Four-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Artie Cobb may not be a recognizable name in today’s new-age game of young guns, but he is definitely known amongst the earlier generations of poker professionals.
Cobb is truly a living legend of seven-card stud, having cashed in 34 WSOP events, 24 of which were in stud events. His first WSOP cash dates to 1976 when he finished runner-up to Doc Greene in Event #5: the $1,500 Limit Seven-Card Stud Hi/Lo event. Seven years later, Cobb won his first WSOP bracelet in the 1983 $1,000 Seven-Card Stud Hi/Lo event collecting $52,000 for the first place title. His bracelet win was quite the achievement as he defeating a field of 104 players, including a final table that featured Johnny Moss and David Singer.
Mississippi Stud Poker Strategy
Hi-Lo is a type of poker variant where the player with the lowest hand and the player with the highest hand share the pot winnings, rather than all the money going to the winner. Popular types of hi-lo include Omaha Hi/Lo and 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo. There are more rounds in stud poker which means more decisions to be made. As a result knowing how to play drawing hands is very important. The other big difference in stud poker games is you get to see some of your opponents cards and they can see yours, meaning that.
In 1987, Cobb did it again, winning the $4,500 Limit Seven-Card Stud event for $142,000. He then added another bracelet win in 1991 in the $1,500 Limit Seven-Card Stud event, and then again in 1998 in the $2,5000 Limit Seven-Card Stud tournament for over $300,00.
Cobb was back on the felt Wednesday attempting to snatch a fifth bracelet in Event #13: $5,000 Seven-Card Stud Hi-Low 8-or-Better event of the 2013 WSOP. If successful, it will be Cobb’s first WSOP bracelet wins in 15 years. He was one of 130 players who advanced to Day 2 on Thursday.
Being graced with the presence of such a high-caliber Stud player, we took the opportunity to speak with him a little bit on the skill of the game and got in depth about some of the more advanced strategies of Stud.
PokerNews: First off, you’re one of the best Stud players that ever lived. Can you name some other great players of Stud?
Cobb: As far as I’m concerned Danny Robison is the best Stud player that ever played. He was just excellent.
What is it about Stud that you love so much?
I think I have a pretty good read on players. I can pinpoint what their hands are, so my hand reading is tip-top. Stud is all about knowing what the other player has rather than only playing your hand. If you know what they have and you don’t have the best hand, then you have to be smart and let go of your hand early.
Do you play in any Stud cash games?
Lately, I’ve been playing at the Bellagio Poker Room in Las Vegas. They spread a $30/$60 game but it only runs a few days a week. Unfortunately, there really isn’t much Stud to play [live] unless you go to California, New Jersey or Connecticut. Most of the people that played Stud have unfortunately grown older and the young people really aren’t playing too much Stud, at least in Las Vegas.
I understand that today’s big game is no limit hold’em. I watched one of the no limit events and maybe 10 percent of the field was 50 years and older. It’s a young man’s game nowadays. Understandably so, younger players have a sharp mind and realize that the game is a lot different today than when it was played many years ago.
What is a good starting hand in Stud 8-or-Better that would give you an opportunity to scoop a pot rather than split?
A hand like or . Anything with a five for the low because you can make a straight. A doesn’t really matter as much in Stud split so having a five is really more important. If you’re against a hand that has a five then it’s important to understand the other person’s hand and your hand. Also, playing three to a straight is big, , or something similar. The other good hand is to have an ace. If you’re placing aces then it’ll be a nice high hand. It’s hard to scoop if someone makes a low but if no one makes a low and you have aces then you will usually get at least half the pot.
How strong are suited connectors like etc.?
If its two-suited low cards like then the third card should be matching somehow like . Even though you need that five for the straight, you still have a pretty good starting hand. Looking at the other face-up cards is important because you want to see if there are any threes or fives in other people’s hand. If two fives are out, then that hurts your hand because how do you make a high? You might make a low if its multi-way but if it’s just you and one other person heads-up then maybe you can win. But then if he raises with a queen and you have , it’s not a bad starting hand he may have a pair of queens; how do you beat his high? Reading the cards that are already out is very important. Players should always keep that in mind.
If you have a pair of aces with a low kicker, is that a good hand to have in a multi-way pot? Or is it better to play this hand heads-up?
It is good but you have watch the cards that come out because if there are people in against you with low cards then it’s a hand that can win the whole pot but can also lose the whole pot. It’s a better hand to have when playing heads-up because if the guy has a seven showing, then you can suspect he might have a hand with say a . If he does catch a deuce, and now shows a then he doesn’t have to make a low hand, if he does then it might not be a low hand that beats your aces. You might make a low with aces. It’s a fun hand but it can also be aggravating when you lose to two pair or if someone does make a straight. Heads-up, it’s a very good hand with aces in the hole. The other play may never put you on a big pair.
Let’s say you have Broadway cards as your hole cards. Is that something you can continue with knowing you can only make a high hand?
No. What a terrible hand. Fold it. Unless it’s suited three cards to a royal flush but even then if you don’t catch it on the next street throw it away.
Is it difficult to steal the antes in Stud 8?
It’s not easy to steal the antes but if you had an ace then it’s good to try. Maybe you get lucky and catch a low when the other player gets the high. If you had and get called with an open four on a raise, you know he has a better hand than you. He might have but on the next card he gets a and you get a low card like a , when he calls now with an open then you can maybe put him on as his hole cards for for three to straight. Rather if he caught a then he would probably fold. Getting to fifth and sixth street is where you have to put more focus to be able to read his hand a little better.
Let’s say you have and your up-cards are for the open-ended straight flush draw. How do you attack a monster draw like this?
Hopefully you are in a position to raise your opponents but then again you want to have as many players in the pot as possible. You will definitely raise though because it’s such a big hand. Especially when it’s heads-up, it’s huge because no one can recognize that you’re playing suited cards in this game. Then hopefully it works out in your favor.
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7-card Stud Hi-Lo is a split pot Stud game. At showdown half of the pot goes to the highest poker hand and the other half the lowest hand with 5 cards 8 or under. This makes the strategy more complex than a high-hand only game – and also a lot more fun. This article takes you through the key poker strategy considerations for Stud Hi-Lo and shows you how to take advantage of common mistakes your opponents will make at the tables.
First up some information on starting hand selection, including the best starting hands to play and the types of hand to avoid. Next, how the folded cards affect your strategy, and why you should fold early in this game when there is heavy betting action. Getting trapped between a high hand and a low hand when you are weak is covered next, before some final words of warning about making sure that your board tells a good story.
Starting Hand Selection
New players play way to many starting hands in this game. All of the hands which were considered playable in the high-only game are added together with small card hands with the potential to make lows. This is a big leak, and good players who are more selective with their starting hand requirements have an in-built edge against those who overplay hands.
The best hands in this game have the ability to ‘scoop’ both sides of the pot at the same time. Premiums include suited small cards, especially with an ace. These can make the nut-low and the highest flush at the same time (aces count low for the low side, and high for the high side of the pot). 70% of hands will include a qualifying low, for the rest the high hand will win the whole thing. If you do play high only hands then you need to make sure these are very strong, such as A-A-X or 10-J-Q suited. In Stud Hi-Lo, hands which make the 2nd best low and non-nut high are the danger hands. Folding hands which have 7, 8 or 9 in them is a great way to stay disciplined.
Keeping Track Of Folded Cards
In all Stud games you should remember the cards which have been folded during the hand. In the Hi-Lo split version this is even more important, as some of those cards will go into both low and high hands. A good starting point is to track all the low cards folded, that way if an opponent is drawing to a low you will have an idea of how many cards are already gone from their potential outs. Sure, you will not know what their hidden cards are – though even an idea that 7 or 8 potential outs are dead will give you a useful advantage. Keeping track of the number of each suit folded can also be profitable. If you have an opponent who appears to be drawing to a flush, and you have seen 30% of his outs hit the muck, then you have all the more reason to bet.
Folding Early When There Is Heavy Action
There are 5 betting rounds in Stud games, meaning the pots can grow very large. With people hanging around hoping to improve both high and low hands, the pots can grow even larger in the split-pot version.
For this reason it can pay to ditch speculative hands early, especially when there is heavy betting. 3rd and 5th streets are the time to let go – the bet size doubles on 5th and calling here can lead to the situation where the pot is so big that you care compelled to continue by the pot odds alone.
Don’t Get Squeezed With A Weak Draw
One of the biggest mistakes new players make is to find themselves stuck between a player with a high hand and one with a strong low hand while they hold a weak draw. What happens is that the high hand bets, the beginner calls and then the low to the left raises, if the high re-raises the unwitting player can be left calling 3 bets not knowing whether the 4th raise is going be put in behind them when the action returns to the player who looks like they have a strong low!
This is an uncomfortable situation and one which can be avoided by making sure you are only drawing to the nuts (or maybe a nut hand for one side with possibilities for the other) when you get to later streets in a multi-way pot.
Another common mistake is to get heads-up drawing to the low when the pot is small. In this case you are putting bets into the pot, and you will only get those bets back if you make your hand – which will not happen every time. When the pot is large this can make mathematical sense. When it is not, then it is more profitable to fold and move on.
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