I’ve been playing Caribbean Stud poker for nearly 13 years and during this period I had taken many decisions related to betting most of the times I had been successful and few times I am not. Here I am sharing some information about when to bet and when not to bet.
Never call the first bet on two high cards unmatched in any way. Fold an 8 and a high card. An ace is a powerful card in this game, and a hidden pair of aces sometimes creates a very deceptive situation. In a seven- or eight-man game, most of the cards are used if four or five players stay to the end. Consequently, it is most important to be alert and remember the cards that have been turned. It is not an uncommon problem, for example, to be holding 2<: 7, 3. 4, 7, J in your first five cards. You are now faced with a critical problem of whether to discard the jack and try for low or to discard the 3 and try for a heart Hush. No such problem arises in seven-card high-low. You raise and sit back smugly waiting for the Hush, the low or both to come in. If you make neither, you may also win half the pot because of the situation you created by rising.
In making the decision of whether to go for the Hush or low, you must weigh all the available evidence. Had you seen no cards other than your own, you would know that a 7 low can be made with anyone of twelve remaining cards-four aces, four 5s and four 6s. There are only nine more hearts, so the low would be the better gamble. But, of course, you do see the table and you have noted the cards that were folded-at least those that concern you. Only three hearts have been exposed and you have seen three aces, two 5s and one 6. That means there are six low cards and six hearts-a toss-up.
But that doesn't end the problem. Will a Hush win? Will any '7 low win? What about an 8 low? Study the table again. Another player looks as though he is going Hushing, and if he hits it, hells have an ace-high Hush. On the other hand, 7, 6 might into make it, as one of the guys has bet strongly on what looks like a 7, 5 possibility. And so it goes-for this problem and for a number of others that come up in this game.
Generally it takes a good hand to win. Consequently you don't go for 8 low or expect 9s and 7s to win high unless the board suggests little competition in that direction. An important point of decision is after the fifth card is dealt. The earlier betting is ordinarily mild. From this point on, it will cost plenty. If you hold A., 7V', J 0, 4, Q" after the fifth card, you need two good draws to make a low. Furthermore, you may make the 7 low and lose, which is sad indeed. There is little in the world as pitiful as the guy who drew the card he wanted and lost anyway.
Not long ago I held two pair, 10s and 6s after the fifth card.
I dropped! The competition for high looked tough. The 10s and 6s were dead. My investment was small and it was the best action. The high side was won by a player trying to improve a pair of kings, which he never did. Another prospective high failed to make a straight on three tries. A hand that looked like a flush went low instead, as the low competition was light. The low winner made it by breaking a pair. As my cards were dead, I would not have traded, so all the draws would have been the same if I had stayed. I would have won the high. My two pair had been on the table for the entire world to see. My reputation had been damaged, but I'm sure that my pocketbook had not. If the same exact situation were repeated thousands of times with all the unseen cards considered in all possible combinations, I am satisfied that my action would prove to be the winning one. In short, I made the correct percentage play and happened to get hit with one of the instances when the result went against the odds. Long shots do come in occasionally.
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