Why has 7 card stud died out and what did the old timers like so much about the game? (3 Viewers)

[legend672]

One of my groups loves follow the queen. They do 50 buy ins with $2 antes per person (ridiculous, I know). I told them I want to sit out of those and caught a bunch of shit. I said fine, what's the betting structure. They said there isn't one... So now I fold or just open shove if I have a queen in the first 4 cards. It takes 20 minutes to play a hand.

 

[ThrowBack]

I’ve actually put a lot of thought into this question and saw a cross posted on Reddit.

I truly think like most American sports. No limit hold ‘em wins because it makes for a better television. I watched seven card stud on WSOP this year, and it would be hard for a non-player to even begin to follow along

Combine this with set limit, and longer gameplay. It doesn’t do the casino any favors. They are always always always going to make the most room and pump the game that they can rake the hardest.

This overall has pumped an action culture. How many card rooms do you go into have UFC, football, and other fast paced action going on around them.

Seven card stud slows things down, and when you think about it, you think of the judges and rounders, cowboys, World War II, veterans, and old Italian sitting around in delis. Generally a slow paced group that is not exactly trying to maximize how many hands per hour are being dealt.

 

[Johnblue]

When I first started playing (mid 1990’s) I played 7 stud at Hollywood park because it was the only $1-2 game they had and I could go with $40 and a dream.

Even back then it was geriatric… and only a small percentage of tables were stud. The floor was mostly limit hold ‘em then.

I think you would have to go back pretty far back to find a time when stud was the dominant game.

70s maybe? We are talking 60 years ago.

 

[legend672]

Played in a big 7 stud tournament about 20 years ago that was cool. Always was a cash game, but very interesting in a tournament format. Bring in kept getting bigger. Finished second to some college pitcher who just got drafted. Got it all in with trip jacks vs trip deuces after 3 cards and they held to put me in position. Kid hit an open ender to win it finally

 

[rjbf65]

Last cash game we did Dealers Choice and I called for 7 Card Stud hi/lo. We played as pot limit. Everyone ante .25 and the bring in was .25. It was lots of fun! We also did follow the queen that evening as well which was also good but I'm generally not a fan of wild cards, especially if the wild can change within a hand.

 

[grebe]

Last cash game we did Dealers Choice and I called for 7 Card Stud hi/lo. We played as pot limit. Everyone ante .25 and the bring in was .25. It was lots of fun! We also did follow the queen that evening as well which was also good but I'm generally not a fan of wild cards, especially if the wild can change within a hand.

you had me until "follow the queen". What a gross game.

 

[rjbf65]

you had me until "follow the queen". What a gross game.

I'm with you. It was fine for the one orbit we played but I'd prefer to stay away from having any games with wild cards.

 

[ekricket]

With Holden you can play along even if you have folded and get some kind of “validation” for your folds. You are interested till the end because you want to see if you made the right choice. Your are vested in it and you can see how the outcome might have affected you.
You can’t do that in stud, once players fold the card order is too hard to follow so everybody loses interest as soon as they fold.

I think this is one of the reasons behind the Holdem boom. A minor reason for sure, but I think it played into it.

 

[Jimulacrum]

The popularity of games follows the easy money, i.e., whatever recreational players want to play.

Hold'em is a beginner's game. That's why it has so thoroughly beaten 7 Card Stud, which is a more complex game with more room for skilled play. Hold'em is super-easy to pick up, and you can teach a new player a basic starting strategy in a few minutes. Stud's a little harder, and there's a lot more to pay attention to.

The limit structure is also a negative factor. Limit is a way better structure for recreational players, but it lacks the short-term novelty and excitement that no-limit betting offers, even though it torches through their poker funds at light speed.

I think even if 7 Card Stud were offered NL or PL (4th and 5th street dealt at once, by the way), Hold'em would still win out. Hell, I love poker and am happy to play any variant under the sun, but straight-up high Stud is near the bottom of the list for me (near Razz).

 

[Taghkanic]

At one of the home games I play in, a few rounds of Stud 7 (limit, hi/low) sometimes get dealt later on, especially if the host is bored or stuck…

I hated the game at first, but have won some pretty good money in it, so I’m liking it better… for now.

Only two of the regs in that game have much experience with stud, so it is surely much softer than normal. I’m sure I’d get eaten alive by real stud aficionados.

The casual players who don’t make enough effort to remember the exposed hands which got discarded give an immediate edge to those paying close attention. But I assume this edge is slim to none in games with seasoned stud players.

Both the hi/low and limit structures mean that people stick around much longer than they probably should.

Anyway, I wouldn’t want to play it too often, but it does make for a sort of late night palate cleanser, after you’ve been grinding NLHE for hours on end.

 

[Jimulacrum]

At one of the home games I play in, a few rounds of Stud 7 (limit, hi/low) sometimes get dealt later on, especially if the host is bored or stuck…

I hated the game at first, but have won some pretty good money in it, so I’m liking it better… for now.

Only two of the regs in that game have much experience with stud, so it is surely much softer than normal. I’m sure I’d get eaten alive by real stud aficionados.

The casual players who don’t make enough effort to remember the exposed hands which got discarded give an immediate edge to those paying close attention. But I assume this edge is slim to none in games with seasoned stud players.

Both the hi/low and limit structures mean that people stick around much longer than they probably should.

Anyway, I wouldn’t want to play it too often, but it does make for a sort of late night palate cleanser, after you’ve been grinding NLHE for hours on end.

I don't like Stud or Razz, but Stud High-Low is one of my favorite games. Get people over their initial jitters and it's a lot of fun.