So you are playing seven card stud and your upcard is an ace. Quick, tell me what do you do?

If you answered, “It depends,” then you are only half right. Normally this is the right answer to almost any poker question. But the thing about stud is that, in order to bring some deception to your game, you mostly have to play different situations in the same way. So, another correct answer to my question is simply, “Raise.”

This is not to say that your position relative to the bring in, if any other aces are out, and whether or not there are already any limpers don’t play a part. But, for the sake of this article, let’s assume that you are first to act after the bring in and that you have the only ace up.

Now let’s look at all the possible things you could have. For starters, let’s say you have another ace in the hole giving you a pair of aces to start. A pair of aces is a powerful starting hand in stud, but not nearly as good as they are in holdem. Heads up in holdem, against a smaller pair, aces are usually about 80% to win. In stud those aces vs. a smaller pair are only about 65% to win. In holdem just throwing another random hand into the mix lowers the aces’ win rate to about 65%. In stud, once there are three players in the pot after third street, the aces drop below 50%. And this is not even counting the possibility that an opponent has rolled up trips to start and you are behind.

So, your best play with aces to start is to try to take down the small pot right away, or at least narrow the field. To achieve this goal you have to play fast and not mess around with slow plays. If you get played back at, then you can safely slow down a little. But at least the reraise will make it harder for anyone else to play. Obviously, if you have aces to start, you are not going to just fold to a reraise, but checking and calling is now OK.

Now let’s say you have two terrible downcards, like a deuce and a ten of different suits, giving you an ace high. If you choose to play this hand then I hope you are just trying to steal the antes and the bring in. To do this you also must raise and try to represent a better hand. So you should play this hand the same way as you play the one above. The biggest difference here is that you should almost always fold to a reraise.

What about those rare times when you are dealt rolled up aces to start? In this case you may think you should slowplay because you are so strong that you can afford to let more players in. But the truth is more complex. First of all, the more players in the pot, the more chance that one of them will make a complete hand like a straight or a flush and then you will have to improve to win. Also, you still want to disguise your hand so you should play your trips the same way you would play a pair of aces or even a bluff, and raise right away. For an added level of deception you can even consider flat calling a reraise and then waiting until the more expensive streets to start ramming and jamming.

For our final example I’ve saved the exceptions that prove the rule. If your two down cards are either a small pocket pair or two cards that make three to a straight or a flush with your ace, then you have a dilemma. The problem is that all these hands play better cheaply and the straight and flush draws also play well with more opponents. So the best option in these cases is to mix it up a bit. Having one of the above hands allows you the possibility of seeming like you’re mixing up your play a little while still playing optimal poker. Also these hands are good ones to get if you end up being last to act after the bring in. If everyone else has folded then you can steal with impunity knowing you have a playable hand as a backup. And if there are already a bunch of limpers then you can just limp along and get a cheap look at the next card or two before you commit any real money to the pot.

All in all, having an ace as your upcard is never a bad thing. Just like in no limit holdem, aggression will win you more pots in seven card stud, and an ace up gives you license to be aggressive. Just use good judgment if you are raised or even called and don’t forget that most of the time you will have to show down the best hand at the end to rake in the chips.