Every time each player on a table plays a hand at 7 card stud they will post an ante that goes into the middle. The ante is paid in stud regardless of whether they call or fold their hand pre-flop. In stud, players try to steal the antes when they raise preflop with the intention to force the other players out of the hand.
The Math
When a 7 card stud table is full, a player is getting 4 to 3 odds on his ante steal. Translated this means that if an ante steal is going to be immediately profitable, the 7 card stud player should win the pot and take down the antes around 40% of the time. This in fact is untrue since if a player calls they are still able to take down pots later on in the hand. Therefore, the real profitable percentage is below 40%.
For instance, if a 7 card stud player raises with a king, is called, and then catches a king on fourth street – which lets them take the pot down after the steal attempt. This happens 6% of the time and it allows the ante-stealing player to take down an additional bet for their troubles.
The above is an example where a stud player at PokerStars can gain equity on their ante steals by having a strong hand. So if a player had an ace and a king in his hand that is not on show, his chance of catching one on fourth street rises to 12%. Given the poker player’s hand if he catches an ace or a king on fourth street, it would be a mistake for his opponent to call a bet if the opponent does not improve. This of course is the advantage a player gets from having his cards hidden and allows him to extract value out of the information that his opponent does not know.
Bluff Ante Stealing
This asymmetric information can be used to a player’s advantage. Even if a seven-card stud player does not hold an ace of a king in his hand, he can represent it if he catches one on fourth street. Catching a scare card on fourth street will most likely scare opponents off holding a low pair, which means that a player can take the pot down a good percentage of the time on fourth street if they catch an ace, king or queen and their opponent has a small pair.
The general rule when stealing antes on PartyPoker should be that a player should raise with any sort of hand that has over a 30% chance of stealing the antes on third street in a tight game. These types of hands are usually any high card showing with two decent cards behind. If the game is loose though, the stealing hand range needs to be better in order to be profitable, as the dynamics of an ante steal change.