Short Stacked 7 Card Stud Strategy

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Something you don’t see covered too often is short-stacked Seven Card Stud strategy. With mixed tournaments being a regular occurrence both online and in the live venue, knowing a decent short-stacked strategy for Stud is ideal. Generally, 10 big bets or less is a short stack in a Stud game.

Let’s take a look at some of what you’re looking for when short-stacked in Stud.

Rolled Up

There is nothing better than looking down to a rolled-up set when you are short. The trick is making sure you get paid off with it. The smaller your set, the better odds that someone is going to pay you off with it.

If you can get in money on third street, great, but the key is to keep them in. If you catch quads right away or on fifth, slow down and let them catch up. The same goes if you catch a full house in five. Let them get to sixth street at least so that maybe they will call you down or better yet, raise you if they catch a straight, flush, or inferior boat.

Big Pairs

A big pair when you are short-stacked is a welcome sight as well. In this case, you want to pump in as much money as you can on third street, even if it means going all-in. The exception is if you complete and a higher card raises you. At this point, you will have to decide whether you want to gamble against an apparent overpair. If I am down to just a couple big bets, I’m going to run with this hand.

Small Pairs

If you are against someone that is apparently stealing, you may want to battle with this hand. Also, if you are down to just one or two big bets, this is a great hand to fight with. A lot of times you will be behind, or against overcards.

Three Straights and Three Flushes

When you are down to just a big bet or two, a three card straight or a three flush is not a bad hand to gamble with. If you can get a high three straight, or a three flush with an ace, even better. If you start with high three straight or flush, you give yourself a chance to catch a high pair, and in many heads-up hands, a big pair will win.

High Card Hands

I don’t generally condone chasing down with hands like A-K-3 or K-J-4, but there are times where you’re super short and you have to try and catch lucky. If you are in such a situation, you want to try and avoid someone with overcards. It is always better if you can be the first person to complete.

If you are above 5 big bets and complete with a big card, you may be able to still steal a few antes. However, larger stacks will generally try and call with anything reasonable to try and bust you.

Don’t Automatically Go Into Shove Mode

The big key to playing short stacked Stud is to pick a reasonable hand to fight with. Unlike Hold’em, you don’t want to go in with just any cards and hope to hit or that they are live. Against reasonable Stud players, that type of strategy will be guaranteed to fail.

Don’t automatically start shoving when you are down to 10 big bets, especially if the antes are small. Since the game doesn’t have blinds, you can generally sit back a few more hands than you can in Hold’em. Waiting a couple of hands to find a better starting hand can make a big difference busting and fighting your way back. Play a solid strategy and you will find that you will battle back your fair share of times from a short stack.