"Stud High Low Strategies, The Key To Winning"One of your first Stud high low strategies should be which starting cards you play. Since this is a split pot game where the high hand takes half the pot and the low hand takes the other half, you'll want to play hands that have the potential to take both the high and low. Your low hand has to consist of five cards under an eight. The best starting hand is three small connected suited cards. (3c-4c)5c is a huge starting hand that can be played against one opponent or multiple opponents. Another playable hand is three small cards that can make a straight and a low, (Ah-3c)5d is a good starting hand with potential to scoop the pot. Aces and small pairs that also have a baby card are playable hands, but you'd really want to play them heads up. It's important to know what hands not to play. Big pairs, even with a small card, is unplayable. Hands with three big cards are unplayable as well. You don't want to play these hands because you will be drawing, at best, for half the pot with no chance to win the low. Starting hands with one-way-win-potential, need to find the muck pile, FAST! One exception is if the big card gives you four cards to a flush. Fifth street is where the betting rounds double in size, you have to decide if your hand is worth playing any further. If you continue onto sixth street you're probably going to a show down. The deciding factor to play on fifth street: does your hand still have potential to win high and low?, or does your hand only have potential to win one way, either high or low? If your hand still looks good to scoop then you should continue to play it. If your hand looks like it will only win either the high or the low, it needs to be very strong which ever direction your're going. If you're drawing at half the pot, which you really shouldn't do, then you have to be %100 positive that you will win it. You also want at least three other opponents in the pot, that way if you win half there will be more money in the pot.
Say on fourth street your hand is (7c-6d)4d-8s, opponent A's board is (X-X)5d-5s and opponent B's board is (X-X)2c-3c. Opponent A has two 5's showing and could possibly have another 5 in his whole cards, which means you're almost drawing dead to get your straight. You do have a low draw but opponent B has two cards that you need to make a low, and they probably have two low hole cards, if that's the case your low draw is also dead, this is good time to muck your hand and wait for a better spot to put your money in the pot. If you were only paying attention to your cards and not your opponents as well, you'd be throwing away money, which is very counter productive. I hope some of these strategies help out your stud hi/lo game. Good luck! |
