Don't be Tripped Up by Low Trips on Third Street

Hi. Come on in. Life is sweet here on the high desert, but it's too hot. There's plenty of beer and fruit juice in the fridge to sip while we talk of the important things in life.

When I get my copy of Card Player every couple of weeks, I usually scan the table of contents first, looking for instructional information. As a poker player and poker teacher, I'm constantly adding to my knowledge of our beloved game. I especially enjoy seeing a column about how to play a certain hand. Let's talk in that area today.

We'll look at a game of low-limit seven-card stud. You can agree or disagree with the following thoughts – either way, let them roll around in your head for a while. My 17 years of teaching and more than 30 years of playing say that this is the way to go at the lower limits.

You are rolled up with three fours on third street. How are you going to play – call or raise? About 85 percent of all players will say, "I'll just call." The other 15 percent will say, "I'll raise." And more than 90 percent of those players who would raise with this third-street hand would raise automatically, without further consideration. I say, "I need more information."

The most important thing I want to consider at this point is my position. Let's see why. My objective with these small trips is to play them against two or three opponents. While my hand is most likely the strongest at the moment, it is highly vulnerable. I don't want four players drawing to straights or flushes, and a couple of others in with pairs higher than my fours, as is often found at the lower limits. There is too much likelihood that one of them will get there.

The odds against my making a full house are only 2-to-1. If I do make my hand, I'll win a nice pot. But that's an if. I don't have it yet, and I can't count on getting it. I have to play what I hold now. If it improves, that's a bonus.

How am I going to accomplish my objective? By raising to narrow the competition. But wait a minute! That's not the end of it. I know my objective. Now, I have to consider if I can actually accomplish this objective.

Again, my most important consideration is position. Let's consider two extreme scenarios. You can then make judgments based on game conditions at the moment they actually happen. This is something about which I continually caution my poker students. You must take into account conditions of the game and your opponents at the moment, rather than having hard-and-fast rules about a given play.

The low card is to my immediate left in the first scenario. He opens and six players call. Now what? Depending on game conditions, generally I'm going to call. A raise here, at these limits with that many players having already invested in their hands, probably wouldn't narrow the field enough. However, if I had observed that these players, in this game, at this moment were not calling late raises, I would raise. Otherwise, I would just call and hope for the best. ("Hope for the best" is not a viable poker strategy, but sometimes it's all you can do.)

In our second scenario, the low card is to my immediate right. I like this a lot better. While my position is generally considered to be poor because I have to act so early, in this instance I consider it an advantage. Now, I'm usually going to raise, forcing any potential opponents to call the raise cold. I have a much better chance of protecting my small trips.

The reason I tend to do much more raising with small trips at the lower limits than I would at the higher limits is that there isn't as much need to narrow the field at the higher limits, as there are generally fewer callers per hand than at the lower limits. The field is already narrowed. Large trips would be a different matter altogether, but we'll talk about that at another time.

Take the rest of your drink and a couple more if you like. I'm going to set the air conditioner on 70 and take a nap. Kill the light on your way out.

Editor's note: Roy West, author of the bestseller 7 Card Stud, the Complete Course in Winning (available from Card Player), continues to give his successful poker lessons in Las Vegas to both tourists and locals. Ladies are welcome. Call 1-800-548-6177, Ext. 03.