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 one more reason why seven card stud is a much more complex and difficult game then holdem. many things that are incorect in holdem are perfectly normal in seven card stud. for exapmle in holdem, when you have a huge drawing hand you want as many callers as possible, so you can get the action on your money. in stud things are different. this is because stud is not a community game. when you have a hand like: AD 3D JD and you door card is three and you are the force, you should raise as long as the boards contains2 or less of your flush outs. in most games you will get alot of decebt hands to fold thinking that you have to have wired aces or kings to raise here with a three in the door. hopefully you will  make it to three players or less and you will have fewer blockers to catch your flush. the one thing about three suited hands you have to realize is that you need to be able to get away from them if you blank on fourth and you cant get a free card. the only way you can bet at this point is if your sure you opponets will fold on the next street if you bet fifth. i would normallly just hope for a free card at this point if fourth doesn't help you.   

 anyone who plays at a certain level of competency in pot limit omaha can tell you that their is a vast difference between playing in a game with sharp, tough players, and playing against a bunch of jokers who have only played a couple of times. for these loose games i would not reccomend the playing style i am about to discuss. this is because novice omaha players often strongly over estimate the value of their hands. tihs makes so that weakness is hard to exploit when their more than willing to get their money in with any two cards. 
    now i am not saying dont play in loose PLO games! play in them as much as possible. what i am saying is the basic rule that most experienced players learn. dont try and play a finesse game against those who cant understand finesse. the beauty of these games is that your going to get paid off far more often than in a solid PLO game with tight players.    
        in a tight PLO game with  decent players, exploiting weakness is the name of the game. the semi-bluff becomes much more important. you need to be prepared to forcefully bet your hands and be willing to get it in with huge draws when you either: A. know your opponents are going to fold. or B.  are willing to gamble on a large enough draw.     
    example:   you are two off the gun in a 1-2 PLO game and are currently 9 handed. it is folded to you and you have 4H 5H AD KC. you limp and everyone folds to the cutoff who pots. the button calls and the blinds and everyone else fold  to you. yuou call and   the flop comes:   
      QH 10H 5D . in this situation the obvious decision is to srongly bet this pot, but you dont want to get all your money in on flop. tjhis is because if you continue to get potted and repotted, sonmeone is trying to find out if a small set is good most likely. smooth calling to the turn will put the fear of god into them. on the turn is when you need to excercise your power and steal. unless the board pairs. nearly any card wins you this pot against smart players. even cards that dont help you. a blank on the turn should be your sign to pot immediately. probably 80% of the  time you will take down the pot here with only a draw. a small set will be sure he is beat. the key to winning in the long run at tight omaha is utilizing theses type of plays. you have to go after the orphan pots

 i am a big fan of mixed games and one of the things that drives me up the wall are people who severely missplay in omaha high and then come to me asking how things could have gone so wrong.  they sit their with thier jaws nearly hitting the floor, agasp and in shock that they have been busted. this tends to happen in omaha when you call a raise preflop with   9C 4H KD 3H    and then the flop hits  9 9 4 and said player procceeds to check. DO NOT DO THIS!! in limit omaha high and especially PLO you have to bet this flop. you cannot check in omaha in most spots unless yopu have stone nuts and want to induce action. otherwise you are asking people to hjit a free card like an ace on turn and shove aces full down your throat.  to all novice omaha players, it is not a game built upon slowplaying. bet your hands and get the players to fold their higher pocket pairs or at least make them pay to see a card. that way even if you lose, you will have made them pay negative value to hit their card and thus you profit in the longrun.   next blog: discussing  when not to bet or raise with second or third nuts in omaha high