Reading Exposed Cards: How to Track Dead Cards in Stud and Razz

This page gives you a memory method, three worked examples with exact counts, a street-by-street routine and exercises with answers. It assumes you know the rules of Seven Card Stud, Razz and Stud 8.

Dead cards change how many outs you have, and the number of outs is what a draw is worth. A flush draw with nine live cards and a flush draw with five live cards look identical in your own hand, but one is worth calling with and the other often isn't.

They also tell you what your opponents can't have. If you hold two jacks and the other two jacks are showing on the table, nobody has three jacks, and neither will you. In Razz, if three of the aces, twos and threes are out, the player showing 4-5-6 is drawing to far fewer cards than their board suggests.

Two terms are used throughout this page:

• Dead cards are cards you have seen that are not in your hand: every upcard on the table now, plus every upcard you remember from players who folded.
• Live cards are cards you need that you haven't seen. "Live" means unaccounted for, not certain to be in the deck: a live heart might be in an opponent's hole cards.

Don't try to memorize every card. Track only the ranks and suits that matter to your hand, and keep a running count of live outs instead of a list of cards.

Here is the method in three parts.

1. Decide what matters before you look. Your hand tells you which cards are worth tracking:

• In Seven Card Stud, track your pair's rank (for trips), your kicker ranks (for two pair), and the suit of any flush draw. With a straight draw, track the ranks that fill it.
• In Razz, track the low ranks, ace through eight, that you don't already hold. Every one of those is a possible out, and every low card you see on the table is one fewer.
• In Stud 8, track both: the low ranks you need that don't pair you, and your high-side rank and suit if you have one.

2. Count live cards, not seen cards. Instead of trying to recall "I saw the 3♥, the J♥ and the 4♥," hold a single number: "six hearts live." When a new heart appears, the number becomes five. A number is far easier to carry across four betting rounds than a list.

3. Re-check on every street, including folders. Each new street adds one upcard per player still in. Update your count before you act, and when a player folds, keep their upcards in the count. Folded cards are just as dead as cards still on the table.

To put a count into odds you need one more number, the unseen cards: 52 minus your own cards minus every upcard you can see or remember. Folded upcards count as seen if you remember them. If you've forgotten a folded card, leave it in the unseen total; it's still unknown to you, and the math stays honest.

The method is the same in all three games: count your outs as if nothing were dead, subtract the ones you can see, and divide by the unseen cards. The examples below are all at a six-handed table. "Before" counts your outs against all the cards you haven't been dealt; "after" counts only live outs against the cards you can't see.

Seven Card Stud: a four-flush on fifth street

You are Seat 1 with four hearts and two cards to come.

A♥ 9♥ K♥ 6♥ 2♣

Two opponents are still in. Three players folded earlier, and you remember their upcards.

Seat 3 upcards

J♥ 8♣ 4♥

Seat 5 upcards

10♦ 5♠ 9♣

Folded upcards

3♥ Q♠ 7♦ 8♦

You hold four hearts, so nine hearts exist outside your hand. Three of them are dead: J♥ and 4♥ in front of Seat 3, and the 3♥ that Seat 2 folded on third street. That leaves 13 − 4 − 3 = 6 live hearts.

Unseen cards: 52 − 5 (your cards) − 10 (upcards: 3 + 3 for the two active players, 1 + 2 + 1 for the three folders) = 37.

With two cards to come, the chance of making the flush by the river drops from 35.0% to 30.2%. That's still a real draw, and you also have an ace and a king that could pair, so this isn't a fold. But the flush is noticeably less likely than a naive nine-out count says, and if Seat 3 is also drawing to hearts with two more in the hole, your six live hearts are really four.

Razz: a four-card seven on fourth street

You are Seat 1 with a smooth four-card draw.

3♣ 5♦ 7♠ 2♥

Two opponents remain. Three players folded on third street.

Seat 2 upcards

4♦ A♠

Seat 4 upcards

6♥ K♣

Folded upcards

A♦ J♦ 4♠

Your clean outs are the cards that give you a seven-low or better without pairing: any ace, four or six. That's three ranks times four cards, 12 outs, before you look at the table. An eight would also help, giving an 8-7-5-3-2, but that is a weaker hand, so it's not counted as a clean out here.

Now count the dead ones: A♠ and 4♦ in front of Seat 2, 6♥ in front of Seat 4, and the folded A♦ and 4♠. Five of your 12 outs are gone: two aces, two fours and three sixes are left, 7 live outs.

Unseen cards: 52 − 4 − 7 (upcards: 2 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 1) = 41.

The draw has lost nearly a third of its strength, and two of the five dead outs came from folders: the A♦ and 4♠ were on the table for a single betting round. In one sentence: in Razz, the low cards that left early still count. (The Razz example in poker against computers vs humans makes the same point with two different tables.)

Stud 8: a low draw that must dodge its own pairs

You are Seat 1 on fifth street with four low cards and a king.

A♦ 3♠ 5♣ 7♥ K♦

Seat 2 upcards

8♠ 2♣ Q♦

Seat 5 upcards

J♣ 4♥ 4♠

Folded upcards

6♦ 9♠ 10♠ 2♥

You need one more card eight or lower that isn't an ace, three, five or seven. Those pair you, and a paired card adds nothing to a low. So your low outs are the twos, fours, sixes and eights: four ranks, 16 cards.

Dead: 8♠ and 2♣ in front of Seat 2, Seat 5's open pair of fours, and the folded 6♦ and 2♥. Six dead, 10 live: two twos, two fours, three sixes and three eights.

Unseen cards: 52 − 5 − 10 (upcards: 3 + 3 + 2 + 1 + 1) = 37.

Two further reads come from the same scan. Seat 5's pair of fours is a high hand that will keep betting, and Seat 2's 8-2-Q looks like a low draw that competes for the same twos, fours and sixes you want. And your high chances are thin (runner-runner straights, or pairing your ace or king), so you are drawing mainly for the low half. That matters when you decide whether the price is right, and it's why Stud 8 starting hands favor low hands with high potential.

Most errors come from counting the wrong set of cards, not from bad arithmetic. These are the ones to watch for.

• Forgetting folded upcards. A card that was on the table for one betting round is as dead as one that stays until the river. In the Razz example above, two of the five dead outs came from folders.
• Counting a card twice. If you note "a four is dead" on third street and then "Seat 2 has a four" on fourth street, make sure it's a different four. Keep a running count per rank, update it only for newly exposed cards, and leave the folded ones in it; that makes the slip much harder to make.
• Treating a pairing card as an out in Razz. Holding 3-5-7-2, a three, five, seven or two doesn't improve you at all. Only unpaired low cards are outs.
• In Stud 8, counting a low card that pairs you as a low out. With A-3-5-7, an ace makes a pair of aces for the high side, but your low is still four cards. Keep the two counts separate.
• Counting hole cards you've guessed at as "seen." You can only count cards you have actually seen. Everything else stays in the unseen total.
• Stopping the count on fourth street. Fifth street is where the big bet starts in all three games (in Seven Card Stud an open pair on fourth street can bring it a street earlier; house rules vary), so your count has to be current exactly when it costs the most to be wrong.

Do the same five steps every hand, in the same order, until it's automatic. The whole routine takes a few seconds per street.

1. Third street: scan every door card before you look at your own hand's value. Read them left to right and group them silently: "two fours, an ace, a king, a jack." Then decide which ranks and suits matter to you (your pair rank, kickers and flush suit in Stud; every card eight or lower in Razz; both in Stud 8). Set your starting live count. When someone folds, say the card to yourself once more as it leaves.
2. Fourth street: add one card per remaining player, then update the count. Check each new upcard against your tracked ranks and suits. If a tracked card appeared, subtract one. Note who caught a good card and who caught a brick: in Razz, an open pair or a paint card on an opponent's board is good news: their hand just got worse.
3. Fifth street: recount, then compute the unseen total. The big bet starts here, so this is where the count pays for itself. Count the upcards on the table, add the folded ones you remember, and subtract everything from 52 along with your own five cards. Compare live outs to unseen cards before you call or raise.
4. Sixth street: one more update, one card to come. Subtract any tracked card that appeared. With one card to come, live outs divided by unseen cards is your exact chance to improve on the river.
5. Seventh street: no new upcards, so use the count to read, not to draw. Ask what each opponent can't have given the dead cards. If you hold two kings and one is dead, nobody made three kings. If most of the aces, twos and threes are dead, that 4-5-6 board in Razz has very likely caught at least one bad card.

Work each exercise without writing anything down, the way you would at the table. Count the live cards, then open the answer. Every card in an exercise is unique across your hand, the upcards and the folded cards.

Exercise 1 (Seven Card Stud, fourth street): how many sevens are still live?

You are Seat 1. Three opponents are still in; two players folded on third street.

7♣ 7♦ K♠ 4♥

Seat 2 upcards

7♥ 9♦

Seat 4 upcards

A♥ 10♣

Seat 5 upcards

Q♣ 2♦

Folded upcards

5♠ 8♣

How many sevens are still live, and how many unseen cards are there?

Show answer

One seven is live, the 7♠. You hold two sevens and Seat 2 shows the 7♥, so three of the four are accounted for. Unseen cards: 52 − 4 (your cards) − 8 (upcards: 2 + 2 + 2 + 1 + 1) = 40. Your chance of catching the last seven on fifth street is 1 in 40, 2.5%. Your realistic improvement is to two pair with a king or a four: all three remaining kings and all three remaining fours are live.

Exercise 2 (Razz, fifth street): how many of your Razz outs are dead?

You are Seat 3. Two opponents remain; three players folded, one of them on fourth street.

2♠ 4♥ 7♦ K♣ 5♣

Seat 1 upcards

3♥ A♦ 9♠

Seat 4 upcards

6♦ 8♣ 10♠

Folded upcards

Q♦ 3♣ J♦ A♥

Your four-card low is 7-5-4-2. Your clean outs are any ace, three or six. How many of those 12 outs are dead, and how many are live?

Show answer

Five are dead and seven are live. Dead: A♦ and 3♥ (Seat 1), 6♦ (Seat 4), and the folded 3♣ and A♥. Live: two aces, two threes and three sixes. Unseen cards: 52 − 5 − 10 (upcards: 3 + 3 + 1 + 2 + 1) = 37, so you make a seven-low or better on sixth street 7 times in 37, 18.9%. An eight would give you 8-7-5-4-2; three eights are live (Seat 4 shows the 8♣).

Exercise 3 (Seven Card Stud, fifth street): can Seat 3 have three kings?

You are Seat 1 with split kings. Seat 3 is showing a king and an open pair of eights and has just bet.

K♣ J♦ K♥ 9♠ 5♦

Seat 3 upcards

K♦ 8♥ 8♣

Seat 5 upcards

8♦ 4♣ 2♠

Folded upcards

6♥ Q♦ 3♣ K♠

Can Seat 3 have three kings? Can they have eights full of kings (8-8-8-K-K)? And how many eights could still give them three eights?

Show answer

No, no, and one. You hold K♣ and K♥, Seat 3 shows K♦, and Seat 6 folded the K♠ on third street, so all four kings are accounted for and Seat 3 has exactly one. Eights full of kings needs two kings, so it's impossible too. Eights: 8♥ and 8♣ are on Seat 3's board and 8♦ is in front of Seat 5, so only the 8♠ is unaccounted for. Seat 3 has three eights only if the 8♠ is already in their hole or arrives on sixth or seventh street. The dead cards can't tell you which hand they have. Their bet could be a pair of eights, which your kings beat; eights and a second pair, which beats you; or three eights if the 8♠ is already in the hole, which beats you by more. What the dead cards do rule out is three kings and eights full of kings. Unseen cards: 52 − 5 − 10 = 37.

Exercise 4 (Razz, fourth street): which of your outs are completely dead?

You are Seat 1 at a five-handed table. Two opponents remain; two players folded on third street.

A♥ 3♦ 5♠ 7♣

Seat 3 upcards

4♦ 2♣

Seat 5 upcards

4♣ 2♥

Folded upcards

4♥ 4♠

Your four-card low is 7-5-3-A, and any two, four or six makes a seven-low or better. Which rank is completely dead, and how many live outs do you have?

Show answer

The fours are completely dead: 4♦ (Seat 3), 4♣ (Seat 5), and the folded 4♥ and 4♠ are all four of them. Twos: Seat 3 shows the 2♣ and Seat 5 the 2♥, so two are live. Sixes: none is showing, so all four are live. That's 6 live outs out of the 12 you started with. Unseen cards: 52 − 4 − 6 (upcards: 2 + 2 + 1 + 1) = 42, so you improve to a seven-low or better on fifth street 6 times in 42, 14.3%. Sixes are now your most likely out, because they are the only rank with all four copies live (a deuce still makes the better hand).