A Tidbit About Stud...

[egthareal]

In Seven Card Stud, if you limit yourself to just pairs, trips, 3-Flushes and 3-Straights; most of the time you won't be playing at all. Most of the time, you'll be folding. there is something very frustrating, for the naturally competitive person, about folding so often. But the truth is that folding, tough though it may be, is the key to winning in the long run. It helps you win by being selective - playing only when we have some advantage.

There are a few suggestions for keeping you focused even while you fold many of your starting hands.

First of all, practice away from the poker table itself. There are computer programs or even play money games that you can use to make folding certain low value hands a habit. Keep at it until it becomes second nature. The key is for you to eventually recognize that all hands of a certain type fall into the category of unplayable - allowing you to dump them immediately and without regret or much thought. Keep in mind that you won't always be playing like this. As you become better and more experienced you’ll find that nearly any hand becomes playable in some situations. But at first, you need to become like disciplined, just waiting for the right starting hand.

If waiting for the right cards becomes too boring, you can just practice your relaxation, which will come in handy when you need to focus on the actual game. Do toe crunches, neck rolls, shoulder shrugs, making and unmaking your fist, leg straightening, deep breathing exercises and varied isometric exercises can all be done while you're seated. Similarly, just standing up and walking back and forth behind your chair releases tension and gets your blood flowing. Don't become glued to your chair, immobile and inert. Keep yourself moving and you're less likely to succumb to the temptation to play a hand just to keep busy.

While you're at it, get something to eat from time to time. Make sure you master the game and not the other way around. Deliberately interrupt the habit of sitting, get a snack, think about what you're doing and go back refreshed. If you are agitated, tired, terribly bored or distracted then leave for good. There's always another day and another game.

One final note about folding. If you've been seated at the table and getting no cards for 20 minutes or more, and have been diligently folding every unplayable hand, even your denser opponents are going to notice that you have been playing tightly. If you finally do get a Premium Pair and raise it becomes increasingly likely that everyone will fold. The way to make your opponents forget how tightly you have been playing is to sit out for a while. Most of them have very short memories and will not remember what you did before you did this. So help them forget.