Been a while and thought this one might be controversial. Seat 1 is new but was playing a ton of hands. Seat 2 is an OK player.

7 Card Stud High ($3/$6), Ante $0.50, Bring-In $1 (converter)

3rd Street - (1.17 SB)

Seat 1: xx xx J___completes
Seat 2: xx xx T___calls
Seat 3: xx xx 8___calls
Seat 4: xx xx K___folds
Seat 5: xx xx 6___brings-in___calls
Hero: 7 Q 7___calls___calls
Seat 7: xx xx 9___folds

4th Street - (6.17 SB)

Seat 1: xx xx J 9___raises
Seat 2: xx xx T 5___calls
Seat 3: xx xx 8 K___checks___folds
Seat 5: xx xx 6 4___checks___calls
Hero: 7 Q 7 9___bets___calls

5th Street - (7.08 BB)

Seat 1: xx xx J 9 3___checks___folds
Seat 2: xx xx T 5 J___checks___folds
Seat 5: xx xx 6 4 T___bets___calls
Hero: 7 Q 7 9 K___checks___raises

6th Street - (11.08 BB)

Seat 5: xx xx 6 4 T 2___calls $5 (all-in)
Hero: 7 Q 7 9 K 9___bets

River - (12.75 BB)

Seat 5: xx xx 6 4 T 2 xx___all-in
Hero: 7 Q 7 9 K 9 8

Total pot: (12.75 BB - $76.50)

The reads on seats 1 and 2 are good to know, but, uhm, what about seat 5?

A nut? Tighter than a drum?

If you play the hand, you made the correct move in popping it. Without knowing anything about seat 5, I dump the 7s here.

Seat 7 was brand new. I had an impression that he was pretty fishy but that was a hunch only.

I'm checking 4th as you are probably behind. Folding 5th for sure

If you play on Third, I think completing yourself is better than waiting for someone else to do it then passively calling along. Completion>folding>calling.

I like Fourth. Seat one's predictable raise gave everybody an opportunity to fold, and anybody who wasn't drawing real good did fold.

I also like Fifth. If the clubs got there you'd have found out about it, and if you made seat One fold Jacks, then that was a hand that could easily run you down.

Other than Third, I like it.

Ya on fourth I was really hoping for the raise from seat 1. It took him forever to decide though.

i usually fold third in this spot. But calling/raising isnt the end of the world.

fourth is sexy if you know seat one is going to raise.

It sure looks like people are drawing to flushes on fourth. what else could seat two and seat five have?

Even though the pot is quite big i would fold fifth.

Unlike most others I don't like the bet on 4th.

First, you have to take into account that you just caught a very dead card (the 9)
Next, you have to factor in the two suited bords behind you - both clubs and diamonds are quite live, and we have to give seat 2 credit for a real hand at least.
I think overall you're equity sucks here, so to make up for that you'll have to get it heads up with seat 1 a significant amount of the time. In my experience, this will just not be the case.
Also, if (as will happen often) one or both of the suited boards cold-call (assuming seat 1 raises of course), and then hit on 5th (as actually happened), you have made the pot very large, possibly to large to just fold.

Bottom line, I would try to keep the pot small and then re-evaluate on 5th.

As played, I think folding and raising on 5th are close, allthough I would lean towards folding having caught another deadish card, the K. If somone calls your raise, you're hand really sucks.

On third street, you're first to act after the bring-in, and everyone else has an unduplicated up-card higher than your Sevens. This has to be a fold, doesn't it?

The play of betting into the raiser in the hopes that he will raise and thin the field is one that I've grown fond of. I don't think that fourth street is the place for it, however. Your hand is pretty weak, and I really wouldn't expect to get it heads-up. I'd check and probably call one bet.

Not much value in getting it heads-up on fifth if the other guy already has a flush. I think you put a lot more money in this pot than you should have.

Here is the thinking behind the hand. This was a rare hand for me, in that I would not normally play it this way, but decided to play the players this time and not the cards so much. There are a couple of keys here. To begin with, Seat 2 is OK and we know each other well. I know that he thinks I am relatively tight and thinks I play OK - not sure how he got that idea .

Third - I called only, intending to fold if the king raised. All of my cards are live, and I am only outkicked by the king, so catching a queen and 7 puts me in a good spot. When seat 1 raises, I decided he could have anything, plus I have him outkicked so I don't mind playing against him HU if that turns out to be the outcome.

Forth - I don't like the flush draw, so I want him gone. I have nothing scary, so I am pretty sure seat one will raise, and if he doesn't seat 2 will to try and drive out the flush draw. I am not happy when the flush draw hangs around.

Fifth - Note that Mr. flush draw is really short stacked, so he can't hurt me TOO bad if he actually has the flush. I had a hunch that he could just as easily be playing a goofy gut shot or something, and I have two of the sevens he likely needs. One of seat 2's tens goes dead on fifth so I decided that it is even more likely he is playing air again. The pot is now big enough to make some kind of play worthwhile, hence the check raise. Both seat 1 and 2 have to call two cold in the face of possible flush and my check raise, that should indicate I have something respectable, especially considering I bet out on fourth. Seat 2 caught a jack, so seat 1's hand looks even deader now. Having seats 1 and 2 fold were not a surprise to me in this circumstance. After seat 5 just calls, the rest of the hand plays itself.

No one is folding a flush draw on fourth. No one. Do you fold in that guy's spot?

On fourth I was not convinced that the guy was pursuing a flush draw. If we was not, I was trying to eliminate the possibility that he was going to back into one. Lots of guys will fold to two bets with two suited up cards if he was not chasing a flush in the first place. And yes, if it really was a flush draw, no way he is folding there.

well played LOL

Well answered LOL