Counting Cards in Seven Card Stud

Many non-poker players tend to confuse with poker with blackjack. Many times I’ve had people ask me if you have to be really good at counting cards to play poker. As primarily a Hold’em (and Omaha) player, it’s a funny question. However, in any type of stud game, counting cards is actually very important. In this article I’ll outline some of the scenarios where you should pay special attention to the cards that have come out, and some of the ways those cards should change your decision making.

First we’ll talk about Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo. This is a great game, and one I expect to rise in popularity. As I discuss in the Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo starting hand guide and introduction to split-pot games, you should mostly be playing lo hands that also have some high potential (straight, flush, trips). With any lo hand, you need to keep track of how many of the lo cards you still need have gone out. Keeping track of how many lo cards are out doesn’t only help you determine your own odds of hitting, it helps you figure out your opponents’ chances as well. If most of the cards that would make a better lo than yours for your opponent are gone, you should be more inclined to call him or her down.

If your hand also contains a pair, you definitely need to know whether either of your trips cards are out. Ditto with a straight or flush draw. With hi hands, keeping track is easier, but also more important. Let’s say you start off with AA K, but both of your other aces have been dealt to your opponents. What would have been a hand to raise and reraise is now a fold!! That’s how important “dead cards” can be.

In hi only Seven Card Stud, counting cards is of the highest importance. Let’s say you have AK J, all . This is a hand worth raising on 3rd street in most cases, but if two or more of your hearts are gone, you should fold (unless you think you can steal the antes). The value of your hand has gone down drastically.

Let’s say you have a pair of jacks, but there’s a queen and a king yet to act. This can be a difficult situation, so you should look to the cards on the board for some guidance. Another jack showing should push you to folding, while other kings and queens up (or already folded) should encourage you to bet.

Keeping track of the cards that have gone out is even more valuable on the later streets. Imagine you hold a very strong flush draw, ace-king high if you hit. You’re on 6th street against two opponents. The first one clearly has a straight and bets, and when the other guy raises, it’s clear from his board that he just made his flush, which is a lower flush than the one you’re drawing to. Now we’ll look at what you should do depending on how many of your suit are out. You have 4, so there’s 9 left. Additionally, let’s say you’ve seen 19 cards (4 for each opponent still in the hand, 6 yourself, and 5 other ones that people folded on 3rd street). There are 33 unknown cards left in the deck. If only one of your cards is out, the odds are 25:8, approximately 3:1, or 24%. Using pot odds, we know that there only needs to be 6 big bets in the pot for it to be worth you calling (ignoring any future action; in reality, you would only need 4 or 5 bets). Since 3 big bets have already gone in on 6th street, it’s obvious you should call. But what if 4 of your suit have already gone out? In that case, the odds are 28:5, 5.6:1, only 15%. Now there needs to be around 11 big bets in the pot (because you have to call two bets, a bet and a raise). It’s unlikely the pot’s that big, unless there’s been a lot of action. You can see how just 3 more of your flush cards being out makes a huge difference in the odds, so you have to keep track.