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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.
The spot
- Game: heads-up limit Stud, 4th street.
- You: (Q♠ Q♦) 7♣ 9♥ (down cards in brackets): a pair of Queens in the hole with 7-9 showing: one pair, no improvement.
- Your opponent: called your completion with a 5 up and caught an 8; your 9-high board is the highest, so you act first (up: 5♥ 8♣).
- Pot before this street: 2.3 small bets.
- Pot size and the numbers: the solver groups pots by size: its numbers here are averages over every pot of between 1.5 and 5 small bets at this point, so in exactly this pot they would be a little different.
The solver's numbers
| Play | How often (strategy) | Worth from here on (EV estimate, small bets) |
|---|---|---|
| Bet | 99.5% | +2.69 |
| Check | 0.5% | +2.61 |
Measured on 2,163 play-outs of this situation. The highlighted row is the play that measured best.
Why, in plain words
Bet and check are worth about the same here (0.09 small bets apart, within the measuring noise of about 0.19), so neither is a real mistake; the solver's usual choice is to bet (99.5%).
What popular strategy articles say
Most of the time a pair does not improve on 4th street (about 9 to 1 against); take a passive approach when the hand does not improve.
What strategy articles found by web search said on 2026-10-08 (PokerNews, Card Player, PokerStrategy, pokerskill and similar; mostly written between about 2007 and 2015, and mostly for full-ring games with several players in the pot).
Heads-up, the solver disagrees: it chooses the recommended play (check) only 0.5% of the time; its main play is bet (99.5%).
By the measured values, though, the two plays are worth about the same (within 0.09 small bets), so the common advice is not a real mistake here, just not the solver's usual choice.
Measured value from here on: bet +2.69 small bets, check +2.61.
Heads-up vs multiway
The numbers above are for heads-up play (two players). Most published advice is written for full-ring games with several players in the pot, so part of any difference can come from that.
How these numbers were made
From PokerToast's own heads-up limit Stud solver, trained 9,747,144 iterations, exported 2026-10-06 15:25:55, 30,546 situations (version S-9747144-20261006152555). It learned by self-play (Monte Carlo counterfactual regret minimization) for limit betting, at most four bets a street.
- How often is the solver's average strategy for this situation.
- Worth (EV) is an estimate measured after training by playing the situation out many times against the solver's own strategy: small bets won or lost from this decision on, compared with folding (0). It assumes an opponent who plays like the solver.
- Hand groups: the solver groups similar hands, so the numbers are for the group (here:
1|PQ|-+|M|), not only these exact cards. For each decision it looks at the street; your made hand (straight or better, trips, two pair, or a pair grouped by rank, and whether a card of your pair's rank shows on your opponent's board); your flush and straight draws that are still live; your opponent's board (a pair showing, high cards, three suited cards) and whether your hand beats it; the pot; and the betting so far on this street. - Stakes: ante 0.15 small bets per player, bring-in 0.25, a completion or bet on 3rd and 4th street is 1 small bet, 2 from 5th street.
- Looked up when this page was built (2026-10-19); a newly trained solver changes the page and its version number.
Practice it
Your equity with these cards Today's Stud Daily Spot Open PokerToast
Part of: Seven Card Stud 4th and 5th street: a pair that does not improve
More Stud spots: Stud: a pair of 5s, you brought in with a 2, an Ace completes · Stud: rolled-up 8s on 3rd street. Slowplay or raise? · Stud: Kings in the hole, an Ace completes your bring-in · Stud: a split pair of 4s with a 9 kicker against a deuce bring-in. Complete, call or fold? · Stud: a three-flush with a King (K-9-4 of hearts) against a deuce bring-in. Complete or call? · Stud: a three-straight (9-10-J) against a deuce bring-in. Complete or call? · Stud: a pair of Tens, you brought in with a 9, an Ace completes · Stud: Aces in the hole, a King completes your bring-in. Call or re-raise? · Stud 4th street: Kings against a paired door card (5-5) that bets · Stud 5th street: unimproved Aces against 6-8-4 showing. Bet or check? · Stud: split Queens against a deuce bring-in. Complete? · Stud 4th street: Jacks against an Ace that catches a 5 and bets · Stud: brought in with K-Q-2, an 8 completes. Fold? · Stud: Kings in the hole, an 8 completes your bring-in. Call or re-raise?