Three Streets Poker

In no-limit knowing which situations you can get three streets of value from is a huge edge. Too many players pass up this value by overly thinking in terms of pot control or by being excessively fearful of being beat. Missing a bet in no-limit can be a costly “opportunity loss cost,” particularly a river bet. Not exploiting +EV (expected value) opportunities lowers your yearly expectation the same way making a bad call does.

In a passive $2-$5, I’d been playing pretty aggressively. The cutoff had posted a make-up blind and an ABC-passive opponent whom I’d previously pushed out of a couple of pots, open-raised for $20. In every earlier instance he had open-raised for $15. Whenever an opponent does something differently, I always ask myself, “Why?” In this case, I thought he either raised larger because of the make-up blind, or he had a hand that was vulnerable and wanted to protect it, maybe a combination of both.

Learn how to take your poker skills to the highest level. 20 Rules for 3-Bets that will make your win-rate skyrocket! QJo and 65s will usually be folded regardless of the bet size because such hands have terrible playability on later streets. Not to mention they are drawing nearly dead against our value hands. Rule #4: Bet pretty large. Other Odds of Interest If you start with three suited cards, the odds against making a flush are 4.5-to-1. If you have four suited cards on fourth street, the odds against making a flush are 1.5-to-1, but with only three suited cards on fourth street, the odds increase to 8.5-to-1.

I peered down to the 10 10. Generally, it’s a situationally-dependent borderline hand to value three-bet or flat. Seeing as I reasoned my opponent was likely to have a vulnerable hand, I chose to three-bet, the field folded, and Mr. ABC called, $134 in the pot, I rasied to $60. When he called I read his preflop range as being a good, but not great holding.

The flop came clean, the 8 5 2, Mr. ABC checked to me, and I bet $65. I thought his calling range would be any medium pair, sixes through queens, possibly A-K. I discounted the sixes and queens thinking he may have played them differently both pre- and post-flop. I wagered a smallish bet-size to increase the propensity for the medium pairs, which I dominated, to remain in his calling range. He called.

The 8 turned, and I bet $95 into a $260 pot, once again on the smallish side, but a sizing I thought he would call with his medium pairs. He hesitantly flatted me one more time, $450 in the pot.

The river came the J. He checked to me. I knuckled behind him and he showed me two nines, I took the pot. As I always do, I reflected on my play of the hand. In hindsight, I thought my check on the river was poor. My opponent’s range was capped, and a river value bet was in order.

His genuine hesitancy on calling the turn further discounted Q-Q. J-J became more unlikely when the jack rivered and he checked to me, and there was only one combination of 8-8. I hadn’t seen a check-raise from him yet, and he didn’t strike me as the sort to check-raise often. My previous aggression in the game, particularly the fact he’d folded a couple of holdings to me increased the odds of Mr. ABC calling a river bet with a pair smaller than tens.

With limited holdings that beat me, the decision on whether to bet came down to if he would call with more hands I beat than hands that beat me, or check-raise since I wasn’t calling a check-raise. There were six possible combinations each of 6-6, 7-7, 9-9, 18 total. I heavily discounted his Q-Q, J-J and 8-8 holdings because of the manner in which he played. He may have A-5 suited, A-8 suited, 8-7 suited or 8-9 suited but would they be in his preflop calling range and would he have played them in this manner? I doubted it! All that said, there was way more hands this particular player in this particular situation would call with that I beat than that beat me. And I’m including any check raise on his part.

A thin smallish river value-bet was in order, maybe in the one-third pot range. He wasn’t prone to check-raise and was likely to view me suspiciously and call with a marginal hand. Even if he only called one-half the time with a pair, my bet would still have +EV value.

I whiffed the bet, but I learned from my mistake. It was a focus error. In most situations, against most opponents, I would check this hand on the river, and my instincts made that decision. My mistake was that I didn’t take the time to think things through. If I had, I would have recognized that this specific situation with this particular opponent was different from most standard situations and adjusted my strategy.

Next time, I’m going to think things through! ♠

Roy Cooke played poker professionally for 16 years prior to becoming a successful Las Vegas Real Estate Broker/Salesman. Should you wish any information about Real Estate matters-including purchase, sale or mortgage his office number is 702-376-1515 or Roy’s e-mail is RealtyAce@aol.com. His website is www.RoyCooke.com. Roy’s blogs and poker tips are at www.RoyCookePokerlv.com. You can also find him on Facebook or Twitter @RealRoyCooke. Please see ad below!

• General Guidelines
• Seven Card Stud
• Limit Texas Hold'em

Play on the Later Streets

Even though the most important decision you will make in seven-card stud is on third street, you don’t want to neglect the later streets. Winning depends on correctly assessing an infinite number of situations, and errors in judgment can spell disaster. The tips that follow will help you to recognize and take advantage of profitable opportunities, as well as to dodge the perils, often encountered on fourth street and beyond.

It’s very dangerous when an opponent pairs his door card.

When this happens, you should exercise caution, as there is a good chance that your opponent now has three of a kind. And even if he doesn’t have trips, he’s still likely to hold a quality hand. So unless your hand is also of high value or the pot is large, you should throw your cards away.

If you make what appears to be the best hand on a later street, you should bet out.

In seven-card stud, it’s generally a mistake to check a hand that you think is the best. For example, suppose you make a flush on sixth street. Since some of your suited cards are exposed, your opponent will suspect a flush, and if you check, he will often check behind you. As a result, you not only might lose a double-sized bet, but the free card you give may cost you the pot as well.

It’s sometimes correct to check and call.

Suppose your opponent catches a third suited card and you think he may now have a flush. Although being aggressive in many situations is the best strategy, this is not one of them. The correct play here is to check and call. If your opponent does have a flush, you save money since you don’t have to call a raise; if he doesn’t have a flush, he often will bet to represent one, so the money goes into the pot anyway.

You usually should call on fifth street when you have a small pair and a high overcard to an opponent’s probable pair.

In seven-card stud, it’s often correct to chase, particularly when your hand has a strong potential of beating the hand you are up against. This means that you should call a fifth-street bet from a probable high pair when you have a smaller pair and an overcard kicker, especially if your kicker is an ace, as long as your hand is live and you have no reason to believe your opponent has two pair.

If you go to sixth street, almost always go to the river.

In general, if you have called the fifth-street bet, it’s correct to also call the bet on sixth street and look at the last card. The reason for this is that the pot typically has grown large enough and you usually have enough ways to win, even with a weak holding, that it’s profitable to call. However, if your opponent makes something extremely threatening on sixth street and your hand is weak, it obviously is correct to fold.

If you can beat a bluff, you usually should call on seventh street.

Unless your hand is completely hopeless, folding on the river can be a costly mistake. You have to catch a bluff only once in a while for your calls to be correct. This is because the typical seven-card stud pot is large relative to the last bet.

Spread Limit Strategy Changes

Most of the strategy already discussed for structured-limit games also applies to spread-limit games. However, there are a couple of basic differences.

First, you should be willing to play a lot of weak hands for just the bring-in — typically either 50 cents or $1 in a $1-$4 or $1-5 seven-card stud game. But remember to consider your position. If you are early to act and a lot of high cards are behind you, it’s still best to throw away all weak hands, even if the cost to enter the pot is only 50 cents. In most cases, you also should discard speculative hands if someone raises after you have called the bring-in.

Poker Three Bet

The second major difference in strategy concerns raising. When you have a good hand, you definitely want some opponents. So you generally should not raise the maximum on third street if no one has yet voluntarily entered the pot. Wait for the later rounds to bet the maximum.

For example, suppose you have a big pair and no one is in the pot yet, except for the bring-in. In this situation, it is usually best to raise only $2 instead of the $4 or $5 maximum to ensure that you get some competition. You don’t want to win just 50 cents with a pair of aces.

Selected Odds

Knowing the precise odds is not necessary to be a successful poker player. All you need is a good understanding of your chances in a given set of circumstances. This being said, what follows are some of the more useful odds for seven-card stud, which are provided mainly for their interest alone.

The First Three Cards

Other Odds of Interest

● If you start with three suited cards, the odds against making a flush are 4.5-to-1.

Poker Three Of A Kind

● If you have four suited cards on fourth street, the odds against making a flush are 1.5-to-1, but with only three suited cards on fourth street, the odds increase to 8.5-to-1.

● If you start with a pair, the odds against making two pair are 1.4-to-1, and the odds against making three of a kind or better are 4.1-to-1.

● If you start with three of a kind, the odds against making a full house or better are 1.5-to-1.

5th Street Poker

Three Streets Poker Card Game