Getting back with another old friend...Stud 8ob

Well, the week has been a little rough once again. Not so many bad beats though, more of a combination of bad starting hands and feeling the need to play some of the better, but still marginal hands. The worst of it came in a $.05-$.10 NL game. I folded hand after hand and after losing about $5.00 I bought myself back to the $20 max. I was dealt 9-4os in the small blind. I almost never call even half a bet with something so bad, but I just felt I should take a flop and see what comes up. Well, it hits me pretty hard with a Q-9-4 with two diamonds. I take the lead and fire out a pot size bet and only get called by one guy, who had $35 sitting in front of him. I think this was my problem here, he had been running hot, and was willing to gamble since he was up. The turn brought another diamond and I fired another pot size bet only to be called again. The river brought a blank and I bet big again. I now had $15 of my $20 in the pot and the big stack called. I didn't think he had the flush because of his flat calling me the entire way. He turns over Q-9os for top two pair and I am devastated. I think the only way I could have avoided this was to fold preflop, like I almost always do. Maybe after the third diamond hit I should have checked, but I wanted to know where I was at. I didn't think he had the flush because he didn't raise. This was a case where he would have called me down if I had the nuts, it just happens that I didn't. I had to shut it down for the night after that one. I just took it too hard. I just blew through about 1/8 of my bankroll at that site and I was on major tilt.

I had to change something. I remembered seeing an ad for Wilson Turbo software in my Cardplayer magazine. They make several computer programs that teach you how to play different types of poker games. They are normally $89.95, but are going for $59.95 right now. That is a pretty good bargain, but I haven't bought any of them yet. Instead I downloaded the demo version of their 7 Stud high/low 8 or better trainer. Stud 8ob is a game played just like regular 7 card stud, but the pot is split between the high hand and the lowest hand. In order to have a low you must have five different cards 8 or lower. If there is no low hand then the high hand takes the entire pot. The beautiful thing in this game is when you win both halves of the pot, also known as a scoop. You can do this several different ways, small straights, flushes with low cards, or even a low with two pair or a pair of aces. Anyway, the demo lets you play through 20 hands to let you get the feel of it. I went through it and noticed that I wasn't playing optimally according to the program. I have made a lot of money and I have lost a lot of money playing stud8ob, and I think I know why. I was being way to aggressive with my one way hands. I guess I was only playing my cards and not paying enough attention to what the other players where showing. I would get four cards to a seven low and I would want to bet the hell out of it. When I looked at the advice the program was giving me it slowed me down a little. The other player had three small cards to a straight showing. Where I was playing for a low, he was playing to scoop.

You really have to pay attention to the other players in this game, so much more than in hold'em. Stud80b is supposed to be a low variance game, meaning that you won't have huge ups and downs in you winnings and losings. For some reason that wasn't true for me and I think this is why.

A few days later, I went back to the $.25-$.50 stud8ob tables at Ultimate Bet for the first time in ages. I had not played any stud in a while because it is what depleted my bankroll the first time I was at UB. I played a very tight, solid game. I was not as aggressive as I usually am with my draws though, and it payed off. About a half hour later I got up from the table with an extra $5. Not much, but that isn't what I am going for right now. I want to learn, I want to be able to step up to $1-$2 and $3-$6 and know I can hold my own. Mike Sexton, the host of the WPT, made his living for years playing stud8ob. Granted he was playing $60-$120 and $80-$160, but maybe one day I can sit down at a $20-$40 table on the net and grind out about $50 per hour. That wouldn't be to bad, would it?

This should also help with my H.O.R.S.E. game, even though every time I play I am reminded of how much I dislike limit hold'em and those drawing out donkeys, but that's for my next post.