7 Card Stud: An opponent who pairs his door card is more of a danger than an opponent who simply has an open pair
Tight players and preflop raises will always present a problem when they pair their door card. When this occurs, you can almost guarantee that a pair higher than his door pair will not win the pot.
For example, you have (A-K)-10 and your opponents brings it in with a raise with (X-X)-J showing. You call. On fourth street, you both catch babies and you call after he bets. On fifth street, you catch an ace and he catches a jack (pairing his door card). If he bets again, the worst thing you can do is call. Either you raise and test him out or you fold because you accept that he either has trips or two pair. On occasion, he may have nothing more than a pair of jacks and you may end up winning a nice pot.
But more often than not, he will have you beat because his bring in raise usually indicates that he started with either (a) a pair in the hole; or (b) split jacks (ie… a jack in the hole – therefore, he brought it in with a pair of jacks). It’s possible that he started with a hand like (A-K)-J, but do you really want to call 1 small bet and 2 large bets to find out?
If there is one aspect of stud poker that differentiates it from other forms, it is the frequent danger that is posed when your opponent pairs their door card.
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