Seven-Card Stud for Advanced Players

by David Sklansky, Mason Malmuth, Ray Zee

Seven-card stud is an extremely complex game. Deciding on exactly the right strategy in any particular situation can be very difficult. Perhaps this is why very few authors have attempted to analyze this game even though it is widely played. In 1989, the first edition of this text appeared. Many ideas, which were only known to a small, select group of players, were now made available to anyone who was striving to become an expert, and a major gap in the poker literature was closed. It is now a new century, and the authors have again moved the state of the art forward by adding over 100 pages of new material, including an extensive section on "loose games." Anyone who studies this text, is well disciplined, and gets the proper experience should become a significant winner. Some of the other ideas discussed in this 21st century edition include the cards that are out, the number of players in the pot, ante stealing, playing big pairs, playing little and medium pairs, playing three-flushes, playing three-straights, randomizing your play, fourth street, pairing your door card on fourth street, proper play on fifth, sixth, and seventh streets, defending against a possible ante steal, playing against a paired door card, scare card strategy, and buying a free card.

Genres: Nonfiction, Games

340 pages, Paperback

First published October 31, 1989

About the author

Sklansky was born and raised in Teaneck, New Jersey, where he graduated from Teaneck High School in 1966.[2] He attended the University of Pennsylvania, but left before graduation. He returned to Teaneck and passed multiple Society of Actuaries exams by the time he was 20, and worked for an actuarial firm.[3]

Sklansky is generally considered[by whom?] a top authority on gambling. He has written many books on poker, blackjack, and general gambling.

Sklansky has won three World Series of Poker bracelets, two in 1982 ($800 Mixed Doubles, and $1000 Draw Hi) and one in 1983 ($1000 Limit Omaha Hi). He also won the Poker By The Book invitational event on the 2004 World Poker Tour, outlasting Phil Hellmuth Jr, Mike Caro, T. J. Cloutier, and Mike Sexton, and then finally overcoming Doyle Brunson.[4]

Sklansky attended the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania for a year before leaving to become a professional gambler.[5] He briefly took on a job as an actuary before embarking into poker. While on the job he discovered a faster way to do some of the calculations and took that discovery to his boss. The boss told him he could go ahead and do it that way if he wanted but wouldn’t pass on the information to the other workers. "In other words, I knew something no one else knew, but I got no recognition for it," Sklansky is quoted as saying in Al Alvarez's The Biggest Game in Town. "In poker, if you're better than anyone else, you make immediate money. If there's something I know about the game that the other person doesn't, and if he's not willing to learn or can't understand, then I take his money."

Sklansky resides in Henderson, Nevada.

Reviews

[Tom Stamper]

People use to start with stud and later learn Hold'em. Now you need this book if you are going in the other direction. It's the book that teaches Hold'em players to remember what everyone else folded so that you are drawing to the correct odds. Yeah, I can see why the game died out in casions. It's a lot more work until you get the hang of it.

[Jeff Savin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book with tons of content for those wanting to up their game in 7-Card Stud. I read through once, re-read some sections and will undoubtedly read through again and again to absorb more of this dense content. Was not disappointed.

[Seytin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. Might make you question how much you know about 7-card stud.