7 card stud short-handed games are a breath of fresh air when a player realizes how to play them. Looking at poker from a logical point of view, it can be seen that in a game such as Texas Holdem, regardless of the amount of players at a table the starting pot stays the same. However, in 7 card stud, the fewer players in a hand the less antes being paid, and thus the less money in the pot. Although it takes a lesser strength hand to win in short handed stud games, the pots are generally much smaller.
In Texas Holdem, it makes sense to raise it up more often on short tables, because that puts more money in the pot and it requires a poorer hand to have the best of it. In seven-card stud, even though it does require a lesser strength hand to win, the pot is much smaller. As a result, there is little point in raising too much to steal a smaller pot. What all this boils down to is that players who raise too often in stud games risk too many poker chips for the opportunity to win fewer chips. Though not raising may feel like a player is giving up antes he could be stealing, he will make most of them back when up against an aggressive player that is trying to steal too often at these short tables. The bottom line is raising it up too often short handed is leaking chips to opponents.
What many 7 card stud, poker star players struggle with when playing short handed is playing those mediocre hands that are not usually played in full ring 7 card stud. If an aggressive player in a full ring 7 card stud game is raising a lot to steal antes, players do not have to deal with it as much. As the field thins, players are required to start playing back at these players.
For instance, if an aggressive opponent is betting often and a 7 card stud player is dealt a small pair with a weak hand showing, they may be inclined to call. If fourth and fifth street bring blanks, the player must play back at his opponent. Calling down with a small pair simply does not work, because an aggressive opponent might pair up. The best bet is to fire back at him on fourth or fifth street to induce a fold, especially in the short-handed games.
Once a seven-card stud player starts playing against opponents with a basic level of understand for the game of stud poker, it opens doors for them to make creative plays. By seeing through what an opponent is trying to represent, the 7 card stud player allows himself to think at a higher level than their opponents. This can be very profitable if properly executed and thought through thoroughly.
A creative play in seven-card stud might be possible is in the following type of scenario:
An opponent starts by catching a strong card on fourth street with the hero catching a weak one. The opponent bets fourth street and the hero calls. Fifth street comes and brings an opponent another strong looking card and the player another weak looking one. The opponent checks and action is on the hero. Now if the hero bets fifth street here, he should bet and expect to take the pot down a good portion of the time. This works because a seven card stud opponent has decided to stop semi bluffing the hand and check to the hero. With 2 weak looking cards falling to the hero on fourth and fifth street, it means that for the hero in this hand of stud poker to bet – he must be holding a strong hand. Of course, the hero knows this, uses this fact to his advantage, and bets into the villain with nothing.
Another example of making a creative play could be the following:
An opponent is dealt 3 cards with an ace or king facing upwards. The hero starts with a jack facing upwards in his hand. On fourth street, the opponent is dealt a queen and then on fifth street he catches a 10. The hero, however, catches a 6 on fourth street and a 5 on fifth street. This is when this sort of play can be put in to practice and in a nutshell, if a good opponent checks what seems to be a strong hand when action is on him on fifth street, the hero can usually steal the pot.
Players that are considered absolute poker cheats can create this play in some situations without needing to have a great hand in the hole. For instance, if a seven-card stud opponent has raised in late position with no other callers. The hero is holding a small pair or two moderately strong cards in the hole. This could be a situation where the hero can go ahead and call and then make their creative play. The only spot where a player should not make this play is if their opponent is holding something that is deemed extremely threatening. At that point, a good 7 card stud player should just be looking to give up the hand to the villain.
By sensing an opponent weakness or hesitance to bluff, a good seven-card stud player can take advantage of this and pray on his insecurity about his hand. Bluffing is a great way to maximize profits in seven-card stud. It is important to find situations where a bluff is profitable though.
Blackjack is one of only a few casino games where skilled players have an edge over the other players as the game isn’t based on strictly luck. For decades now there have been thousands of people that have tried to use statistical analysis and calculations to beat the game of blackjack. Most of the people that have tried to beat blackjack using systems fail because there system doesn’t work or because they don’t have the discipline to follow the system.
A group of students and ex-students from some of the leading educational institutions in America proved to us that blackjack can be beat using mathematics. The first origin of the MIT Blackjack Team was at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Several students participated in an IAP titled “How to Gamble If You Must” which taught students a system for beating blackjack.
The students that took part in the course decided to head to Atlantic City to try out the system, but it didn’t end up going as planned. The team ended up losing all of their money and the team dissolved immediately after their first trip to the casinos. One of the players from the original team “Dave” decided to contact Mr. Massar so that they could form a new team.
The two of them recruited a couple players and headed down to Atlantic City again. This time the team made money and they decided to continue making trips as much as possible. The following year Mr. Massar meets a man named Bill Kaplan. Kaplan has been running a successful Las Vegas blackjack team for years now and is very successful at leading his team. Eventually Kaplan’s team broke up as some of them decided to go play abroad in casinos around Europe.
When Kaplan’s team dissolved he met with Mr. Massar again and this time Kaplan observed the team’s play in Atlantic City. The team didn’t end up doing good while Kaplan was watching, but that didn’t stop them from forming a team. Kaplan said he would run the team, but they needed to run it his way. With Kaplan in charge the MIT Blackjack Team set-up their first “bankroll” and they also changed their entire system.
Previously the team had all been using their own systems at the table, but Kaplan wanted the new team to use the same system. The new team went through crazy amounts of training before they were even allowed to play with the “bankroll”. As the year’s passed the MIT Blackjack Team grew in staggering numbers and at one point they had roughly 100 active players. The team also made millions from the blackjack tables around the world, but like all good things the MIT Blackjack Team came to an end.
By the early 1990’s the online blackjack casinos had been tightening up on security and methods of catching the card counters. Many of the MIT Blackjack Team members had been banned from basically every casino in the country and it became too much of a hassle to try and play. The team dissolved and then new blackjack teams started forming around the world. There is no doubt that we will never see such a famous team of blackjack players again.