 Aug 2005 Posts: 2189

not necessarily short handed but down to 5 players. Would you play this hand?? high card under over the table, and split pair 2's. Still a fold situation here?

Full Tilt Poker Game #2990084941: $5 + $0.50 Sit & Go (22825772), Table 1 - 250/500 Ante 40 - Limit Stud Hi - 23:39:58 ET - 2007/07/18
Seat 1: SF Fisherman (2,925)
Seat 4: burkee3 (2,495)
Seat 5: byamamoto1 (2,020)
Seat 7: deez349849 (2,630)
Seat 8: ShayKC (1,930)
SF Fisherman antes 40
burkee3 antes 40
byamamoto1 antes 40
deez349849 antes 40
ShayKC antes 40
*** 3RD STREET ***
Dealt to SF Fisherman [6c]
Dealt to burkee3 [4c]
Dealt to byamamoto1 [Qs 2h] [2d]
Dealt to deez349849 [9d]
Dealt to ShayKC [4d]
byamamoto1 is low with [2d]
byamamoto1 brings in for 75
deez349849 folds
ShayKC folds
SF Fisherman completes it to 250
burkee3 folds
byamamoto1 folds
Uncalled bet of 175 returned to SF Fisherman
SF Fisherman mucks
SF Fisherman wins the pot (350)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 350 | Rake 0
Seat 1: SF Fisherman collected (350), mucked
Seat 4: burkee3 folded on 3rd St.
Seat 5: byamamoto1 folded on 3rd St.
Seat 7: deez349849 folded on 3rd St.
Seat 8: ShayKC folded on 3rd St.

spike420211 · Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2007 11:57 pm Post subject:

byamamoto,
1st of all, how'd u scare up 7 other guys for a 5.00 stud sitngo?
>on the hand history--this would be a weak/marginal call in a cash game:
in a tourney with the stack sizes as listed, good fold.
>for 222 thru 999... if anyone raises on third, re-raise, you'd be
surprised at the number of chasers you'll get with buried[concealed]
Q's, K's, and A's... if the field is still relatively large on 4th street [4 or 5
players+] don't bother with the slowroll, hopefully they're chasing
weak draws, but higher trips and boats can show up too.

Strasse · Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2007 3:50 pm Post subject:

spike420211 · Posted: Thu Jul 19, 2007 11:23 pm Post subject:

i stand corrected on the must call for the cash game,Strasse. In this particular scenario for a tourney, byamamoto may be risking too much stack by chasing this.

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