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Seven Card Stud 4th and 5th street: a pair that does not improve
Most of the time a pair does not improve on 4th street, and from 5th street the bets double, so the decisions about an unimproved pair are where much of the money in Stud goes in. What you can see is the opponent's board: a paired door card, an Ace that catches a low card and bets, or nothing scary. These pages give the heads-up solver's numbers for a pair of Kings, Queens, Jacks and Aces in those spots.
The spots, in one table
| Spot | Solver's main play (how often) | Worth (EV estimate, small bets) | Common advice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stud 4th street: unimproved Queens against 5-8 showing. Bet or check? | Bet (99.5%) | +2.69 | disagrees |
| Stud 4th street: Kings against a paired door card (5-5) that bets | Call (67.7%) | +1.73 | disagrees |
| Stud 4th street: Jacks against an Ace that catches a 5 and bets | Call (53.6%) | +1.72 best measured: raise +1.99 | no source |
| Stud 5th street: unimproved Aces against 6-8-4 showing. Bet or check? | Check (89.9%) | +3.64 | disagrees |
Heads-up limit Stud; "how often" is the solver's strategy, "worth" is measured from this decision on (fold = 0). Each spot page has the full table, the why and the method.
What the numbers add up to
Across the 4 single-decision spots here, the solver's main play puts more money in (completes, bets or raises) in 1, calls in 2, checks in 1.
A published answer was found for 3 of them; heads-up, the solver agrees with it in 0, partly agrees in 0 and disagrees in 3.
The costliest piece of common advice here, by the measured values: Stud 4th street: Kings against a paired door card (5-5) that bets. The advice says fold (0 small bets from here on); the solver's call measured +1.73, a gap of 1.73 small bets.
Closest calls (two plays worth about the same, so either is fine): Stud 4th street: unimproved Queens against 5-8 showing. Bet or check (bet or check); Stud 4th street: Kings against a paired door card (5-5) that bets (call or raise).
Not settled (the most frequent play is not the one that measured best; treat the gap as uncertain): Stud 4th street: Jacks against an Ace that catches a 5 and bets.
The spots
- In Seven Card Stud 4th street, my Queens (Q-Q-7) caught a 9 and my opponent (5 up) caught an 8. I act first: bet or check?
Heads-up, PokerToast's limit Stud solver bets with Queens and 7-9 showing against 5-8, first to act 99.5% of the time. - In Seven Card Stud 4th street, I have Kings (K-K-7, caught a 9); my opponent paired their door card (5-5) and bets. Call, raise or fold?
Heads-up, PokerToast's limit Stud solver calls with Kings and 7-9 showing against an open pair of 5s 68% of the time, and raises 32%. - In Seven Card Stud 4th street, I have Jacks (J-J-8, caught a 3); my opponent (Ace up) caught a 5 and bets. Call, raise or fold?
Heads-up, PokerToast's limit Stud solver calls with Jacks and 8-3 showing against A-5 54% of the time, and raises 46%. - In Seven Card Stud 5th street, I have Aces (A-A-7-9-2, no improvement); my opponent shows 6-8-4. I act first: bet or check?
Heads-up, PokerToast's limit Stud solver checks with unimproved Aces against 6-8-4 showing, first to act 90% of the time, and bets 10%.
Numbers from PokerToast's heads-up limit Stud solver, version S-9747144-20261006152555, looked up when this page was built (2026-10-19). Heads-up only; hand groups, not exact cards; EVs are measured estimates against an opponent who plays like the solver.