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Your starting hand in seven card stud is really important because if you don’t hold any pairs or draws after you’ve been dealt three cards then you’re probably not going to improve your hand much. Seven card stud is one of the poker games where players don’t share any community cards and you will only be able to use your cards to win the hand thus making your starting hand so vital to your success.

While some hands may look like strong starting hands often they can become terrible starting hands after you look around the table at the other player’s cards. After the initial deal you will be able to see one face-up card from each player’s hand which means you’ll be able to see if any of the cards you’re looking for are live. If you have a 6-5-4 this can generally be a good starting hand, but if you notice two of the 7’s and two of the 3’s are already in another player’s hand then it limits your chances of hitting a straight by quite a bit.

The following starting hands are ideal to play as long as the cards you’re looking for are still live and in the deck. If the cards you need are dead already then there is no point playing the hand no matter how good it looks.

* The best starting hand possible is a three of a kind so obviously anytime you have trips you should play them strongly. You can be outdrawn with trips, but most of the time you’re going to win the hand if you’re dealt trips for a starting hand in seven card stud.

* Any triple or double suited hands should be played as well because of the opportunity to hit a flush. It’s better if you also have a straight draw to go along with the flush draw, but it isn’t necessary and you can play the hand with just a flush draw.

* Any medium-high pair in your starting hand makes it a good starting hand and you should play accordingly. Don’t lead out betting too much into the Full Tit Poker pot, but make sure you try and get most of the junk hands to fold. If any players come into the pot with you then just keep an eye on their face-up cards so you have an idea whether they have outdrawn you or not.

There aren’t that many good starting hands when you’re playing seven card stud and although I expect you to play more hands then the ones listed above you need to try and keep it reasonable. Always make sure you check that your cards aren’t dead before you put any money into the pot and don’t chase down every single draw you have to the final street.

Mastering the art of selecting what hands to play when you’re playing stud poker won’t take you that long and once you have done it you will find you should be making more money. By playing less hands you should have a better winning ratio, which typically leads too more profits.