Los in.

I hail from far off exotic Minnesota and as such, until recently, there was only one place to go if you wanted poker action. Canterbury Park in Shokapee, at the time an hour and a half from me, but I went on occasion nonetheless.

They got a monday morning Stud tourney in which seating is limited to 32, there are unlimited re-buys for the first hour plus an add-on at that first break. Love that game. Played it six times now and only finished in the money twice (bubble breaking heartache the other four...but I digress), but the first time...that was the one that got me hooked.

It really is a great game for a patient player that watches to make moves because everyone else is riding with no brakes for the first hour. One of my first hands was rolled up 8's and they stood up to take a big pot early. I didn't think it would get any better from there but it did.

After the first break players are dropping like flies, from 32 at the start of the second round to 19 in less than ten hands. I mean they were going fast. I look down and got rolled up again, 9's this time. So I play fast and free with it and get everyone knocked out of the pot but one by fifth street. Some see this is a big mistake, I don't think so in a tourney.

Anyway, my one opponent was in the lucky predictiment of acting first the whole way. And he always led with a bet, I would raise, he would sigh and call. On fifth is where he hit a Queen, which gave him a showing pair of Queens. Sixth street, no help for me, but he is now showing 3 Queens! A little acting from emotion, for some silly reason he checks this time. I checked immediately and he didn't sigh but gave some sort of moan that begged to say WTF.

River brings me a king to match my fourth street card and fill my 9's. Again, my opponent acting first bet out and I raised immediately. Exasperated he calls and turns his cards to reveal that he had a flush draw until he hit his three queens and had no idea of what to make of it when I turned over 9's full.

That alone wanted me to go back for more. Kinda just wish I could put that in a bottle and pull on it from time to time.

Consequently, I made it to the final 3 that day in what turned out to be a large prize pool (just under 3K) and, being rushed for time as it was getting late and me working a night shift and needing some sleep, I agreed to chop the pot with the remaining players. The next time I played I took first.

Would love to bottle that stuff up.

Los out.

Los, great story man.

I'm new to stud, and have played a little online, but no tourneys. Could you give me some advice for tournament play and how the thought process is different from cash game play.

Thanks and good luck.

James

Never played a live stud tourney, and don't play many altogether.

However, the last MTT I won was a small stud tourney on Party a couple months ago. Definitely a good feeling to outwait everyone for good hands, and then make a couple good plays later on.

Thank you both for your comments. I would say there are many other players on the site that are better apt for giving advice on stud as (while no slouch) I am not really that good at it. But I'll throw a few things out at you that I have picked up on.

As far as the difference between tourney and ring games in stud, I find that I play primarily the same with an exception.

Typically, in a ring game if you are dealt rolled up (dealt three of a kind as a starting hand) most people advise not betting at all until the expensive street. They say this because the hand is dealt so rarely and your implied odds of taking that pot down regardless of the other cards dealt are so good that you want money in the pot before you start trying to convince people to flee. Many, many players will play any hand for the first four cards. Needless to say, the saying is, the long run advantage of this play is that in the long run, this hand will net you a whole lot more than it will lose you.

In a tourney, rolled up, it hurts a whole lot to have the second best hand and lose a lot of chips because you let too many players chase a flush, or straight draw. It's just entirely (in my infant estimations) too risky.

Another difference that I can think of off the top of my head is that in a ring game, the ante's and betting structure stay the same (duh, los we know that) and because of that you can often times afford to fold 20 hands waiting for decent starting cards.

Not so in a tourney, the antes, the betting structure, all of it escalates so you need to be a little more free wheeling. You will not survive if you fold 20 hands waiting for a starting pair or three to a flush or three to a str8.

One final thing, table image is more fickle in cash games. If you present yourself as a rock and prove it to the masses through a showdown or two, players will be leary of you for about 7 hands...then they forget and you wont be able to take advantage of a passive table by betting out your one exposed Ace and steal antes or scare out a few limpers on fourth street (for example).

Presenting a kick ass table image in a tourney however can last a little longer (or at least as long as it takes to condense tables) but because of the escalating wagers...stealing antes worth 5 a pop is nothing but 200 each 7 handed...

Either way table image is not long lived but if you can use it to your advantage when you have it it will play a bigger role in tourney situations.


That's all I got for now. For other tips, strategies, post some questions. There are some decent stud players that flat out love the game at this site that have more to offer than my ramblings.

Los out.