When the player has poker knowledge of the cards that aren’t available to him and the ‘outs’ which he has left he could determine if his hand could get any better. Similarly, using a little intellect the player could perceive the cards that the opponent has. The player’s capacity to estimate is vital during the latter rounds where the ante is bigger.
The final three rounds of seven card stud poker the stakes are much more intense. A player must evaluate the other players’ cards and his own, if he is still certain he has an edge on the other players then he should raise the ante aggressively in the final rounds.
At this point if he is uncertain of winning the kitty then he has two choices. Obviously he could quit or assess whether taking another card could be worthwhile. The player should make optimum use of scare cards. By referring to seven cards I mean the open cards, which enhances your cards or it could help make a better set of cards.
Let’s say a player has a suited Queen on the fourth-street to compliment his King, the other players will be wary as he might have a straight or a flush. Similarly he should make a mental note of the big cards that the other players have. In seven card stud the players who pretend become bolder thanks to the three concealed cards of which two have been served in the first round.
Make it a point not to pretend blindly. It’s important that the open cards that a player has should be good enough. Let us say a player has three open cards of the same suit and he is poker playing aggressively, the other players could think that he has a flush. Moreover if he is pretending in a seven card stud game then he should be bet steadily.
Example
Opening deal
| Concealed cards | Open cards | |
| Player 1 | Q♦, 5♥ | A♠ |
| Player 2 | Q♥, 4♣ | 6♠ |
| Player 3 | 2♦, 3♦ | J♥ |
| Player 4 | A♠, 10♣ | 2♥ |
| Player 5 | K♥, 4♦ | 6♦ |
| Player 6 | 6♥, 5♠ | 7♣ |
| Player 7 | 10♠, 7♠ | Q♣ |
Wager Amount Rs 1/Rs 2.
PLAYER 1: Plays because he has two big cards.
PLAYER 2: Quits. He’s seen the open Queen and Ace and he has cards of different suits.
PLAYER 3: Quits.
PLAYER 4: Matches because he has a suited Ace.
PLAYER 5: Matches in hopes of getting better cards to go with his two diamonds and his King.
PLAYER 6: Matches the ante because he has a three-straight.
PLAYER 7: He remains in the game because he has a three-flush