PokerToast · study tools for mixed-game poker
In Seven Card Stud, should I slowplay or raise rolled-up trips on third street (8-8-8 against a deuce bring-in)?
Heads-up, PokerToast's limit Stud solver just calls the bring-in with rolled-up 8s against a deuce bring-in 99.7% of the time.
The spot
- Game: heads-up limit Stud, 3rd street.
- You: (8♠ 8♦) 8♣ (down cards in brackets): three 8s ("rolled up"): trips on 3rd street.
- Your opponent: shows a 2 and brought in (up: 2♥).
- Pot before this street: 0.3 small bets (the antes).
- Pot size and the numbers: the solver groups pots by size: its numbers here are averages over every pot of up to 1.5 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) |
|---|---|---|
| Call the bring-in | 99.7% | +3.98 |
| Complete | 0.3% | +3.57 |
| Fold | 0.0% | +0.00 |
Measured on 1,230 play-outs of this situation. The highlighted row is the play that measured best.
Why, in plain words
Call the bring-in is worth about 0.41 small bets more than complete, so putting more chips in does not pay here; folding would give up the 3.98 small bets that call the bring-in wins on average from here on.
One limit of the model: here, when you just call, the street ends; under real rules the bring-in could still complete. That makes calling look a little better than it is, so where calling and completing are close, completing is at least as good.
What popular strategy articles say
Mostly raise, especially with medium or high trips; slowplay mainly small trips.
What AI search answers said when we asked this question on 2026-10-08. They cited strategy articles written mostly between about 2007 and 2013, and most of that advice is for full-ring games with several players in the pot.
Heads-up, the solver disagrees: it practically never chooses the recommended play (complete); its main play is call the bring-in (99.7%).
Measured value from here on: call the bring-in +3.98 small bets, complete +3.57.
The 3-handed solver doesn't follow the common advice either (it just calls the bring-in 99.9%).
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.
3-handed (the bring-in shows a 2 and a third player showing a Ten is still to act behind you), PokerToast's 3-handed solver just calls the bring-in 99.9% of the time. So the heads-up answer holds with three players.
| Play | How often (strategy) | Worth from here on (EV estimate, small bets) |
|---|---|---|
| Call the bring-in | 99.9% | +6.15 |
| Complete | 0.1% | +5.50 |
| Fold | 0.0% | +0.00 |
From the 3-handed limit Stud solver, trained 14,496,030 iterations, exported 2026-10-05 20:53:00, 150,064 situations (version S33-14496030-20261005205300); measured on 544 play-outs.
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:
0|T|-+|S|i), 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 3rd street: pairs, three-flushes and three-straights
More Stud spots: Stud: a pair of 5s, you brought in with a 2, an Ace completes · 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? · Stud 4th street: unimproved Queens against 5-8 showing. Bet or check?