Use the links to the left to navigate the Blog entries, or keep reading to learn more about this Blog.
The Player
My name is Marc Wortman and I've been playing poker since I was eight years old (draw poker for pennies, in case you were wondering). Up until about five years ago, Dealer's Choice poker seemed to be the popular way to play. These days, it's no-limit Hold 'Em...everywhere.
One of my favorite variations of poker from the days of playing Dealer's Choice is one that's still fairly popular today...Stud Poker. I see a lot of Stud Poker online, but I haven't played the game regularly online or offline in some time.
The Game
Every year, the World Series of Poker (WSOP) is held for over a month in Las Vegas, Nevada. The WSOP is a series of poker tournaments. Each tournament costs a different amount to buy in for, and anybody who shows up with that money can register and play against some of the greatest players in the game.
Different variations of poker are played in this series of games that culminates in the $10,000 Main Event played over No-Limit Texas Hold 'Em. This is the big one, brought to mainstream popularity by such amateur players as Chris Moneymaker who've become world poker champions and millionaires.
The Decision
In 2006, I will be travelling to Las Vegas to play in the WSOP. I don't have $10,000 to play in the Main Event, so I will choose a preliminary event to play in. Something intuitive is steering me away from the no-limit Texas Hold 'Em games that are offered in abundance at the WSOP. This is the game everybody is playing these days, and I would rather spend my time on a specialty.
After much thought, I've decided to reignite my interest in Stud Poker and play in one of the WSOP's Stud events. On July 5th, 2006 is a Seven Card Stud WSOP tournament at the Rio in Las Vegas. The buy-in is $1,500, and it is the tenth of 44 total WSOP tournaments.
The Training
I'm determined to train for the WSOP Stud event, devoted to a graduated training plan between now and July 5th. Just like a boxer trains for a competitive match, I'm heading into one as well.
Just what will this training entail, and why might you be interested?
This will be a poker training program written entirely from scratch. There are some who recommend keeping a poker diary (or journal). I'll be doing this, and posting it here on the site. It will set out my training program going into the WSOP.
Look at it as one way to train for a major poker event. Even if you don't play Stud, the planning will give you one perspective on how to make your own preparations for a big game, no matter what variation of poker.
Bookmark this page, and from here, you'll be able to check on my updates and progress. The column to the left will show what entries I've made.
I printed out the Schedule of Play for the Seven Card Stud event. It's a three-day event that starts at noon on the 5th of July. Each level is an hour of play with breaks after every second hour. The $1,500 buy-in is given $1,500 worth of chips. I'm looking at this sheet so I can program this schedule into Wilson's Turbo 7 Card Stud software, and get some virtual practice.
Looking at this sheet, I noticed for the first time that the antes seem high relative to the fixed betting amounts. In Hour 1, the ante is $5 with limits of $10/$20. That game online would probably have an ante between $2-$3. I don't need Sklansky's Theory of Poker to determine that $5 is a high ante, but I check for good measure. Sklansky has a full chapter on Ante Structure. An ante that's 5% or less of the average bet size is small, and one 15% or bigger than the average bet size is large. $5 is 31% of $16, the average bet when the limits are $10-$10-$20-$20-$20. A monster ante for the full first hour.
The ante stays the same into hour 2 when the limits double to $20-$40. Here, the ante of $5 is still a large 16% of the average bet. That means the opening two hours will be loose, for me and for anybody else who wants the $40 already in the pot from eight antes.
The reason I need to loosen up when the ante is big is not because I've already invested that money. It's because eight of us around the table all had to, and $40 is a big starting pot when the cost to call for the first two hours is only $5. Sure, the pot can be raised, but if it isn't, I could be looking at pot odds of 10:1 and better. More hands become playable for that already-big pot.
Designating starting hands in Seven Card Stud poker with your first three cards is more difficult than in Hold 'em. Position is important in both games. It's important how live or dead your hand is in Stud, since you can see cards dealt to other hands. Which of your three cards is face-up is also important, since there's a lot of 'showmanship' in Stud...an Ace is scarier-looking than a Six. The climate of the table, or playing tendencies of the other players, dictates a lot, too. Otherwise, the key is to play as many hands with outs as I'm dealt. Here's my general guidelines for hands I'll play:
Pairs and rolled-up trips
Three-flushes and three-straights
Three cards that are Ten or higher
Two cards that are Ten or higher, and the hand is double-suited
One-gaps, but probably not the baby ones, and obviously only if the gap is live
Suited connectors, and whatever kicker depending on how live the suit is
The highest card face-up, particularly if I find myself in a tight situation where I can steal the blinds
The last point is the next important one. This should be a loose first couple of hours, and if these players know their Seven Card Stud poker, they'll know better than to play tight in the early going. Assessing the climate of the game will be important and should be easy to figure out once play has started. Given the big antes, the first two hours could go down:
Loose-aggressive: Everybody wants that big pot, and they're willing to raise for value with what outs they have in their hand. Even if a raise cuts the pots odds down to as low as 5:1, this still leaves a lot of hands playable. The fact is that it will take at least two raises to thin the field of players on third street with the big ante. The climate of this particular WSOP event may be such that it's gambling for an hour or two. This will be an obvious disadvantage where I'm in early position. Even in late position, I don't always know if the betting will be capped behind me or not. Live versions of the hands listed above should be playable for as many as two raises, so it won't be a cheap game. But, I can't counter with tight play at the cost of $5/hand when there's $40 in the pot to start.
Tight-aggressive: This is possible if there are players that want to get heads-up for a pot and need to sandwich the rest of the table with bets and raises to do it. It would make for an exciting couple levels because the cost to fold players in this game is at least two bets on 3rd street. It's essentially as big as the large bet on 5th street having to be made on 3rd street. To quote Gorilla Monsoon, it would take some "intestinal fortitude" to play at this table, but it would be exciting. Essentially, I'd be staying out of fights unless I believed I had at least the second best hand. Then, I'd need to do my part to make it expensive enough to thin the field with raises and double-bets, while staring my heads-up opponent in the eye.
Loose-passive: Now, I don't want to assume that most Seven Card Stud players are elderly, even though it may seem that way sometimes. At any rate, there are loose-passive games where everybody wants to wait for their hand to develop before they get aggressive. If players feel it too unlikely that their single raise or completion of the bring-in will thin the field, they may opt to call with such hands as premium pairs. It's possible the game takes until 5th street before the claws come out. Here, I'd have to play the same way as them for the most part, and make sure I play most of my hands to 5th street. Thinking about Hold 'em tournaments, I consider the decision on the flop to be easily as important as the decision with your starting hand before the flop. Same with a Stud tournament, where I think -especially with these antes- I will need to go to 5th street as often as possible, and particularly when I'm dealt live versions of the starting hands listed above.
Tight-passive: Won't happen. I'd win those first two rounds. I'd steal antes and chase with every other hand I'm dealt.
Definite food for thought, and I'm glad I printed out this schedule. Otherwise, I'd be showing up to this game with my usual tight-aggressive play and pay a bundle in antes without taking a sufficient number of chances. That style will definitely still come out on 5th street to the river, but on 3rd and 4th streets, I have to play a looser assortment of hands than I've been playing. The Wilson software will help since I can program in the schedule and get a sense for the movement of chips in a tournament like this. I would tend to play passively on those first two streets unless I could get it heads-up, and I don't know how easy that will be in the first two hours.
I wouldn't have imagined playing loose-passive at the World Series of Poker.
In an earlier Blog entry, I spoke of the Golden Rules of Stud Poker. This was meant as an introduction to the game, and it was mostly inspired by the work of Mason Malmuth and Lynne Loomis in their book The Fundamentals of Poker. This book, by the way, is a great and short read for anybody interested in beginning to learn more about poker beyond Texas Hold 'Em, or even those interested in taking their first step towards learning advanced Hold 'Em theory. The book is an introduction to smart play, and a great starting point.
Since my Blog entry on Golden Rules, I've played a lot of Stud and I've read a lot more perspective on the game, written by such greats as Chip Reese; the writing team of David Sklansky, Mason Malmuth, and Ray Zee; and Mike Caro. The combination of this education and experience has surfaced what I feel are seven more advanced Golden Rules of Stud Poker strategy. If you're just starting to play Stud Poker, I suggest reading the original Golden Rules first. I suspect the following will make more sense for those with a familiarity for the game.
A couple caveats before you continue reading. First, there is no hard and fast poker strategy beyond adjusting to the players in your game. We can talk all day about smart poker, but smart poker includes a certain variance so that you're not playing too consistently and an adjustment for your opponents. Second, the most important strategy of Stud Poker is to play live hands. You get to see cards in your opponents' hands dealt face-up, so you know how live or dead your straight draw, flush draw, or even pair by looking at the other face-up cards around the table. This is an important consideration to any Stud play, so I won't necessarily repeat it for every Golden Rule that follows.
Golden Rule #1: Play in a way that appears natural for what cards you have showing.
While you're only dealt trips in your first three cards (called "rolled up trips") once every 400 or so hands, I still find the following example makes the point. If you were dealt three Seven's, for example, you would play it a little slower than if you were dealt three Ace's. A player with a Seven showing who is playing very aggressively is either bluffing, or more likely has a high concealed pair or rolled up Sevens. In other words, your play is not quite as natural for what you have showing, and for that reason, makes it easier to read if you play it fast. However, a player playing an Ace-up very aggressively is playing very naturally for somebody with an Ace-up. Your opponents will be asking themselves if you really do have the pair of Ace's you're representing, when in fact, you have three of them. You can play rolled up Ace's very fast (as opposed to the common tendency to slowplay them) because it seems natural to your opponents. In a different example, if you had a Queen-up on third street with no other strength in your hand, and are dealt a suited Ace on 4th street, it would be natural for you to play that aggressively. You might not have an actual hand, but it would appear as though you do, and so, this represents a strong bluffing opportunity. The key is to play your hand in a way that appears natural based on the cards you have showing.
Golden Rule #2: Ante-stealing is a necessary skill in Stud. There are ideal conditions to the ante-steal.
Stud has antes. Hold 'Em does not. While it's not a big prize, the occasional ante-steal makes for a little bit of income while you play. Here are the ideal conditions. One, you must be in late position. While an early position raise can be a great scare play, without knowing how your opponents will act behind you, you're better off ante-stealing in late position. Two, there are no callers ahead of you. Stud is fixed limit poker, so a player ahead of you that called the bet is likely going to call your raise as well. It's different in no-limit poker where you can control the size of your raise, but not so in fixed limit poker. Callers ahead of you will call your raise, meaning a failed ante-steal. Third, you should have the highest or second highest card showing on the table. Otherwise, you are not as likely to get respect for your raise. You are representing a big pair with your raise, and need a big card showing to complement that story. Fourth, your hand should have some potential. In the event that your ante-steal fails, you want to know that you might still improve to a winning hand. Two suited cards, three cards of high rank, and certainly suited connectors are all examples of potential to draw in the event that somebody calls your ante-steal attempt.
Golden Rule #3: If you're playing a pair on 3rd street and it's getting expensive, you must have an overcard kicker.
For the number of hands you fold, you may get excited to be dealt a pair in your opening three cards. If you don't believe yours is the highest pair at the table, then you need to have a kicker that is higher than what you believe is the highest pair at the table. Otherwise, ask yourself what you're chasing besides the unlikely (but possible) pair-turned-trips. You want to know you can pair your kicker for a strong enough hand to beat the opponent with a high pair, especially since he too might make two pairs.
Golden Rule #4: Get heads-up.
If your opening three cards are a three-flush or three-straight, then you want to play it passively to keep as many opponents around as you can to pay you for it. Otherwise, you prefer a heads-up pot to a short-handed or multiway pot. For risk of not being able to get as much money from a single opponent as 2-3 opponents, remember that there is a fifth betting round in Stud and it is for a double-sized fixed limit amount. Play your hands heads-up as often as possible, because it means less opponents that can draw out on you. Besides, one opponent is more easily manipulated than several opponents. Finally, you might play aggressively to get the pot heads-up even if you don't have the best hand. Only Sklansky could explain it as follows, but if you have a hand with a 25% chance of winning in a three-way pot, but that would have a 40% chance of winning heads-up, you would raise if you could get it heads-up. While it may seem counter-intuitive to raise with the second best hand, you're getting the pot heads-up against the best hand because it improves your chances to win the pot.
Golden Rule #5: It takes a double-bet to thin the field on 4th street.
If it seems odd to include talk of 4th street in Golden Rules of Advanced Stud play, it shouldn't. This is critical from both a psychological and mathematical standpoint. A player committed to calling a full-size bet on 3rd street is not likely to fold to a same-sized bet on 4th street, when the pot is obviously bigger and paying him better pot odds. Therefore, your bet on 4th street with what you believe is the best hand is not likely to thin the field. For that reason, you need to ask yourself why you're betting. Betting for value would make sense with a stellar hand like three- or four-of-a-kind if you have it. Otherwise, you're just making the pot bigger when there are still three cards to come, and that leads us to the second important point. When the pot is bigger on 5th street because of your action on 4th street, you are making it more correct for your opponents to call any bets made on 5th street. It would be easier for you to thin the field on 5th street if you hadn't made the pot so big on 4th street. Players are more likely to call and chase their hands. Therefore, it usually takes a double-sized bet on 4th street to thin the field of opponents. This is accomplished ideally by raising the bet of a player from your immediate right, or betting into a player on your immediate left who you suspect will raise. In either case, a double-sized bet makes its way around the table and more likely thins the field of opponents, potentially getting it heads-up per the previous Golden Rule.
Golden Rule #6: Buy yourself free cards.
Bearing the last Golden Rule in mind, a bet or raise on 4th street can sometimes buy you a free card on 5th street. Or, a bet or raise on 6th street can sometimes buy you a free card on the river. One of my favorite plays in fixed limit Hold 'Em is to bet or raise in last position with a four-flush or open-end straight draw. When the fixed limit doubles on the Turn and everybody checks to you because you were so aggressive on the Flop, you get to see if the Turn completes your hand and check if it doesn't. In Stud, position is a trickier element of the game because each betting round is opened by the player with the best hand showing, and that can change from round to round. Oftentimes however, the best hand showing remains the best hand showing and so, the same player would be opening all rounds. If you're in last position with a decent draw on 4th street (ex. three-flush with a pair, open-end straight draw, four-flush), you can pull the same move so that everybody checks to you on 5th street, when the fixed limit has doubled. If you made your hand on 5th, bet out. If you didn't, check. They may even check to you again on 6th street, which is great. The same move on 6th street could get you a free card on the river. This doesn't save you any money per se, since the fixed limit is the same on both rounds. However, it can lead to an opponent checking to you on the river which was a mistake on his part if he has the best hand because you didn't make your draw.
Golden Rule #7: If you want to check-raise, do it on 6th street.
There is especially nothing hard and fast about this rule, but it will be the hardest check-raise for your opponent not to call, except one on the river. The problem with a check-raise on the river is that you might check and not get the bet to raise. In such a case, you cost yourself money by not getting more of it in the pot. If that happens to you on 6th street, at least you know to bet out on the river instead of trying for a check-raise again. The reason a 6th street check-raise is better than a 5th street check-raise is because with the latter, the fixed limit just doubled. Even if you can't raise any more than what your opponent bet, he might still be inclined to throw his hand away to your raise because of the obvious strength you're showing. It is more difficult for your opponent to throw it away on 6th street, because by this point, he may have already decided he's taking his hand all the way to the river. Besides, he likely called the double-sized action on 5th street, making it more palatable for him to call your check-raise on 6th street, even if he knows he's beat.
The original Golden Rules and now these Golden Rules by no means capture all of Stud poker, which can be a very complex game with very few hard and fast guidelines for strategy. If you are becoming familiar with the game, I suggest working to incorporate the above. For my preparation for the WSOP event, I'm happy to have had the chance to learn these principles and be able to apply them as I play. I believe all seven of these Golden Rules will be especially applicable in my WSOP event.
It's been warm-up until now. Now, the most intensive leg of training begins. With only six weeks remaining until my Stud event at the World Series of Poker, it's time to get even more serious.
Keeping this page updated as I've been preparing for this event has had two benefits:
1) It allows me to keep a log of my training, and
2) It allows me to share my experiences so that whether you play Stud or not, you can still learn from my experience in preparing for your own first major poker event.
In line with both of these goals, here is what my Stud training will look like on a nearly daily basis:
First, some education. When I first decided to learn more advanced poker theory, I invested hundreds of dollars in poker books written by the greats. I went on to lose just as many hundreds of dollars trying to execute the advice in these books in my own home games and low-limit cardroom games. It became very frustrating that I understood the concepts being taught in the books, but couldn't seem to make them go my way. There are a few things to bear in mind when reading books on poker. The writer writes of his own experience, and he isn't likely playing in home games or low-limit cardroom games. The obvious exception to this is Lee Jones' Winning Low-Limit Hold 'Em. Most important however, is that reading isn't experience. Success comes from building experience onto a foundation of education. Book-learning can only take you so far, but it's worth most when coupled with direct experience. I now hit a few chapters of the books I have on Stud Poker immediately before playing.
Second, my play doesn't begin immediately with real-money play. To warm up for a real crowd with real money, I start with poker tutorial software, such as the Stud Poker product by Wilson Software. This tutorial software has an advantage over both the 'more fun' software such as Hoyle Casino or the free-money poker play that is available on so many sites online. Its advantage over the 'fun' software is that the computer opponents are more realistic, odds are calculated for your review throughout every hand, and statistics are available to help you plug holes in your game. Its advantage over online 'free-money' play is that although these are human opponents, they have no money on the line. At least a computer simulation 'believes' it has money on the line, and in the case of Wilson Software, does a reasonable job. A human opponent with nothing to lose is not the best preparation for a major poker event.
Third, real-money play, and this has to constitute the lion's share of training. Earlier in this Blog, we interviewed fight trainer Shawn Tompkins for parallels in comparing training for a major poker event to training for a professional fight. One of the standouts from this interview was that real training constitutes 'keeping the heat on'. In poker, this can mean getting a reasonable share of live play versus online play, as well as increasing the stakes to face tougher opponents for greater sums of money. I've kept this in mind and am playing mostly 3-6 or 5-10 Stud. Bigger games are available, and certainly, my goal was to be playing these bigger games by now. The challenge with poker is to play easy enough tables to build a bankroll, but challenging enough tables that I'm developing relevant experience for the big game. So far, I've built about 2/3 of the $1,500 buy-in by playing in these games, so there is some wiggle room to try out bigger and tougher games.
Finally, it's beneficial for any poker player to be able to discuss hands and strategies with other players. I've been using our own Discussion Forum to convey my observations along the way. This will become more critical in the following six weeks.
So ideally, a training day would consist of: Reading -> Practicing -> Real Money Play -> Discussion
This isn't to say that every day of the next six weeks will contain all four of the above, but I plan for it to be the norm. Reading need only be about 20-30 minutes to cover a few chapters. Any advice read will come into play at least a few times in the course of a playing session. Practicing is akin to stretching before a physical workout. Before putting real money on the line, this warm-up is a chance to put myself in the mode. Real money play is the backbone of this training, and there is no surer way of building the needed experience. Discussion allows some reflection on a session, as well as the chance for other poker players to comment. All of us are smarter than any one of us.
Keeping a poker journal is also not a terrible idea. It gives you the opportunity to look back on your own observations to make sure that you are indeed advancing.
Stay tuned! There's been lots of training to this point, but the most intense leg is the six weeks ahead.
I played Seven Card Stud a lot in college. Those were Dealer's Choice days, so it was rarely straight Stud without some kind of stipulation, like Chicago, Anaconda, Murder, or Follow the Queen. But, that was the extent of my experience with live (as opposed to online) Seven Card Stud. If you've been following the blog, then you know I've been playing my share of Stud online in preparation for winning the WSOP Stud bracelet in July. But this week, I finally played live Stud in a real cardroom. And not just any cardroom...the infamous Poker Room at the Mirage resort in Las Vegas. While a lot of the poker action has moved next door to the Bellagio's Poker Room, it's still a busy room and you might remember the Mirage Poker Room as the destination of Matt Damon's character in the movie Rounders.
I was staying at the Mirage this week and decided I must play some Stud in their Poker Room. This is part of my commitment to make sure I'm raising the bar on this WSOP training. Since I haven't played regular Stud live in a cardroom, this was my chance.
I was only in Vegas on this trip for about 24 hours, including one night and one day to play. At night, I was on my way back to my hotel room and decided to check in on the Stud action. I asked the Room Manager at the Mirage if there was any Stud. He pointed to a table where a lone man sat reading a novel, "Well, we're trying to start a Stud game." I asked if it was a 1-5 Stud table or a 5-10 Stud table, and the Manager seemed to find it amusing that they'd have a 5-10 game going on. Instead, it would be 1-5 spread limit Stud. Here's how it works:
No antes.
A spread of $1 to $5 on all five betting rounds.
The smallest card exposed on Third Street opens the betting round. Usually, this 'bring-in' is some portion of the minimum bet on that round, but in this case, the player bringing it in can open for anywhere from $1 to $5. So, true spread limit.
So, some considerations based on what we've learned of Stud so far.
Without antes, there goes a lot of the ante-stealing. Sure, you can still try to steal the bring-in, but it was usually $1 and you'd probably have to bet $3-$5 for the steal. Those are terrible pot odds, and so, I didn't plan to ante-steal as much as I normally would unless I would see that other players were getting away with it.
Spread limit is not my preferred betting format. I like fixed limit and no-limit, but spread limit is a different animal. I suppose the reason I like fixed limit more is that with the fixed amount doubling on Fifth Street in Stud (as in the Turn in Hold 'Em), it allows for some positional plays, and the chance to better thin the field with a double-sized bet on those rounds.
The advice with spread limit is oftentimes to consider betting and raising the maximum. This is in line with typically aggressive play, where if you're going to bet, make it worthwhile. I would keep this in mind.
A fixed 'bring-in' such as $2 at a 5-10 table is sometimes to the advantage of the player forced to bring it in. This is the same as being in the Big Blind in Hold 'Em where if nobody raises the bet that you're forced to make, you go on to the next betting round without having really identified anything about your hand. With a spread limit bring-in however, I'm giving away a concealed pair if I bet more than the minimum $1 when I have the lowest card showing at the table.
When I returned to the Poker Room, there was a full Stud table, and so, I played some 3-6 Hold 'Em while I waited for a seat to open. To my surprise, they had opened a second Stud table where I was seated after about 30 minutes of playing Hold 'Em. I'll be careful about how I word this next observation by saying that I was the only player at the table under 50 years old. The average age at the table was probably high 50's. If I needed the proof, Stud is an old-fashioned game. Today's younger players are playing Hold 'Em and for the most part, Hold 'Em only. I sat down with mostly Las Vegas locals who probably only play Stud and only play them for these low limits. Here's how it went:
The demeanor at the table was super-friendly, people sitting around having fun. However, the demeanor of the betting was nowhere near friendly. These people were serious about their Stud, and they weren't about to be bullied by the new young man at the table.
I sat down with an aggressive style that I put to work immediately. Big mistake. Always is. I need to remind myself to keep it in check until I've gotten the rhythm of the table. To come in as a new player with an aggressive style got me nothing but calls and re-raises. Once committed to a hand, the average player would not fold.
Limit Stud is a game that I've quickly learned isn't necessarily won by tight-aggressive play. Tight play is always important, and Stud is no exception where all you get for calling on Third Street is one more card (as opposed to Hold 'Em, where you get three new cards for getting past the first betting round). However, as the hand plays out, it helps to be a little looser than tight. With five betting rounds, you're often getting the pot odds to chase your hand past Third Street. Where you're clearly not, you can safely fold. With aggressive play however, it helps to be a little more passive than aggressive, particularly if playing aggressively is not going to successfully get you in the pot short-handed and if you can't be sure of the relative strength of your hand. To me, this flies in the face of charging your opponents for their draws, but opponents who are smart about their draws won't fold, particularly when you can't bet enough to make it incorrect for them to do so based on pot odds.
With five betting rounds, a single pot won can recoup an hour of not having won anything. The pots are big in Stud.
After about four hours of play, I was down a grand total of $7.25. That's less than the combination of what I was raked and what I toked to the dealer for pots won. I knew I could play tight on Third Street and wait for one more pot that would put me in the black for that session, but I was literally falling asleep at the table. Not with my head down on the armrest, but eyes starting to shut as I sat in my seat. I had to leave, and take my small loss with me.
It was a fantastic experience to play live Stud and one more component of my WSOP training. If the demographic at this table was anything like what I'll encounter at the WSOP, then I'll be among the younger players. I've been reading a lot of Mike Caro recently, who writes a good deal about table image. In that respect, I might be perceived as a young, aggressive, bull-headed player, and I will need to give some thought to whether or not this can be used to my advantage.
The next morning with a half-hour before I would leave for the airport, I went back to the Mirage Poker Room and asked if there was a 1-5 Stud game. The Manager pointed to a table where two elderly gentlemen sat, both Vegas locals. One was reading a novel, and the other immediately started talking it up with me while we waited for a game to start. A number of new players came all at once and the game began, but I could only play for about 10 minutes before I had to excuse myself to make my flight.
All told, a great experience. I'm back in Vegas for one more trip between now and the WSOP and that's in May. I will be staying at the Treasure Island, right next door to the Mirage. I will no doubt make some time for Stud at the Mirage or perhaps in the Bellagio's room. Like the Mirage, the Bellagio advertises both a spread 1-5 game and a fixed 5-10 game. I'll play fixed 5-10 if I can find it, and trust it would be a little more aggressive than what I played at the Mirage.
I have three months to go before participating in my first World Series of Poker event, the $1,500 Seven Card Stud event.
I’ve spent the last three months training for this event like a fighter trains for a fight. It’s my goal to win this event. It’s a stretch goal, to be sure, but the great thing about stretch goals is that there’s a 1% chance you actually make it and an 80% chance that you still do pretty darn good. I want the $200K first place prize (and WSOP bracelet, of course), but if I finished in the money, I’d be proud of the training I did for the event.
While Stud is nowhere near as popular as Texas Hold ‘Em, it’s certainly been my goal for any poker player to be able to follow my WSOP Stud training and apply the same kind of preparation to your own game, no matter the poker variation. The next three months are obviously critical, as time for training is winding down.
In these last few months, I have been reacquainting myself with the mechanics and strategy of Stud. So far, my Stud tournament record is mixed, having not finished in the money in any multi-table tournaments, but having finished in the money in both single-table tournaments I’ve played – second and third respectively.
I’m pleased with the progress of the last three months and consider myself an above average player at the low-limit tables, and an average player at the medium-limit tables. Between now and July, I need to be an above average player at the high-limit tables.
Here is the three-month plan:
April:
Continue to strut my stuff at low-limit tables. The benefit here is that I can use the money that I make in these games to help cover my WSOP buy-in, as well as smaller tournament buy-ins along the way. So far, low-limit tables have allowed me to build over a third of my $1,500 buy-in, and have covered the few multi-table tournament buy-ins where I did not finish in the money. I will also need this money for a third reason: to cover my play at medium-limit tables, which leads me to my next point…
Continue to cut my teeth at the medium-limit tables. Here, I am referring to 5-10 tables up to 10-20 tables. I am average or slightly worse at these tables, so they aren’t funding my trip to the WSOP. Even though this isn’t where I’m winning my money, it’s the kind of experience that is absolutely critical before the WSOP event. I must assume for this event that the average player will be more like a 10-20 player than a 3-6 player.
And so, a combination of low-limit games to fund my Stud career, fund my tournament buy-ins, and fund my play at medium-limit tables, coupled with medium-limit games to prepare me for the level of experience I will encounter at the WSOP Stud event.
My routine has been fairly consistent. I read a few chapters from TwoPlusTwo’s Seven Card Stud for Advanced Players before sitting down to play. Whatever chapters I read involve material that comes up at least once while I play, so the reading itself gets my head ready for the game.
May:
May has to take April’s activity to the next level, much like January, February, and March were all escalations of the previous month. In May, I want to be making my money from a combination of low-limit and medium-limit games, while continuing to build championship Stud experience at the medium-limit tables.
Depending on progress, I would want to make my entry into high-limit games by the end of this month. By high-limit, I’m referring to 30-60 tables which seems to be the highest limit I can find online where there are actually players. I expect to enter this stage as an average player given my experience to date. So, this isn’t where I’d be making my money. Rather, the money being made at low- and medium-limit tables would continue to fund my tournament buy-ins and experience gained at the high-limit tables.
I think it’s essential to gain live Stud experience, and I have none to date except the kitchen table experience from those years of Dealer’s Choice poker. And while that was fun, I won’t count it as serious experience for the WSOP event. In May, I have a trip to Vegas where I will be making a point out of playing some live Stud. This will be very important experience as part of my training.
By the end of May, I want Stud winnings to have paid for my WSOP Stud entry fee of $1,500, as well as my accommodations while in Vegas. I’m a third of the way there from low-limit games, so there’s no reason why I wouldn’t believe it’s possible. Given that, the Stud event itself would be covered simply from the training that I’ve done in order to get to it. That would build much confidence for me going into the event.
June:
Much like an exam you should be ready to write the night before, June needs to be the month where I feel I have already fine-tuned the training, and where I keep the pressure on myself to continue finding tougher games and tougher opponents. By this point, my WSOP buy-in and accommodations are already covered so my attention needs to be on using a winning strategy and mindset to ensure that I win. In June, I can’t be thinking of new ways to win. I have to be thinking about how my already-winning ways will mean I bring my best game to the WSOP.
Here, I’m playing 5-10 to 30-60 games exclusively. Maybe to relax, the odd 3-6 game, but only with the understanding that this game is neither funding my Stud training, nor contributing to the experience that I need to win in July. By June, I can’t be using low-limit games the way I’m using them in April.
The only area where I would feel it acceptable to still be learning is in short-handed Stud, where I have limited experience to date. It would take short-handed experience to win the whole thing, but obviously full-table experience will take me further in a WSOP event. I haven’t found many popular online Stud sit-and-go games, so it will be a challenge to gain this necessary experience.
And, there’s the newest fight plan, the three-month plan. If you’ve been following my Blog, then you know that I’ve placed some emphasis on mentoring, either finding a Stud mentor or being a Stud mentor. Unfortunately, it hasn’t happened and I don’t know that it will before July. It would have been great to play and learn alongside a wise old Stud man (besides Sklansky et al), or at least to be able to act as a wise old Stud man myself given how much you learn when you teach something to somebody.
I’ve also come up short on live games as a means of constantly keeping the pressure on. All of my experience has been online, and this is obviously limited.
I will continue to update the Blog with experience. The last part of March was a bit of a break from the training, and here I said in my last update that you shouldn’t take a break from your training. It means a certain amount of catch-up when you return to the game, so I will need to work through that as I ramp up the Stud training beginning in April.
Over a month ago, I interviewed fight trainer Shawn Tompkins to learn what level of training goes into a professional fight. Since my plan has been to train for the World Series of Poker Seven Card Stud event like a fighter trains for a fight, I felt there was an opportunity to learn from Shawn about the essence of training. I was convinced that there would be strong parallels between fight training, and the kind of training that should go into a major poker event. And, I was right. If you haven't already read the interview, I suggest you do so by clicking here.
I have considered Shawn's words and main points and how they could be applied to the game of poker. What follows is my "translation" of Shawn's advice pertaining to fight training to training for a major poker event.
The training plan outlined below is divided into three parts: opening training, ongoing training, and approaching the main event. While I'm focusing on Seven Card Stud, I truly believe this advice applies to you no matter what variation or betting structure of poker.
Opening Training
Play limits where you can detach yourself mentally from the financial investment, or play for free using tutorial software, but not free money online play if you can avoid it. Low limits allow you to still be playing with a financial stake, but not one that preoccupies you with thinking of losing it. Tutorial software versus free money play allows you realistic challenge, but be mindful of the lack of financial stake. There has to be some "pain" for you to learn valuable opening lessons. Low-limit games ensure an investment. Tutorial software ensure that you are being treated to recommendations. Free online play provides you with neither.
The point at this stage is to give heavy consideration to win-loss analysis. When you won a large pot, how did it happen? When you lost a sizable amount of money, how did it happen? You are trying to get a better sense of yourself as a player who has strengths and weaknesses. You need to know them both. So, to the next point...
This stage requires some serious note-taking. You want to identify the strengths that you will continue to leverage as your ability increases. You want to identify the weaknesses that you need to work on.
Many have asked if a poker journal is necessary to capture the win-loss analysis and the strength-weakness analysis. There's no easy answer. I would suggest that if it was ever necessary, then this is certainly the stage, but not everybody's head works in the way of understanding from a journal. Some players keep a journal subconsciously, and for them, there may be no need to keep notes. For others, it helps to verbalize or write it down. The easiest answer is to suggest keeping a journal and you'll know in short order if it's worth the bother. If you're like me and you learn best from reading and writing, then a journal is certainly recommended in the early going.
Stay open-minded. Don't forget everything you already know about poker, but don't get married to any notions or conceptions you have about yourself or the mechanics of the game. This is the stage of learning, and a close-minded person doesn't learn anything.
Take loss personally. Not so that it defeats you, but so that you leverage it as lessons learned in order to get better. In fact, you must lose before you can win, so be sure to leverage the experience for future gain.
If you know a player that you feel is definitely better than you are, ask him to mentor you. Who wouldn't be flattered by such a request? Tell him you're trying to be as good as him - or at least trying to adopt some of the mentor's winning ways - and enlist his help. If he's interested, he'll know how best to communicate what great things he's learned about the game. If you're right about this person, then he has an insight, approach, or mannerisms that you are interested in adopting and incorporating into your own game. Remember that we're only in the opening stages of training, so don't feel you'll need the mentor beyond getting you started on the right track.
Not everybody is comfortable with the mentor idea. An option that's always open is the HomePoker.com Discussion Forum. Here, you're always welcome to post your poker stories so that you can learn from them. Everybody in the forum is very helpful, friendly, and experienced with the game.
Ongoing Training
Here, you need to find ways to put yourself to the test. You need to find ways to apply pressure to yourself so that you can test what you know. A number of suggestions:
1) Increase in stakes / buy-in.
2) Face a new pool of players than what you've become used to.
3) Live play versus online play.
4) Anything that increases the pressure or level of distraction.
Once you're comfortable with the environment in which you're training, it's time to put the pressure on to make you uncomfortable. Only then do you know the full extent of your ability. The focus here is on getting better. Naturally, if you find a good game where making money is easy, you will need that in order to fund the rest of your play. You want to play in good games as often as you can to make money, but remember that these good games won't necessarily help you for the event that you're training for.
You can take breaks from the training, but don't take prolonged breaks. Much of your process is starting over from scratch when you take a break and return to the training later. Ideally, you never stop your training. Ideally, you wake up every morning thinking about the game and how you are going to train and develop that day.
Approaching the Main Event
Have a gameplan going in. This shouldn't be an essay, or even a paragraph. You should only need to note a few guidelines that you can't afford to forget at any time that you are playing. These are a function either of what you know will win you more money, or what you know will cost you more money. Have a handful of guidelines in mind that you could recite on a dime. You don't need to write them down if you can remember them off the top of your head.
- In any form of poker, I have a tendency of taking a bluff attempt too far. For what I think psychologists and sales reps call 'escalating commitment', a person is less likely to fold on later betting rounds if they've gone that far calling your bets. It's especially true in Stud where the pot gets so big that any decent player knows the cost of one more call is a lot less than the cost of not winning that pot if they do have the best hand. - So, ante-stealing on 3rd street is the best opportunity to bluff. Bluffing on 4th street is tricky because the fixed limit is the same as it was on 3rd street, so difficult to make somebody fold to it. Even a check-raise, or raising a bet that came from right behind you, is not likely to fold the initial bettor. Bluffing on 5th street is an ideal opportunity because the fixed limit has doubled. Bluffing on 6th street is now even trickier than on 4th street because not only is the fixed limit the same as it was on the previous round, but now the pot is even bigger relative to the bet size. Finally, bluffing on the river is only going to work to shake out the draw hands that didn't catch what they needed. Otherwise, anybody with a semi-decent hand is going to call what you bet. - The reason I've grouped this under the Ugly in my current intermediate game is because this bad habit of mine is usually very costly. To open every betting round from 3rd street to the river and get called every time works less often than it needs to pay for often I try it. I have to be mindful of when bluffing is a good play and when it's a waste of money, even heads-up. It can be the equivalent of 2-4 pots won prior.
When I embarked on this, I would have called myself a beginner Stud player, verging on intermediate. After all, I had some Stud experience under my belt, but it was from years back and from the dealer's choice days of crazy wild cards, high and low chicago, and lots of follow the queen.
Now, I would consider myself at the upper range of intermediate. I'd call myself on the verge of advanced play, but in my own opinion, you need to be playing some bigger games than I'm playing in order to call yourself advanced. As it is, I'm using low- and medium-stakes winnings to fund my Stud tournament buy-ins. In a handful of Stud tournaments under my belt, I've yet to place in the money, but I have about a third of my WSOP buy-in covered by Stud winnings so far.
Early on in the training, I laid out my opening Golden Rules of Stud Poker. This was a great starting point, but here's where I put my game now at the intermediate level:
The Good - I usually read a few pages of TwoPlusTwo's Advanced Stud strategy book before play. The chapters are short, so even if I only read one, it will likely come into play. As I've said before, I find that when others write with Sklansky, they temper his math-strong writing with more practical advice. - My 3rd street play is strong, and I'm decent at stealing antes. A big difference between Stud and HE are the antes in Stud, making pot-stealing all the more important of a skill. - I was recently talking with a high-limit HE player who doesn't play any Stud, and who asked me about what starting hands are good in Stud. I told him you can't define starting hands as easily as you can in HE. First of all, it depends what cards are out. Second, it depends on whether you try to steal the antes (which only takes one good card showing, and not necessarily a strong three-card hand). Third, there's no three-card flop following the first betting round in Stud. Instead, all you get is one extra card for getting through the first betting round. Tough to define good and bad starting hands in Stud, but I consider that very statement important in better understanding the game than when I first started and was trying to figure out what was good and bad. - If aggressive play is important in HE, it's tantamount in Stud. You want to play a lot of hands heads-up or not at all, so I've even noticed taking my aggressive Stud play into recent HE games, and it's paid off. Sometimes, the aggressive play leads to everybody folding, which works for ante-stealing. Semi-bluffing becomes all the more important in Stud, because if you want to thin the field to make it heads-up, you usually want at least a few outs should you get called. Finally, you had better show control with the controlling hand, or fold. Not showing control with the controlling hand better mean you're slowplaying, or again, release the hand, you're not playing it correctly. - In limit Stud, you sometimes have to manipulate the pot size on 4th street. Everybody normally calls a bet (and are not incorrect to do so), so you sometimes want a bet close to your right so you can raise it, or you want to wait until 5th street where the limit doubles before you make a bet with the intention of thinning the herd.
The Bad - I get shy and passive on later streets. I've been burned too many times with a player who is dealt a card that matches one they already have face-down. You're playing against two pair more often than you know, and it usually costs money. I find myself check-calling when I am in position to be bet-raising-reraising. I need to balance my tight play on later streets with recognition that oftentimes, I do indeed have the best hand. A tough balance to manage...especially playing online.
The Ugly - Playing aggressive is everything in Stud, but you can't let up. In other words, you can't play aggressively to build your chip stack in a tournament and then take a break. As players are eliminated and the average chip stack increases, you quickly lose your chip lead. The consummate Stud player stays aggressive until the game is done. I need to work on that as well, particularly in online Stud tournaments where the limits seem to double so quickly.
I hate finishing the day on a sour note, so good news about my ongoing Stud training. I've entered March with everything on target.
I've finished the book Advanced Stud by Sklansky and company, and I've done so in concert with increasing my limits in cash games. Scary as it sounds, the two things have jived very well.
The book is a great Stud book, I don't know if there's a better one. Whereas I find a Sklanskly-only book is so math-intense, it almost seems impractical, this particular book between Sklansky, Malmuth, and Ray Zee is an absolutely great read. In conjunction with regular Stud play, the book points out some great idiosyncracies about the game and offers very helpful advice. My first session tonight at a higher-limit game went very well and I 1.5x'ed my buy-in at the table after about 3 hours of play. Some highlights of using the book at the table:
- Ante-stealing. One big difference between Stud and HE are the antes. Whereas winning pots pre-flop in HE is a decent skill, it's even more important in Stud to scoop the occasional pot on 3rd street for those antes. I have had great luck ante-stealing when the conditions are right. I hate 'auto-folding' in any online poker, but it's especially important in Stud not to hit your "Fold" checkbox but rather wait and see if your position and circumstances warrant the occasional steal. I'm probably batting .900 on ante steals.
- Aggressive play. We all know to play aggressively, but it seems all the more important in limit Stud. At the higher limits, virtually every hand is heads-up, so you're either in and swinging, or you fold without hesitation. Other than the initial deal, there's no "flop" in Stud where you get so much of your hand revealed to you at one time. Instead, you get one card at a time before every betting round, and being aggressive is all the more important. In my opinion, I'm still playing tight, but I'm throwing in enough aggressive play and ante-steals that I appear a little looser than I am.
- Third street is everything. Play on later streets is so important, but if you can't get your third street (the equivalent to HE's pre-flop) play right, you get in even more trouble. I'm developing a decent 3rd street play.
- Finally, the great thing about Stud are the exposed cards. When what you have showing and what your opponent has showing create the right conditions, you can be very creative in Stud. Combined with having a good memory and attention span (which I could stand to work on), your board really is your theatre.
So far, so good for WSOP training. I'm pleased with the developments and will probably read select chapters of the Stud book as the need dictates on an ongoing basis. I was happy to win much more in the cash games today than I lost in the tournament where I placed 68th. I'm finishing the day on a good note, not because I got lucky, but because I genuinely feel like I'm learning some good Stud lessons. I can account for both the money I won and the hands that I lost. So much for that...must keep working from good to great to championship level.
I was in my third Stud tournament ever. It didn't go well for me. 80 participants and I placed 68th. I call it "death by river". Here are some highlights:
- I had Aces up on 5th street and the woman behind me called the bet I made on every round until the river. She had a pair of Two's, and made the set on the river. - The same woman made a higher two pair than me on the river. I made my two pair on 5th street in that hand again. - My pair of Aces was good all the way to the river when my heads-up opponent hit his straight on...you guessed it...the river.
This isn't to say that I made no mistakes. But of the $1,500 in tourney chips, each one of these stories cost me between $300-$400. Other than ante-stealing, I won one significant pot with trips of my own, and that was it for wins.
I admit to going kamikaze in the end. I had about $500 in chips left and with limits of $100/$200, I knew full well that I had to go all-in on my next hand (barring ante-stealing). With a three-flush and a couple high cards, I put it all in and lost to a made flush. Worst finish ever...
Back to the Blog! You may have noticed we renovated the home page, and I'll be updating my WSOP blog here in the forum instead of off of the main page. Click HERE for the full directory of previous Blog postings. Definitely appreciate everybody's comments and perspectives as I train for my first WSOP bracelet event. Check back to see how the training is going and definitely to comment on how things are progressing.
Next week, I'll 'translate' the Shawn Tompkins Interview into some use-able poker training advice. For now, the biggest stand-out (and in line with what BBH was noting) were Shawn's comments about being put to the fire. Online Stud is great practice, but I need some live play under my belt, and plenty of it before the World Series of Poker. I'll be in Vegas a couple times before July, and will likely make the time for some live Stud in the card rooms. Other than that, we'll take a look at all the things Shawn had to say and tie those points to poker training specifically.
The World Series of Poker website released its details by event. The Stud tournament on July 5th is three days long. Provided everything proceeds on time, Day 1 will consist of ten 60-minute rounds, plus a 60-minute dinner, plus breaks every two rounds. That sounds like a 12-hour day or a little more, and the event starts at noon on the 5th. Day 2 starts at 2 PM the next day, and will play until there is only the final table left (not clear how many players - I assume eight players). Day 3 also starts at 2 PM on the 7th and plays until we have our 2006 Stud Champion. What doubles from round to round are the antes, low card bring-in, the amount to complete the bet on third street, and of course, the fixed limits.
And speaking of fixed limits, I was happy to see it's not a no-limit event, and I wonder if any Stud games are played no-limit. I'm not defeatist, but my first thought was, "Thank God I can't be eliminated on the first hand." In fact, with $1,500 in tournament chips and opening limits of $10-$20, I can't see any player being eliminated before the first break. I'll get some play for my buy-in, but enough of that talk, I'm training to win this event and a potential $200K for the job. Here's what the rounds look like:
I'll be returning to this schedule between now and July to put my plans together. I know well enough that any plans I make need to be flexible enough to adapt to the conditions of the game, but firm enough to keep me focused on smart play. Too firm, and any advanced player will use it against me. Too flexible, and that's no gameplan at all.
As far as current training, I'm playing $1/$2 just about every night, and so far having far more winning sessions than losing sessions. I think it's time to turn it up to higher limits than this. It's not easy finding Stud tournaments online, but I keep my eyes open and have played in one so far. Started reading Stud Poker for Advanced Players by Sklansky and company, and I'm finding it an easy read that makes a lot more sense when you've been playing enough Stud to follow the points they're making. I read this years ago, but wasn't playing any Stud at the time, so I didn't absorb that much. I will probably coincide my increase in limits with my progression through this book, realizing that I'll learn my biggest lessons through experience, not book-reading.
I've never played in a Stud tournament before tonight. It was a fixed limit tournament on Poker Stars.
But first, a recap of my recent cash game sessions. I've increased the stakes level that I'm playing at, but it's still very low-limit. Baby steps. What's brand new to me is winning so many consecutive sessions. I'd estimate that in my last 10 sessions, I've lost money twice, I've more or less broken even twice, and won the other six times. That's better than my Texas Hold 'Em record has ever been. I'm becoming increasingly confident with my ability as a Stud player, but again, this is at the low limits where tight-aggressive play is the easiest way to win. It's winning me money at the low limits, but it's not building the skills that will be needed at the WSOP Stud event that I'm training for.
Action Item: Increase stakes limit yet again. Find the level where textbook tight-aggressive play is not enough to continue winning.
Now onto the Stud tournament I played in tonight...
72 players. Top 8 places paid. I finished in 28th place. Very interesting to play in a Stud tournament. It reinforced how much bigger the pots are in Stud...big fluctuations, and I could go from low stack to big stack in a matter of one hand. My biggest enemy in this game were players who made their flushes on 7th street. Happened twice, and cost me a lot of money both times. Great experience, and I want to be playing at least a few Stud tournaments each week.
I've been playing Stud here and there for the last week, and enjoying the results. I haven't won every session, of course, but I'm accountable to the ones I've lost, and so far, am up overall. All of my experience has been with fixed limit Stud. Rules to follow in Limit Stud:
Immediately look to see that I'm chasing a live hand.
Fold any hand that isn't playable.
Take any playable hand to 5th street unless my hand doesn't warrant the action on 3rd and 4th. If there is lots of action and I have the hand for it, I should be the one making it expensive.
On 5th street, a draw should be an open-ended straight draw or fourflush. Otherwise, only a very large pot or lots of callers warrants me chasing a worse draw or chance that my hand is dominated.
When it comes to poker, I've learned over time not to try and box myself into a convenient set of rules on how to play. First off, it's easy to play against somebody who's doing that once you understand the box they've put themselves in. Second, it doesn't account for the number of variables in poker that keep you from being so rigid.
Having said that, limit poker is mathematical poker (until it's short-handed), so I can't be afraid of smart guidelines. The fact is that these guidelines have been working, and a conversative (tight) style has benefited a game like fixed limit stud ring games since the betting is fixed and the five betting rounds make for large pots where you're often justified to stay in...the result, big swings, but typically in my favor since I'm playing conversatively.
So, what to do? Continue playing tight-aggressive low-limit Stud? Or now that I feel sharp in that realm, take it to the next level?
I plan to stay on track with the goal-setting I'd done earlier. This means:
Playing in larger games for some tougher experience.
Finding Stud tournaments to play in. Tournaments like the WSOP tournament won't be won with a super tight-aggressive style, so I definitely need the tournament experience. I'm all ears as to where one might find a good collection of Stud tournaments.
Gotta keep taking it to the next level. 50c/$1 games are fun, but they won't prepare me for the game with the $1,500 buy-in.
If you've been following my World Series of Poker (WSOP) Training Blog, you know that I'm playing in a WSOP Seven-Card Stud event in July, and that I'm determined to train for this event like a fighter trains for a fight. I've approached Muay Thai and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) trainer Shawn Tompkins for insight about the true spirit of training for a fight. What's the connection with Poker? Keep reading.
Shawn Tompkins has been involved in the sport since age 6, and has been training champions for the better part of his adult life. Also a competitor, Shawn has created a system of fighting influenced by his mentor Bas Rutten, who fans will remember as a former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champion. Shawn is responsible for training world-class champions. He is the trainer of both the Lightweight Champion and Super Lightweight Champion in the TKO sports association.
I wanted to ask questions of Shawn specific to the spirit of training. What follows is both for MMA fans, as well as those who have been following my Training Blog. How does this relate to the Blog? For now, read how the interview went. Next week, we'll take a look at Shawn's words and see how they apply to training in general, whether it's for MMA or for a major Poker event. Shawn's comments will have an influence on my training between now and the big game in July.
In time for UFC 57 this Saturday night, also check out Shawn's picks below.
In balancing between structured training and the unique abilities of a particular student, how do you determine the training that a student needs?
I generally try to start a training regimen for a fighter approximately 2 months out, 3 months
if I need to get them in shape. For the first month of their training I focus on what I feel are
the fighter's weaknesses and try to correct them. The last month prior to
fight time is spent preparing solely to defeat the opponent, working on our strengths vs. their
weaknesses and trying to develop a gameplan to capatalize on every mistake the opponent will
make.
How do you know when a student is prepared to take training to the next level?
To evaluate a student's level after teaching them the correct technique and physically preparing
them, I find ways to put them under pressure. Sparring vs. better
training partners or training partners from other gyms that they have never seen before is very
functional as well as making them spar in front of audiences. You can never truly know the level
of a fighter until you put them into what I call the fire and see how they react.
How do you teach your students to cope with loss? To cope with victory? Do you believe that anybody is "train-able"?
like to think that everybody that walks into my gym has the ability to go to any level. The
problem that I sometimes face is those who have trained prior to coming to my gym and have their
own ideas of how they must do things. I really like to develop a fighter from the very beginning
of their careers. It's only then that we truly develop a trust and respect for one another.
As
far as coping with loss or success for that matter, it is the true way to read the future of a
fighter. I think what bothers me most about some fighters is that time they take off between
fights after a win. Any champion that I have created or worked with treats training like it is
their job. You must get up every morning and make that same sacrifice that any other successful
worker in the world must. Otherwise you never improve, because you are continually starting over
everytime.
What were your inspirations to become a professional trainer and why? What did these inspirations contribute to your ability today?
I have always since I can remember wanted to train and manage professional fighters. Since
being a little boy around 12 years old watching boxing and kickboxing with my father and brother
and listening to the way that they both perceived each fight. I truly feel that it is a gift and
I would only ever want to do this.
The biggest joy I believe is not the building of a champion, but the building of a person and
this is a great way for me to put this into action.
What are the attributes of a good student? What are the attributes of a good trainer?
I feel that a good student is a student that comes to me with an open mind and a desire to
complete any task that is given to them. I believe that in completing your goals there are two
main ingredients to training: Consistency and Intensity.
The attributes of a good trainer is one that shows dedication to the goal at hand. Without the
total commitment of the trainer it is hard for the student to have that sense of trust and
confidence.
What would you say to people who do not understand or appreciate the value of good training?
I would say that if you see a great champion look beyond them and there is sure to always be
a great trainer. It is impossible to become elite on your own. The sad thing is that many try to
cut those corners to either save money or just because of lack of knowledge and they never reach
their potential.
Shawn, thanks for your responses to these questions. This Saturday night is a big UFC pay-per-view event. Who are your picks for UFC 57 and why?
Fight one: Keith Jardine vs. Mike Whitehead. Whitehead. He has way too much experience and just didn't get to show it in the TUF 2 show.
Fight two: Nick Diaz vs. Joe Riggs. Diaz. Diaz is just way too well-rounded for Riggs, but this
will probably be the fight of the night.
Fight three: Jeff Monson vs Brandon Lee Hinkle. Monson. Monson is going to be too strong for
Hinkle, this will probably be the most boring fight of the night.
Fight four: Paul Buenotello vs. Gilbert Aldana. Buenotello. Buenotello has crazy KO power.
Fight five: Brandon Vera vs. Justin Eilers. Eilers. A big difference in experience.
Fight six: Allesio Sakara vs Elvis Sinosic. Sakara. Sinosic doesn't train hard and UFC uses him to build fighters.
Fight seven: Renato Sobral vs Mike Van Arnsdale. Van Arnsdale. He is a great wrestler. It won't be
pretty but he will take a decision win.
Fight eight: Frank Mir vs. Marcio Cruz. Mir. Mir has way too much experience for Cruz.
Fight nine: Chuck Liddell vs Randy Couture. Liddel. Couture has been training in Vegas instead of at his own gym in Oregon, so he won't be as prepared. Chuck will KO him.
Tightened up my starting hands even more. Folding lots on third street.
Being this disciplined with my starting hands was causing me to play sometimes too aggressively or not make good folds because I'm happy just to be playing. Need to break this bad poker habit. When the writing's on the wall, get out.
Chased an outside straight draw to the river. Pot odds justified it, but as is the case with Stud, the pots get so big, you're always getting the pot odds. A big pot when you win. A good quarter of your stack when you lose.
Won a big pot and a small one, but gave it all up and more to overly aggressive play and overcommitting myself to pots. Have to overcome this bad habit.
And overcome it I did while I played and took these notes, and already, my luck started to improve. I started playing only very select hands, and only being aggressive when warranted, not just because I'm in last position and nobody has bet before me.
Very little bluffing, at least at these lower levels. I need to be more inclined to give up the hand when the opponent is aggressive. He could be bullying, but more likely has a hand. Bluffs also don't seem to work too often; there's usually a caller, and he has me beat.
I bet very aggressively with a straight draw and flush draw in the same hand. Ended up getting the straight. Nice to see a good rule like that hold up regardless of the poker variation. I love betting my open-end straight flush draws very aggressively in Hold 'Em.
Made four-of-a-kind (with Four's) on fifth street in one hand. What a feeling. Virtually unbeatable. One difference between Stud and Hold 'Em is that you can disguise this kind of hand much easier, and make more money for it. The only challenge on me was to see how much money this hand could make me. In Hold 'Em, I'd get no action. In this game, I got action on every round from two callers. The lead in each betting round was on my left, which helped. I made as much in that pot as I originally bought in for. Very good hand.
In the end, tripled my money before leaving the table. A good night for Seven Card Stud, and a good motivator to increase the stakes I'm playing for. One step closer to the WSOP. I genuinely feel like tonight's session was a great learning experience, and not just good luck. Starting to understand the mechanics of Stud, and how it plays differently than Hold 'Em.
January is drawing to a close and I did not play as much Stud this month as I intended to. I can't make excuses for this. The big game is in July, and there is no rescheduling. So, I've decided to set out the goals that I will target between now and the big WSOP game in July. The targets below are very cut and dried, so I expect some variance from them. They do however represent my intention of escalating the size of the Stud games I'm playing in, and the amount of learning I need to do along the way. Here goes:
February: Make the move to $2/$4 or $3/$6 Stud. These are the fixed limits that I play in Hold 'Em, so given some acumen with the game of Stud, I should be able to survive at these levels. It'll mean tightening up until I'm comfortable, but these are the least of stakes I'll need to dominate to be ready for the WSOP game. I'll also start playing in Stud tournaments where I can find them online. 30 hours of Stud play or more.
March: I make the move to $5/$10 Stud. This will take a lot of comfort at the lower levels, but $5/$10 in my mind is the beginning of leaving the low limits. It's still low limit, but there is much lower, and at least in Hold 'Em, I find a distinguishable difference in player ability when moving to this level. This will also be the time that I pick up and read Stud Poker for Advanced Player,s by David Sklansky and company. 40 hours of Stud play or more. Plenty of Stud tournaments.
April - May: I'll probably still be reading (or re-reading) Sklansky's book in May, but this should be the point where I am comfortable with myself as an advanced Stud player. By this point, I should have logged my first hundred hours of Stud play, and I'll need every hour of it to be ready for the big game. I want to be heading into June playing at $10/$20.
June: One month before WSOP, and I want to be playing $30/$60 this month. If I can't take the heat at that level, I'll be concerned about being able to take the heat at the WSOP. Finding action with Stud at this level will probably be the biggest challenge. I need to be playing against professionals by this point, because one month later, I'm at the big dance.
Why the goal-setting? Because it's a good idea to begin with to keep you on track, no matter what you're planning. The proof of that is with how little I played over January. I feel like although I got my feet wet, I didn't play enough and need to turn up the pace between now and the WSOP in July.
Profit/Loss: Down about a third of my investment into the game.
Comments:
What's working so far:
- I'm showing the right amount of discipline to be playing Stud at the lower levels with lots of callers and usually strong hands at showdown. My discipline for the game is generally good.
- Playing aggressively builds some big pots. I've not been shy with my strong hands.
What's not working yet:
- I get a sense of how more experienced players can better read the strength of their hand relative to other players. I ran into a couple stronger hands tonight that took a chunk of my stack. Granted, one of them was a full house on the river that was better than the full house I made on sixth street. That will happen.
- Playing aggressively can hurt when you're wrong or when you get outdrawn. With five betting rounds, there's plenty of room to go broke in one hand of betting. That's eight small sized bets if you bet on each street. It's only six small sized bets in Hold 'Em if you bet on each street. I played some hands more aggressively than they deserved relative to the other hands at the table. I got punished for it.
- I hesitate to raise on third street because I feel like I'm giving my whole hand away. Maybe should follow the advice of usually betting however strong (or weak) my hand appears to be. After all, it's Stud and the point is that over half of my hand is showing to the table.
I did not do very well at one place, but then when I went to the sportsbook, I felt like my friend's advice was good. There was not an aggressive player at the table. With four opponents, I'd call three of them calling stations. I stayed at the sportsbook for awhile hoping to recoup some of my loss from the original venue, and I did in the end.
Playing in card rooms against weak players is how you make money playing poker. But, I need a championship game by July and I won't get that against weak players. I believe I will mix some venues so that I get the financial benefit of playing against weak players, but the strategic benefit of playing against and learning from good players. Otherwise, I might make some money, but will be wholly unprepared for the WSOP in July!
I checked out the sportsbook Bowman's to follow up on my friend's advice that sportsbook poker players are not the best. Turns out (as you'd expect from any sportsbook's poker room) that it's part of a network of poker rooms, in this case Bossmedia's. I'm familiar with the Bossmedia layout from different poker rooms where I have accounts, so I don't know that my friend's advice was any good at all. After all, there were only two five-player Stud tables at the low limits and they were both full.
Ended up playing on Pacific for low limits:
Venue and Length of session: Pacific Poker, 1.5 hrs.
Game: Cash game, low limit, fixed limit
Profit/Loss: A little better than break even. I was up about a 20% return on my money but you'll see below how I lost most of it.
Comments:
- Played very tight. Started with the basic starting hands, including three suited cards which was not recommended in the reading I did. Three suited cards, I would see to fifth street. Folded small and medium pairs if my kicker wasn't at least a face card.
- When I played, it was very aggressive, so I stuck to the book.
- First sizable win: I had a pair of 9's with a suited 8. I raised on third street and bet on every round until I was heads up on the river. I got the flush on the river for the win, although my two pairs by then were probably good enough. Got action every round, including one caller at the end.
- Second big win: Pair of Aces, one in the hole. I put each of my two opponents on one pair apiece, so I bet every round (including a double-sized bet on fourth street) and eventually shook each of them on Sixth Street.
- Pride in Stud. People seem reluctant to give up when they have a pair showing. I vow to make them pay.
- First big loss: Another player made his flush in six cards where I made mine in my first five cards. I wasted a couple bets needlessly because I didn't believe he had the flush although he had the Ace of that suit showing. Didn't give him credit for it, but it wasn't for slowplaying my flush that I let him catch up. He was going to chase that flush on fifth street, and therein is one of the drawbacks of fixed limit poker, where sometimes, you cannot protect your hand. This point is even more accentuated in Stud where there are five betting rounds instead of four. Eventually, it's tough to fold some players out of some pots. That loss was almost equal in size to the two previous wins.
Lessons learned: Still a long ways to go to the WSOP, although this first session had promise. I believe I will play another 1-2 weeks of these low-limit games, practicing the tight and aggressive play proposed by the book. From there, I'll decide on moving up in levels to some more expensive games. Stay tuned!
If you aren't familiar with the rules of Seven Card Stud, click HERE to learn. It has its differences from Texas Hold 'Em, but plenty of similarities, too.
I just finished re-reading the chapter on Stud Poker in publisher TwoPlusTwo's The Fundamentals of Poker. This is meant to give me some solid starting advice and a refresher on the basics of Stud. Here are the lessons I will be taking (strictly or not) into my first few sessions.
Starting Play
'Rolled-up' trips: Naturally, if my first three cards are trips, I have a great hand. It could be beat by straights and flushes, but I want to win more than just antes with a hand like this, so I have to balance how aggressively I play them (considering the 1 in 425 times I'll be dealt this hand). If the table is loose, I'll play it aggressively. If the table is tight, or at least towards me, I'll have to stick-handle it.
Big pairs: Another strong hand, but played best against a small field. I'll need to be aggressive with a hand like this, because too many opponents means too many ways for my once-strong hand to become dominated.
Small pairs: These are tricky. If my kicker is high, preferably an Ace, I'll be inclined to chase the two-pair or trips against an opponent who likely has a higher pair. I can't get too aggressive with a hand like this, and I want little of others playing aggressively against me. This is a drawing hand, and not a terribly good one.
2-3 high cards: If I can chase a big pair against a small field, then I might take some chances on nothing more than big cards. The conditions need to be right (tight game, few callers ahead of me, no scare cards in anybody's hand), or I'm just giving my money away.
The Golden Rules of Stud Poker
No. 1: The most critical decision-making is done on third street and fifth street. Third street is the first betting round in Stud Poker (named because you've been dealt three cards ahead of this betting round), so much like Hold 'Em, an opportune time to throw away trash hands. Fifth street is the round where betting doubles in fixed limit Stud. It's like the Turn in Hold 'Em, it will become more expensive to stay in.
No. 2: Because there are five betting rounds in Stud, pot odds become all the more relevant. If I play on Third Street, it will generally be correct for me to play on Fourth Street. And if I play on Fifth Street, I should be prepared to play right up until the end (unless I'm clearly beat). Pots become big in Stud, so an understanding of pot odds is all the more relevant. Also, with the pot so big on the river (Seventh Street), there will be many hands where I simply cannot throw it away even if I'm relatively sure I'm beat.
No. 3: Know and remember my wanted cards. Chase live hands. Memory is very important in Stud, because as hands are folded, those face-up cards are flipped over. I have to always remember what I saw, and never lose sight of what it is I need to improve my hand. If I'm chasing a flush, and we've seen plenty of that suit in folded hands, I'm not chasing a live hand. Concentration is critical to Stud, and it will be a challenge for me to overcome what is a fairly short attention span.
No. 4: Charge for draws. Trips or worse can be strong hands, but against an opponent with a reasonable chance to make a straight or better, I have to play agressively. These hands play best against a small field and very aggressively. If I'm chasing a straight or better, I need lots of opponents and minimal betting to make it worth my while.
No. 5: High cards (Aces) have value. There's always the chance I can pair up a high card. High cards have value, especially an overcard to an opponent's pair.
No. 6: A player's board is his theatre. All poker involves an extent of story-telling, but in Stud, every player has four of their seven cards revealed to the table. Now, the player's betting has to tell a story that is believable given his revealed cards. And true to poker, this doesn't need to be an honest story. When I catch cards that make my hand look all the more dangerous, that is the opportunity to bluff in Stud. When an opponent catches a scare card, the pressure is on me to believe it or not. It's most scary when a player pairs up his door card, or first exposed card. The reason is because what's kept him in the round this long is probably the pair he has...now, they're trips. I seem to remember Mike Caro saying in his Fundamental Secrets book that it is often correct in Stud to bet in accordance with how strong your hand appears to be.
It's time to get down to action given these back to basics lessons. Next stop, the online Stud poker room to get my feet wet at some lower limits. I'll be sure to post back on how each session went.
The training plan right now is to build some strength (and bankroll) in low-limit play. Once I'm comfortable, I will move upward in the lower limits. Around that time, I will be picking up the book you see pictured to the left, also published by TwoPlusTwo. Seven Card Stud for Advanced Players, so I don't think I need that just yet.
Check back in soon! Bookmark any page here in Marc's WSOP Training Blog, so you can find it easily when you want to check back in on the training results.
I've decided on the following structure for making journal entries as training for the WSOP progresses:
Date, Time, Length of Session
Venue: Where did I play? Was it online or offline? Not a bad place to make evaluations on the competition at individual venues. Also looking to break bad offline habits from playing online, and vice versa.
Cash game or tournament: At first, I assumed getting my tournament experience from Texas Hold 'Em and cash game experience from Stud. I just didn't figure there were Stud tournaments online for some reason. One look at Poker Stars.net and I can see that they offer fixed limit Stud tournaments. So, I will need to specify the format of game I played in any session.
Betting structure and stakes
Profit/Loss: Obviously the important one. A substantial profit (or at least a good run of sessions) will prompt me to increase the level of stakes that I'm playing for. In my opinion, I need to be playing some medium-stakes Stud to be prepared for the WSOP event.
Comments: This is where I'll rant about how I won big pots and how I lost large sums of my money. How did I win? Why did I lose? What did I learn? How did I rank against the rest of the players?
Warming Up For the Training
Given the above structure of a poker journal, here is how I'll be warming up.
The Fundamentals of Poker is a very short book written by Mason Malmuth and Lynne Loomis. It's part of their series on 'gambling fundamentals'. This book offers a short chapter of very critical but condensed information on each popular variation of poker. By popular, I mean in the brick-and-mortar card rooms. I will be re-reading the chapter on Stud for a back to basics refresher. I assume it will put forward a very tight style of play. Once I'm familiar and comfortable with the basics, I will ease my way into a looser play than what the book proposes.
One option that I haven't made up my mind on is whether to buy Wilson Software's Turbo Seven Card Stud. If it's as good as Turbo Texas Hold'em, it would expedite getting the necessary experience with the game. I'm still undecided.
I've decided to go with three different online card rooms for play experience:
Poker Stars.net offers fixed limit Stud tournaments and fixed limit cash games for as low as 4/8 cents.
Check back in a few days, and I'll have an update on my first official training session. Less than six months until the WSOP!
Email this to a friend
I was staying at the Mirage this week and decided I must play some Stud in their Poker Room. This is part of my commitment to make sure I'm raising the bar on this WSOP training. Since I haven't played regular Stud live in a cardroom, this was my chance.
When I returned to the Poker Room, there was a full Stud table, and so, I played some 3-6 Hold 'Em while I waited for a seat to open. To my surprise, they had opened a second Stud table where I was seated after about 30 minutes of playing Hold 'Em. I'll be careful about how I word this next observation by saying that I was the only player at the table under 50 years old. The average age at the table was probably high 50's. If I needed the proof, Stud is an old-fashioned game. Today's younger players are playing Hold 'Em and for the most part, Hold 'Em only. I sat down with mostly Las Vegas locals who probably only play Stud and only play them for these low limits. Here's how it went:
Shawn Tompkins
It's time to get down to action given these back to basics lessons. Next stop, the online Stud poker room to get my feet wet at some lower limits. I'll be sure to post back on how each session went.
