Great Stud Hands

Stud, stud and more stud. That was my night last night, as Baby Hammer was up much of the night as she gets over a bout of roseola. Yes that sounds like some kind of beautiful flower, but it's actually quite sucky. Three or four days of a high fever usually above 103 degrees, followed by a rash that spreads from the head and face down to the limbs just as the fever breaks. Luckily, we're through the worst of it, baby's temperature is back down to normal now, so all that is good. But there are still the lingering sleep issues which I imagine will take another day or two to work themselves out as she gets used to sleeping normally, at normal times and straight through the night once again. It's one of those things that no one ever tells you about training a kid to sleep through the night before you have kids -- even when they learn to sleep straight through, they don't really "get it" for a long time after that, and you'll be up with them countless times as they get older and continue from time to time to just wake up and want to get out of bed. Ahh good times.

So, since I didn't have time to get on the computer until late in the night, I skipped the usual mtt action and jumped right to my latest passion -- 7-stud hilo cash, $2-$4 limit. I have managed to make this game my own personal ATM this week, turning a profit in 4 out of 5 sessions since moving up from 1-2 to 2-4 limit earlier this week. And last night was no exception, as I started off on my second hand of the night winning my new biggest hilo pot ever online with one of the best possible hands one can have in hilo:



That's right. Not just a wheel. Better than a wheel. It's a wheel for low, and a 7-high straight on the high side. Nothing like Ace through Seven in your 7-card hand in hilo. Especially when it scoops you a $51 pot to start things off right.

About 15 minutes later or so, I bet strong when I made two medium pairs on 6th street, and got a call from a guy who would have needed to be perfect underneath to be going low, and I had a feeling from the betting that he didn't have a better two pair than mine. He called, we got some good money in the pot, and then this came on 7th street for me:



Again, nothing like a boat on the river in hilo stud, in particular when another player is going high and especially when you think you already had their high hand beaten already, but now you're sure. Another big pile of chips sliding my way.

And that was when I hit the big time. The granddaddy of all starting hilo hands. Which incidentally also happens to be the granddaddy of all starting stud high hands. That's right:



God you have got to love rolled up trips. Especially rolled-up Aces. If you play a lot of stud, you know how rare it is to ever get rolled up trips. In fact, I believe the odds are that you will receive rolled-up trips one time in every 425 stud hands dealt. And only 1 in 13 of those times will be rolled-up Aces. So what you're looking at here is a 1 in 5500+ shot at being dealt the very best possible starting hand in any form of stud poker. And I made sure to take advantage as best I could, waiting until the bets got big on 5th street before betting out strong with my likely winning high hand. And in this case, I hit the best of all possible worlds, as my up-cards after the Ace came all 8 or lower, giving the very clear indication that I was going low, and not high. This is where you really want to be with a hand like rolled-up Aces, because, when you don't start betting hard until 5th street, there is virtually no way for the other players to put you on the high hand that you really have. In the end:



I nailed this hand, making both my trip Aces for high as well as an 8-low on the river, scooping me yet another nice pot and sliding $48 over my way. And what a string of cards for stud hilo. In the end, this was another $53 profit for me over maybe just 60 minutes or so. The good times just keep on rolling in for me at the virtual stud tables.

OK that's it for today. I am about halfway through my post for Monday, which will be the first part of the new strategy post I've been working up. The teaser is that it will detail how I like to play middle pairs in no-limit holdem. Have a great weekend, and maybe I'll see you online at some point -- come check me out at the 2-4 stud hilo tables if you're around and I'll be happy to show you how to beat on donkeys.