Triple Stud Ain’t Flipping Pennies

Another late one with the World Championship of Online Poker, this time following Event No. 8, the $215 buy-in Triple Stud event (recap here). PokerStars introduced Triple Stud just last month, another mixed game variation which rotates between seven-card stud (high), razz, and seven-card stud high/low eight-or-better. So you go high, you go low, and then you try to go both.

I don’t play these stud games all that often, aside from when I occasionally sit down in the 8-game mix games. (I also will play razz now and then.) And when I do play, it is just about always in ring games and practically never in tournaments.

While watching the action last night, I thought more than once about John Lukacs’ denouncing of “seven-card stud, high-low” is his 1963 article “Poker and American Character.” That’s the piece I took a couple of posts to discuss last week (part 1 & part 2).

Lukacs, raised on five-card draw (which he deems “classic” poker), says in his article that “seven-card stud resembles a gambling game with poker nomenclature but not very different from flipping seven pennies and betting on them in turn.” Too much luck, not enough skill -- or at least too much diminishment of the “psychological factors” -- says Lukacs.

I suggested last week that Lukacs may not have understood seven-card stud especially well. It’s true, I suppose, that any game for which we lack a familiarity with strategy and/or an appreciation for its required skills has the potential to look like “flipping pennies” to us. As I said, I don’t play these games a lot, and I guess there were times last night when I might’ve talked myself into thinking it was just a card-drawing contest, if I didn’t know better.

Heck, for someone who hasn’t played golf before, even that game perhaps might look like a collection of random actions compiled together in the name of competition. But for those who have played the game seriously, they know how complicated the strategy can be, as well as how greatly skill does affect players’ relative success.

Last night’s event featured a number of skilled players, and once the final table began it was apparent from the rapidity of players’ actions that generally speaking all knew exactly what they were doing with pretty much every decision they were making. There was one notable exception, however, right at the final table bubble when there were nine players remaining.

The game had just moved to razz (from stud high). The way the tourney worked, they played 20 minutes of each game before switching, with each game change also bringing an increase in the stakes. There were two tables left, one four-handed and the other five-handed.

At the four-handed table, a few hands had gone by with a player named CianoMar having won a couple of pots to move his stack to around 325,000. That was below average at the time, but there were three or four other players in much worse shape at the time. Not sure, but I think in those hands he won CianoMar had started with an ace and was able to bet his opponents out of the hands by fourth or fifth street.

Then came a hand in which CianoMar bet with a queen showing, then kept pushing the action as he drew a nine and then a jack. Finally the player folded on sixth street, but it was odd to see him remain aggressive with two face cards up.

On the next hand, he stayed in again with a king showing, and when he stuck around after drawing a ten on fourth street it was obvious he hadn’t realized the game had changed to razz. I noticed railbirds in the chatbox starting to type “omg” and the like, noting there that CianoMar was in error. I also saw players on the other five-handed table start to talk to one another about how he didn’t realize the game was razz.

Finally a player at CianoMar’s table typed “it’s razz dude” (or something) and CianoMar quickly corrected his course. By then he’d slipped all of the way down to 75,000 -- 9th out of 9! -- and was in danger of bubbling the final table. But he caught some cards and scraped back to nearly 500,000 by the end of the level. (He’d eventually finish fourth.)

A bit of an ethical dilemma there, I suppose, for his opponents, one of whom decided it prudent to let him know of his mistake. I’d say it was unfortunate that observers in the chatbox could’ve affected the action there, too. (I believe it isn’t until the final table that observer chat is finally turned off.)

Was kind of wild to see that happening at such a crucial moment in the tournament. Of course, we’ve all been there, I imagine. I know I have when playing mixed games, not realizing until after a hand or two the game had changed.

I guess in a way those few hands which CianoMar misplayed could be said to help prove the point that these games are in fact very different from “flipping seven pennies.” After all, the player who thought he was playing stud during the razz level clearly didn’t have an equal chance to win those hands!

Seven Dwarfs & Seventy-One Big Bets

May started with a big bang, with huge wins the first couple of days. Things calmed down a bit over the next week, though, and now we’re back to a more reasonable pace as we approach the month’s midway point. Still mostly playing pot limit Omaha -- and still mostly at the $25 max. tables -- although I’m finding I have a strange desire to try 2-7 Triple Draw some before I head Vegas-ward at the end of the month.

Anyhow, been meaning to share this crazy-ass Stud/8 hand from a few weeks ago. I’ve been enjoying interspersing quiet little sessions of Stud/8 and H.O.R.S.E. when I don’t feel like dealing with the larger PLO pots. Provides a nice contrast with the sometimes volatile world of PLO.

I sent this one to the Ante Up! guys as a possible “Hand of the Week,” although frankly I think it is probably too much of a spectacle to work for that segment. Besides the general wackiness involved with this particular hand, Stud/8 hands are generally difficult to narrate. I’m gonna give it a shot, though.

The stakes were $0.50/$1.00. Here’s how the table appeared as the hand began:



Yeah, I know. Shoulda figured something funny was gonna happen with this crowd.

Hadn’t been at the table for that long, though I’d been there long enough to have seen Dopey raising more hands than yr average dwarf. We all posted the nickel ante and the cards were dealt.

*** 3rd STREET ***
Dealt to Dopey
Dealt to Bashful
Dealt to Sleepy
Dealt to Short-Stacked Shamus [] []
Dealt to Sneezy
Dealt to Grumpy
Dealt to Happy
Dealt to Doc

I brought it in for a quarter, Sneezy folded, and Grumpy (with the king) raised it to fifty cents. Happy called, then Doc promptly reraised to a dollar. Dopey, Sleepy, and Shamus all called, then Grumpy reraised it. The pot ended up being capped, with six of us going to fourth street. Pot already $12.00.

I liked my low draw well enough. Three of my low cards were out, though, so I’d proceed with caution.

*** 4th STREET ***
Dealt to Dopey
Dealt to Sleepy
Dealt to Short-Stacked Shamus [] []
Dealt to Grumpy
Dealt to Happy
Dealt to Doc

I pick up the six, but so did Happy. Dopey and Sleepy appear to have 8-lows going. A couple more of my low cards were gone, but I’m thinking I want to see fifth.

Grumpy bets, Happy raises, all four of us call the buck, then Grumpy reraises. Happy just calls the $1.50, and we all call, too. Still six of us in the hand. Pot now $21.00. So much for calming down with a few quiet hands of Stud/8 . . . .

*** 5th STREET ***
Dealt to Dopey
Dealt to Sleepy
Dealt to Short-Stacked Shamus [] []
Dealt to Grumpy
Dealt to Happy
Dealt to Doc

Ugh. I bricked, and Dopey was looking like he might’ve made his low. Grumpy bet out again, both Happy and Doc called, then Dopey raised. I guess he got there. Sleepy called the two bucks and the action was on me.

This is where I might’ve considered bailing, but there was just too much in the middle at this point -- $28 at the moment. I knew I’d probably have to put four dollars in here to see sixth, but with all five of the other dwarfs also putting in the four (as it appeared was going to happen), sticking around seemed reasonable. Even if it weren’t, I’m not a good enough Stud/8 player to resist staying here. I called, Grumpy predictably reraised, and eventually Dopey capped it. Bottom line: all six players put in $4.00 to see sixth street. The pot was up to $45.00.

*** 6th STREET ***
Dealt to Dopey
Dealt to Sleepy
Dealt to Short-Stacked Shamus [] []
Dealt to Grumpy
Dealt to Happy
Dealt to Doc

Magic mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all? Damn sure it ain’t me. The pot was creeping up past fifty clams, and the piss-poor net I was sewing to catch ’em was full o’ holes.

We ran through a similar sequence as on fifth, with Grumpy and Dopey catching us all in the whipsaw with their raises & reraises. Only difference here was that Doc dropped out and Dopey finally ran out of money. As we went to seventh street, I was thinking I was probably drawing dead, with Happy having perhaps made a 6-low. Was stuck, though, mesmerized by a pot that now exceeded $64.00.

*** RIVER ***
Dealt to Short-Stacked Shamus [] [] []

Well, I have a low. And perhaps a chance. Grumpy bet a dollar, Happy reraised with his last $1.45, I called, and Grumpy just called as well. The final pot was $71.05. Here’s what the five of us had:

*** SHOW DOWN ***
Dopey:
Sleepy:
Short-Stacked Shamus:
Grumpy:
Happy:

Happy took the High half, having filled up on fifth street. And somehow I’d snuck outta the castle with the low. We each made $35 on the hand, about $22 of which was profit.

So Dopey had started jamming the pot on fifth with his 8-7 low. Poor Sleepy was still drawing to his (smoother) 8-low at the end. And I was definitely a lucky ducky to grab that trey on the end. Happy might have been the only one of all of us who could claim to have played his hand well from start to finish, although after fifth it kind of played itself.

A 71-big bet Stud/8 hand! When that was over, I decided I needed to head back over to the PLO tables. Less stress over there.