Hold'em versus 7-Card Stud

If you see Leo C., tell the big guy that this column is dedicated to him. His comment to me was the inspiration. Seven-card stud once was the top choice of poker players. During the last ten years, Texas hold'em has far surpassed it as the preference of most players. Until three years ago, 7-card stud was my game. My co-author, Dan Abrams, and Chris C. (code name: Shadow), a bright child psychologist/poker semi-pro, convinced me to try hold'em; and it quickly became my choice too. Yes, the games are similar in some respects. Both use a total of seven cards, from which the best five are selected to decide the winner if it goes to a showdown.

You can win more money at 7-card stud; luck is less of a factor. That's what Leo C. said during our conversation. (He had sought me out at the Normandie Casino to tell me how much he "appreciated" my columns in Poker Player. Then we chatted while I signed a copy of my book that he purchased in the casino gift shop. My pleasure. . )

Leo is absolutely correct - so long as you play WINNING poker. By that I mean, if you want to be a winner, there are some basic rules you must follow. Otherwise you are bound to be a loser no matter which game of poker you choose to play. Most important is hand selection. As stated in my Poker for Winners! book, Basic Rule #3 is "Don't Lose: Play Only Those Hands that Have a Good Chance of Winning." In other words, hand selection is vital to WINNING poker. (That's not to say that poor players - PokerPigeons -- don't get lucky and sometimes win big pots. We are talking about the long run.)

In 7-card stud, you get three cards - two downcards and one up, on the basis of which you must decide whether or not to play. On the other hand, in hold'em you get just the two downcards which you use to make that critical decision. In effect you must make an investment decision with less information. It's like solving a puzzle with less data; you cannot be as accurate. As a result, you are more likely to enter the pot with hands that you would discard had you seen the third card beforehand. In hold'em, there will be fewer made hands to start - A-A, K-K, and Q-Q. Those are hands that could win the pot even without improving. By far the majority of starting hands are drawing hands; usually they must improve to have a reasonable chance of winning at the showdown. In 7-card stud, because you see three cards before deciding to play, there are more made hands - including three-of-a-kind - and more premium drawing hands - including a pair with a high kicker, three-to-a-flush, and three-to-a-straight-open-at-both ends. That makes it easier to decide whether to invest in that hand, and your decisions can be more fruitful.

From a practical standpoint, you might say that you do more "gambling" in hold'em. Chance (luck) is a bigger factor. (That was Leo's point.) Skill is still important but somewhat less significant. It means that your stacks will grow and diminish more often and it will be harder to go home a winner in hold'em than if you exercised the same degree of skill in 7-card stud.

Card Tracking Too. In my Poker for Winners! book, I explain why card tracking is important in 7-card stud, and how to do it. Briefly, if you can remember the cards that have been folded by your opponents, you can better read another player's hand. (For example, if all four 7s can be accounted for, it is impossible for an opponent to have a 7 to fill a straight.) Card tracking does take effort - but it will give you an advantage (an "edge") over opponents who don't track the cards. Since all the cards, other than the players' hole cards, are exposed on the board in hold'em, there is no need to track cards. That makes it easier for the player, but eliminates the potential edge available in 7-card stud. So I agree with Leo: The element of luck plays a bigger role in hold'em than it does in 7-card stud..

. . . So readers, what's YOUR opinion?