Seven-Card Stud for Advanced Players (Advance Player) 
asked by vern on November 3, 2006 6:53 PM
Seven-card stud is an extremely complex game. Deciding on exactly the right strategy in any particular situation can be very difficult. Perhaps this is why very few authors have attempted to analyze this game even though it is widely played. In 1989, the first edition of this text appeared. Many ideas, which were only known to a small, select group of players, were now made available to anyone who was striving to become an expert, and a major gap in the poker literature was closed. It is now a new century, and the authors have again moved the state of the art forward by adding over 100 pages of new material, including an extensive section on "loose games." Anyone who studies this text, is well disciplined, and gets the proper experience should become a significant winner. Some of the other ideas discussed in this 21st century edition include the cards that are out, the number of players in the pot, ante stealing, playing big pairs, playing little and medium pairs, playing three-flushes, playing three-straights, randomizing your play, fourth street, pairing your door card on fourth street, proper play on fifth, sixth, and seventh streets, defending against a possible ante steal, playing against a paired door card, scare card strategy, and buying a free card.
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I've been at it for weeks and I'm still not all the way through this one. It's probably the hardest read I've encountered in over 20 poker books I own. The info is there... in GLORIOUS detail, but it's tough getting through it without brain paralysis at some point. They talk about playing all kinds of hands I'd rather just discard, especially in a low-limit game where many other players are loose.
reviewed by redapple on November 9, 2006 11:01 PM
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Thanks to the explosion of no limit hold-em it is becoming difficult, if not impossible, to find a seven card stud game -- even in Las Vegas! In Laughlin, you'll only find it at the Colorado Belle and then rarely more than one table. It's tough being the red-headed stepchild of poker. Still, if you're lucky enough to have a stud game in your local area, or you are an online player, purchasing this book is money well spent.
Sklansky is frequently criticized for having a dry writing style (and rightly so, I suppose) but he's one of the best poker authors because he has the ability to take sophisticated concepts and break them down in ways that are concise and easy to understand. In regards to the game of seven card stud, this book mimics his masterpiece, The Theory of Poker, in many ways. Of course you'll get the information on how to play the various betting rounds but, more importantly, you will also learn how to think like a winner. This won't likely be evident your first time through the book. Only later, and with a few losses, will his ideas hit like a lightbulb.
I'm a little annoyed at the last third of the book, a Q&A session that's repetitive and mostly filler in my opinion. Plus, there is much that could be written about the game that I haven't seen in any book. Until that book comes out, this is still the best.
Sklansky is frequently criticized for having a dry writing style (and rightly so, I suppose) but he's one of the best poker authors because he has the ability to take sophisticated concepts and break them down in ways that are concise and easy to understand. In regards to the game of seven card stud, this book mimics his masterpiece, The Theory of Poker, in many ways. Of course you'll get the information on how to play the various betting rounds but, more importantly, you will also learn how to think like a winner. This won't likely be evident your first time through the book. Only later, and with a few losses, will his ideas hit like a lightbulb.
I'm a little annoyed at the last third of the book, a Q&A session that's repetitive and mostly filler in my opinion. Plus, there is much that could be written about the game that I haven't seen in any book. Until that book comes out, this is still the best.
reviewed by astrofizzy on November 19, 2006 4:07 AM
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This is the most comprehensive book on Standard Seven Card Stud in print. The book's language is straight forward and understandable in my opinion. It is also my opinion that anyone capable playing Seven Card and with a basic command of English should be able to understand this book.
The Advance part comes from the fact that many of the plays in this book do not work in lower limit games. The games where the strategies in this book are geared toward no longer exist. At least I don't know where to find them. This is also stated within the text of the book by the authors. There is a chapter on loose games that can guide on how to adjust to lower limit stud.
Still it is a good book to read. It will get you thinking and that is the real value of these books. Like Doyle Brunson's writing on No Limit Hold Em in the original Super System, I would never play like that. That style doesn't work for me. But Doyle was right! A chance of 4 hitting on the flop is just as good as the chance of an Ace hitting on the flop given the two cards are equally live. ( The difference has to do with if neither hit the flop which has stronger value....but hey I am not going to argue with Doyle Brunson). The point is Super System got me thinking about strategy in different ways and I took what work for me and ditched what didn't. This book does the same. It makes you think deeply about stud.......In my opinion.
One thing this book did for me was explain why I make some of the plays I make. After a while there were certain ways of playing that developed in my game. I do things because they seem to work. What this book did was help me understand in many cases why I play the way I do. Also, in some cases how to reevaluate some of my play. So in this regard I guess it is more of an advanced text. You will need some frame of reference to get most you can out of it.
The Advance part comes from the fact that many of the plays in this book do not work in lower limit games. The games where the strategies in this book are geared toward no longer exist. At least I don't know where to find them. This is also stated within the text of the book by the authors. There is a chapter on loose games that can guide on how to adjust to lower limit stud.
Still it is a good book to read. It will get you thinking and that is the real value of these books. Like Doyle Brunson's writing on No Limit Hold Em in the original Super System, I would never play like that. That style doesn't work for me. But Doyle was right! A chance of 4 hitting on the flop is just as good as the chance of an Ace hitting on the flop given the two cards are equally live. ( The difference has to do with if neither hit the flop which has stronger value....but hey I am not going to argue with Doyle Brunson). The point is Super System got me thinking about strategy in different ways and I took what work for me and ditched what didn't. This book does the same. It makes you think deeply about stud.......In my opinion.
One thing this book did for me was explain why I make some of the plays I make. After a while there were certain ways of playing that developed in my game. I do things because they seem to work. What this book did was help me understand in many cases why I play the way I do. Also, in some cases how to reevaluate some of my play. So in this regard I guess it is more of an advanced text. You will need some frame of reference to get most you can out of it.
reviewed by ctj on November 19, 2006 10:54 PM