It’s important not to get tunnel vision on Sixth Street,  but to realize that every situation is unique.  Very often,  checking or calling will be the right play.  If on a draw,  seeing the River card is the right move the vast majority of the time.

If you have a decent hand you think may be best but aren’t sure,  you call and see the River for as few chips as possible unless it’s obvious you are beat.  That being said,  there will be times when you will want to fire chips into the pot even when you know a call is certain,  and will need to ignore the voice that whispers to you,  “Call,”  when the odds are stacked against you.

Folding? (Gasp!)  The thought of folding on 6th Street is inconceivable to many stud players.  Most of the time,  you are not going to fold your hand,  because even if you are behind there is enough in the pot to justify seeing the River.  If it’s a draw,  you should stay involved to

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One situation where you need to consider getting away from your hand is when you hold two pair that was the best hand,  but now no longer is.  For instance,  let’s say you are in a three-way pot in a low-stakes stud game.  You started with pocket 10s,  and picked up a pair of treys along the way to give you tens-up.  Your hand is now Th Tc 4d 3c 3h Qs.

You’ve been playing the hand hard,  completing the bring-in on Third Street,  and getting chips in the pot on Fourth and Fifth streets,  trying to protect it.  Alas,  a player has now paired his 4th Street card,  and is showing 4h Jd 5h Js on the board. We’ll give this player Jacks-up,  as he is one of those typical calling stations you will run into at the lower limits who couldn’t get away from his pocket pair,  which is 7d 7h.

The third player involved in the pot picked up four to a flush,  but missed the fifth card she needed on 5th and again now on 6th Street.  She holds 2c 5c 9c Ac 8d Kh.  The Jacks come out and bet,  and the action is to you.  Many players,  especially at the low limits,  will call without hesitation in this situation.  Doing that,

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If the player who paired up has been staying with you this long,  odds are he has had a pair,  and has been hoping to make trips or a big two pair.  He shouldn’t have stayed this long,  but unfortunately he did and is now in front,  so you need to get away from the hand.  If you and the two other players involved in the pot stayed to the River,  you would win about 17% of the time;  the four-flush would win 16% of the time and the Jacks-up would take down the pot 67% of the time.  You may try to justify calling based on pot odds,  but the odds against you filling up are about 10-to-1,  meaning you aren’t getting good enough odds on your draw to stay involved.  A call on the river if you felt your opponent had your tens-up beat would be fine as it costs you one bet,  but calling on Sixth and Seventh streets when you need to fill up to win  (and hope your opponent doesn’t fill up with Jacks)  is a losing play.  Only call on Sixth if you have been observing your opponent and know he is very loose-aggressive,  meaning he’ll stay past Fifth with a three-flush hoping to catch two running cards,  and will bet any big pair.  (As a side note,  were you the player with the four-flush in this situation,  a call would be okay.  Even though you are a dog,  if you miss your draw you will not have to pay off on the River,  and there would be enough in the pot to justify one bet).

Another situation where you need to make a difficult laydown on Sixth is when you are caught between two players who have a pair showing and a raising war has broken out.  This can apply even to a made hand such as a flush or straight.  Such a situation is very undesirable.  For instance,  you hold a heart flush.  A player with a pair of sixes showing comes out and bets,  you raise,  and a pair of fours showing re-raises;  the sixes call,  and now the action is back to you.  Many poker players in this situation make the crying call,  ignoring the clear warning signs that one of the players  (likely the fours here)  has filled up.  Note,  however,  the key phrase  “raising war.”  A flush is a solid hand,  and you can’t have a defeatist attitude assuming you will lose because an opponent has paired his doorcard and comes out and quickly bets.  You must raise and if your opponent re-raises you, you can consider folding based on the type of player he is.  Is he the loose-aggressive type who will bet heavily with a big pair showing?  Or is he a tight player,  only coming out when he has a monster hand?  If loose-aggressive,  go ahead and call,  but if a calling station suddenly steps on the accelerator or rock starts banging away with a re-raise,  you need to strongly consider a fold.  When you hold a flush draw,  it is typically playable on Sixth Street,  even if two players have pairs showing,  if it’s not going to cost you more than one bet to see the River.  If it’s two bets or more,  you have to carefully assess your situation and make your decision based upon what you have observed your opponents doing in previous hands.

Don’t be second best.  The above example illustrates having a flush behind a probable full house,  but what about when another potential flush is on the board?  When an opponent holds three or four suited cards and has been banging away since 5th Street,  you need to fold if his possible flush is higher than your draw unless you have an out for the straight flush.  When you have a made flush,  you can hang with the three- or four-flush showing unless there is heavy action from a pair showing.

For instance,  an open pair of Kings bets,  the four-flush raises,  you call and the Kings re-raise.  Again,  this is a strong sign of a full house.  But if the Kings merely called,  you would not want to dump your flush unless the four-flush had an Ace showing and you believed he had made his flush and was not just trying to buy the pot.  Having the flush made,  you must be very certain you are beat,  and here should call the potential bigger flush and call again on the river unless you pick up a card improving the strength of your flush  --  in which case you will raise.

One more note on flushes:  Look at that door card!  Just as a paired door card is a strong sign of trips,  a player who has two suited cards matching the suit of his doorcard and comes out betting is very often on a flush.

Aggression.  Because drawing hands are not going to fold,  many players who have a solid hand like Kings-up,  trips or even a straight will give a free card on Sixth Street,  fearing that their opponent might hit her bigger hand on the River and not wanting to lose two bets if their hand hits.  This is a mistake.  If you are a favorite in the hand going into the River,  take advantage of the odds and bet.  Remember,  these hands don’t come along all that often,  so you need to play them.  Your aggression with a bet  (but not a raise,  unless you are certain you are in front or hold a monster)  may get a marginal draw to fold, such as an inside-straight draw. If this hand were to hit,  it would beat your straight.

You can also try for a check-raise if you have trips or better,  when you have a maniac at the table who loves to bet anytime he has a big pair showing.  He won’t fold,  and will pay you off on the River.  A maniac is rarely smart enough to fold when the cookie jar is there, full.

My money’s in there!  At the end of the film The Sting,  (warning: spoiler ahead)  Doyle Lonnegan screams,  “My money’s in there!”  as he’s leaving the underground horse-betting parlor after having been  “stung”  by Kelly and Shaw.  Lt. Snyder responds:  “There’s a couple of dead guys in there too.  You don’t want to get mixed up in that.”  The analogy to the poker table?  Many players think just like poor Doyle,  assuming that because  “their money”  is in the pot they have to stay involved in an attempt to win it back,  even when the odds are against them.  Once the money is in the pot,  it is no longer  “their money”  but the pot’s money.  And making your decision based on how much you have personally put into the pot is a sure-fire way to be a long-term loser.  Rather,  look objectively at the hand as it progresses,  taking into account only what the true odds against your hitting your hand are and what kind of odds the pot is giving you.  How much you have put in the pot is irrelevant.

How big is the pot?  Never forget to look at the size of the pot.  As it grows, with your two pairyou can be more liberal in calling.  You are getting better odds on your draw.  Conversely,  when you are looking at a tiny pot,  you may have to fold even decent draws.  For instance,  in a tight game,  let's say you are heads-up and have four to a straight,  but all that is in the pot is your call of the bring-in.  Checking back and forth,  suddenly your opponent pairs up and makes open Jacks and bets.  Before you automatically reach for your chips to call,  thinking:  “Open-ended,  I’ve got to see the river,”  stop and think about how foolish the move would be.  With such a tiny pot,  you are not getting the right pot odds  (5-to-1)  to justify seeing the River.