High Pairs, Low Value

When beginning players ask me what game they should learn, I usually suggest seven-card stud eight-or-better (stud/8). Does that surprise you? I've always found stud/8 to be a great combination of profitability and fun.

One of the first secrets I share with my friends who are learning stud/8 is that high pairs are not nearly as pretty as they appear to be. If you can learn to fold a pair of kings on third street, you have taken the crucial first step toward becoming a successful stud/8 player. I'm not saying you should fold them every time – not at all! However, in many situations kings are a losing proposition, yet players remain attached and unable to fold them.

Recently I was discussing the game with a novice friend, trying to explain when and why high pairs should be tossed. I would transcribe that whole conversation, except:

(a) I don't want to give away all of my secrets!

(b) I don't think Card Player wants me devoting 50 pages to this topic.

So instead, let me rehash three of the more basic but important reasons why it pays to muck kings early in stud/8 (nines through queens, as well).

1. You're vulnerable against hands that opponents in regular stud might fold.

In many situations, kings (or other lower pairs) would be vulnerable whether you were playing stud/8 or just regular seven-card stud. Obviously, if anyone is rolled up or has aces, you are beaten already. If someone has a low pair with an ace kicker, and both the pair and the ace are live, your kings are not much of a favorite. Likewise, if someone has a live three-card flush with an ace, you're not in great shape. If someone is simply chasing you with a lower pair and no kicker, you are in a significantly better spot than the previous two situations, but that doesn't mean you're in the clear. You'd better hope for trips or another pair to go with your kings, or you'll lose to two small pair faster than you can say "aiyah!"

Maybe kings have already begun to lose some of their appeal to you. Now, let's throw in the added hands specific to stud/8. Anyone with an ace and two low cards is going to give you action, and it's not action you want when you've got kings. They have a multipronged attack at their disposal. They can make a low, a pair of aces or aces up, two smaller pair, a low straight, or any one of a number of hands that will give you a headache. If they catch a truly bad card on fourth street, such as a 10, they might fold and award you the small pot, and you'll be happy to take it. But the odds are that they will catch a card on fourth street that improves their hand. Once that happens, they will be in there fighting for what promises to be a bigger pot. And if you didn't get any help with your kings right off the bat, their hand has become the money favorite.

Remember the low pair/low kicker hand? It becomes much more playable in stud/8, because now it can backdoor a low with three helpful cards. That clearly cuts into your equity, and it can put you in guessing mode if they catch either an ace or an open pair. If they catch an ace and bet, you might put them on aces or aces up, when in fact they have a pair and a low draw. Conversely, if they catch an open pair and bet, you might assume they have a pair and a low draw, when in fact they have two pair. Either way, you can easily be deceived. That is bad news, plain and simple.

2. You have a player behind you with an ace showing on third street.

If you decide to play kings in that situation, you are playing them strictly at your own risk. You will find yourself saying a silent prayer, hoping the ace will fold. Too often, that prayer goes unanswered; you get raised (or reraised) by the ace, and now you are in a guessing game. Does he have aces? A three-card low? A three-flush? Now, the ace catches a high card on fourth street. Is he going for low and just hit a brick? That's what you're hoping, but if he does have those dreaded aces, you'll lose a lot of money finding out. What if the ace catches a low card? No matter what your opponent started with, a low card could only have helped him, so if you still insist on staying in with your pair of kings, you are being too stubborn. These are tough spots to put yourself in, especially when there's no reason to do so! Let the kings go, and wait for better situations.

3. The later streets become very tough to play with only a high pair.

I've already made several references to being in a "guessing game," but that's what a high pair becomes in stud/8 as the hand progresses. There are literally dozens of situations that leave you unsure as to whether or not your kings could still be the best hand. Let me give you a few examples:

Anytime a player catches an ace, there is a legitimate chance he has aces or aces up. Many players will (correctly) bet an ace whether it helped them or not, and unless you have an extremely reliable tell on that opponent, you won't know whether kings are still any good.

Anytime a player catches three low cards within range of each other, he could have a low straight. Even if he doesn't have one yet, he could have a made low with a freeroll toward a low straight. In general, anytime your opponent has made his low and now has a free shot at getting the high side, too, it is a terrible situation when all you have is one high pair.

Let's not forget the times that an opponent pairs his doorcard. What a nightmare of possibilities that creates! In your worst-case scenario, he started with a split low pair and now has trips. If he started with a pocket pair, he now has two pair and you're behind. Even if he was on a low draw, he now has a pair to go with it, and that's a dangerous combination in stud/8. Even though you still have the best made hand, you're not in a particularly strong position. If he bets, you can call and hope that your hand is still good, but hope might be all you have left at that point.

"But what about aces?" he asked.

When I finished telling my friend the reasons to avoid high pairs in stud/8, he asked an interesting question: "OK, I understand your points, but what makes aces that much better? You always play a pair of aces, but won't they run into some of the same problems that kings do?" Yes, they will, I told him, but the difference in strength between aces and kings is bigger than the gap between any other two adjacent pairs. That holds true for any form of poker, but in stud/8, the gap between aces and kings is probably bigger than it is in any of the other major games. So then began the discussion of why aces are eminently playable as opposed to kings. That would be a good place to continue next time. See you then.