PokerToast · study tools for mixed-game poker
Stud 8 (Stud Hi-Lo, eight or better) strategy and study tools
Stud 8 is Seven Card Stud split between the best high hand and the best low hand of 8 or better (if anyone has one). Scooping both halves is the goal.
PokerToast is a study tool for mixed-game players: you practice decisions and see what a trained solver does. There is no real-money play.
Stud 8 starting hands: what the solver does
The heads-up solver's most frequent play in 11 common 3rd-street spots. "How often" is a mix: the solver plays some hands more than one way. "Not settled" means another play measured better, so treat that answer as uncertain. Each row opens the full answer: the solver's numbers, how they were made, and the common advice where we found one.
Stud 8 starting hands, heads-up| Spot | Solver's main play (how often) |
|---|
| Stud 8: complete A-2-3 suited against a deuce bring-in? | Complete, 95.4% |
| Stud 8: you are the bring-in with A-2-3 suited. Bring in or complete? | Bring in (minimum), 93.1% |
| Stud 8: you complete A-2-3, the deuce bring-in re-raises. Cap, call or fold? | Cap (re-raise), 98.3% |
| Stud 8: 3-4-5 (no Ace) against a deuce bring-in. Complete? | Complete, 99.8% |
| Stud 8: a rough low draw (8-7-6) against a deuce bring-in. Complete? | Complete, 98.1% |
| Stud 8: A-2 in the hole with a King up against a 3 bring-in. Complete, call or fold? | Call the bring-in, 97.0% |
| Stud 8: a pair of Aces with a 4 against a deuce bring-in. Complete? | Complete, 98.7% |
| Stud 8: a pair of Queens on 3rd street against a deuce bring-in | Call the bring-in, 62.1% |
| Stud 8: a pair of 8s with a 4 against a deuce bring-in. Complete? | Complete, 99.4% |
| Stud 8: play K-Q-J against a deuce bring-in? | Fold, 77.2% |
| Stud 8: three high suited cards (K-Q-9) against a deuce bring-in. Complete, call or fold? | Call the bring-in, 96.9% |
Numbers from PokerToast's own trained solver (version E-7862000-20261005095629): trained by self-play, not a solved game; heads-up limit only; similar hands are grouped, so a number is for the group, not your exact cards. All of these spots in one table, with what each play is worth.
What PokerToast's solver knows about Stud 8
PokerToast trained its own Stud 8 solvers for limit betting (at most four bets per street) by self-play (Monte Carlo counterfactual regret minimization). A solver learns how often to fold, check, call, bet or raise in each situation, and then each play's value is measured by playing the situation out many times.
- Heads-up (2 players): Trained and in use (47,383 situations learned, 7,862,000 training iterations). For each decision it looks at the street; your high hand (and flush draw); your low (made, or how many low cards you have and how many of the ones you need are dead); your opponent's board (a pair or an ace showing, and how many high cards they have for the low); the pot; and the betting so far on this street.
- 3-handed: Trained and in use (301,198 situations learned, 17,428,140 training iterations). Built the same way, against the strongest live high board and the live board with the fewest high cards, and also looks at how many opponents are left and how many act after you. Honest note: in our own tests this first 3-handed version still loses to a simple rule bot (about 0.29 small bets a hand, give or take 0.15) because it gives up value against players who call too much, so treat its 3-handed advice as a first draft while we improve it.
Limits, honestly: the solvers group similar hands together, so their numbers are for the group, not your exact cards; they play limit only; there is no solver for 4 or more players yet; and every "worth" number assumes an opponent who plays like the solver, not like the players at your table.
Real example spots
These are recent Daily Spots for Stud 8: hands dealt by the Bot Lab engine, with the decision picked and graded by the trained heads-up solver. The answers are hidden until you open them.
Example 1: Stud 8, 5th street
Daily Spot #13 (2026-10-17)
Stud 8, heads-up, limit 20/40. 5th street. You: (Kh) (6s) 2c Qs Ts. Opponent shows 9h 8c 7h. 3rd: you bring in, opponent calls. 4th: you check, opponent checks. 5th: you check, opponent bets. Pot 56. Your move: Fold / Call / Raise.
What would you do? Decide first, then open the answer.
Show the solver's answer
| Play | How often | Worth (chips) |
|---|
| Fold | 100% | +0 |
| Raise | <1% | -9.3 |
| Call | <1% | -12.4 |
The solver folds 100% of the time.
In plain words: you have no pair (king high) and two low cards (6-2). Your opponent shows 9h 8c 7h.
Why fold: even the best way to continue (raising) loses about 9.3 chips on average from here, so the 56 chips already in the pot do not pay for going on with this hand.
"Worth" is what each play wins or loses on average from here on, compared with folding (0), measured in 502 play-outs of this situation, against an opponent who plays like the solver.
Example 2: Stud 8, 6th street
Daily Spot #12 (2026-10-16)
Stud 8, heads-up, limit 20/40. 6th street. You: (Jh) (Ac) 5c Jd 3c Kh. Opponent shows 3s 7h Qc 4c. 3rd: opponent brings in, you call. 4th: you check, opponent bets, you raise, opponent calls. 5th: opponent bets, you raise, opponent calls. 6th: you check, opponent bets. Pot 296. Your move: Fold / Call / Raise.
What would you do? Decide first, then open the answer.
Show the solver's answer
| Play | How often | Worth (chips) |
|---|
| Call | 100% | +78.4 |
| Raise | <1% | +70.4 |
| Fold | 0% | +0 |
The solver calls 100% of the time.
In plain words: you have a pair of jacks and three low cards (5-3-A). Your opponent shows 3s 7h Qc 4c.
Why call: calling is worth about 8 chips more than raising, so putting more chips in does not pay here; folding would give up the 78.4 chips that calling wins on average, so the 296-chip pot is worth fighting for.
"Worth" is what each play wins or loses on average from here on, compared with folding (0), measured in 4,888 play-outs of this situation, against an opponent who plays like the solver.
Example 3: Stud 8, 7th street
Daily Spot #11 (2026-10-15)
Stud 8, heads-up, limit 20/40. 7th street. You: (4d) (Qd) Td Js Ac Ts (3c). Opponent shows 6c 9d 3h 4s. 3rd: opponent brings in, you call. 4th: you bet, opponent calls. 5th: you check, opponent bets, you call. 6th: you check, opponent bets, you call. 7th: you check, opponent bets. Pot 256. Your move: Fold / Call / Raise.
What would you do? Decide first, then open the answer.
Show the solver's answer
| Play | How often | Worth (chips) |
|---|
| Call | 100% | +48 |
| Raise | <1% | +18.6 |
| Fold | 0% | +0 |
The solver calls 100% of the time.
In plain words: you have a pair of tens and three low cards (4-3-A). Your opponent shows 6c 9d 3h 4s.
Why call: calling is worth about 29.4 chips more than raising, so putting more chips in does not pay here; folding would give up the 48 chips that calling wins on average, so the 256-chip pot is worth fighting for.
"Worth" is what each play wins or loses on average from here on, compared with folding (0), measured in 4,341 play-outs of this situation, against an opponent who plays like the solver.
The Bot Lab for Stud 8
- Play Stud 8 against bots at a table of 2 to 6 players (log in first): every Bot Lab game is on the Study plan.
- Heads-up at the default limit stakes, the bot plays the trained solver strategy.
- 3-handed at the default limit stakes, the bots play the 3-handed solver strategy. Bigger tables use simple rule bots.
- Bot personalities: shark, fish, rock and maniac (or a secret mix), to practice against different styles.
- Hints (Pro plan): while you play, how often the solver takes each action and what each is worth, where a solver exists for your table size (free accounts: 1 a day).
- My hands (Pro plan): your decisions compared with the solver (every spot it has learned), a skill score (chips lost per 100 hands compared with the solver) and your playing style.
- Table read: each opponent's likely style, the plays that gave it away, and how to adjust.
The Calculator for Stud 8
- The Research Calculator (PC site): lists every hand an opponent could hold in Stud 8, lets you narrow them down into a range, and works out your equity against it, street by street.
- Its Solver tab: for a heads-up limit spot you set up, how often the solver takes each action and what each is worth (free accounts: 3 lookups a day; the Study plan has no limit).
- The free Stud 8 equity calculator: your cards against your opponents' up cards or the board, worked out on the server, no sign-up.
- The free equity calculator: your cards against your opponents' cards, no sign-up: open it for Stud 8.
Try it
Today's Stud 8 Daily Spot Free equity calculator Open PokerToast
Bot Lab: open PokerToast, log in, choose Play Bots, then pick Stud 8 and the number of players.
Other games: Razz · Stud · Hold'em · Omaha 8
Solver answers to common Stud 8 questions: the Stud 8 Reference.