Seven Card Stud has been making a bit of a rebound thanks largely in part to mixed games and HORSE tournaments around the world.
Many players make mistakes in the game thinking that their hand is stronger than it really is or thinking that it is proper to chase down hands in certain situations.
As a guide to help you make better decisions at the table, today we are going to provide you with some odds in relations to certain drawing hands in stud.
Odds of Hitting a Full House
The following are your odds against making a full house based when holding trips:
Rolled up trips – 2 to 1
Three of a kind and one odd card – 2.5 to 1
Three of a kind and two odd cards – 3.5 to 1
Three of a kind and three odd cards – 4 to 1
Here are the odds for hitting a full house once you hold two pair:
Two pair on Fourth Street – 3.5 to 1
Two pair on Fifth Street – 5 to 1
Two pair on Sixth Street – 10 to 1
Odds of Hitting a Flush
Here are your odds of hitting a flush:
Three suited cards on Third Street – 4.5 to 1
Three suited cards on Fourth Street – 8.5 to 1
Three suited cards on Fifth Street – 23 to 1
Four suited cards on Fourth Street – 1.25 to 1
Four suited cards on Fifth Street – 1.75 to 1
Four suited cards on Sixth Street – 4.25 to 1
Odds of Hitting a Straight
For straight odds, we will present odds for open-ended straights, and inside or gutshot straights.
Open Ended Straights
Open-ended straights are those where you can catch cards at either end.
A three card open-ended starting hand would be 4-5-6, 8-9-10, 10-J-Q or similar.
Four card open-ended straights are hands like 4-5-6-7, 8-9-10-J, 10-J-Q-K or similar.
Odds for those hands are as follows:
Three card straight on Third Street – 5 to 1
Three card straight on Fourth Street – 8 to 1
Three card straight on Fifth Street – 22 to 1
Four card straight on Fourth Street – 1.5 to 1
Four card straight on Fifth Street – 2 to 1
Four card straight on Sixth Street – 5 to 1
Inside Straights
Inside straights are also known as gutshot straights, which means you have one gap. Hands like 4-5-7-8 and 10-Q-K-A are examples. The odds for these types of hands are as follows:
Four card gutshot straight on Fourth Street – 3 to 1
Four card gutshot straight on Fifth Street – 5 to 1
Four card gutshot straight on Sixth Street – 10 to 1
Single Ended Straights
Single ended straights are essentially the wheel and Broadway and you must catch two cards to make your straight.
With these hands, if you don’t improve your straight or hit a pair on fourth, you probably want to abandon the hand.
In the case of drawing to a wheel, you need to improve or pair your ace in order to continue in most pots.
Here are the odds with starting with three cards to a single ended straight.
Three straight on third – 13 to 1
Three straight on fourth – 25 to 1
The above stats should serve as a handy guide for those of you who like to chase a bit much when playing Stud.
As you can see, you really need some type of hand developing by Fifth Street in order to continue in a hand.
These odds should help you chase less and lay down certain long shot hands the next time you play Stud.