There are several sites offering both free and paid play for Stud eight or better online beginners need to focus to play lots to improve.  The major difference between a normal seven card stud and “seven card stud eight or better” is that the low hand needs to be 8 or better, which means any thing beyond 8 or more in the low hand disqualifies the hand from getting the pot.

The thrill of stud eight games lies in that the game is played pretty fast in a single round since there are more open cards and there is a better information about each player than in holdem, the betting is pretty quick and the folding is equally quick. Ample information eases raise and re-raises whereby many players tend to fold with a couple raises in the first betting round only! And that makes this game both thrilling and fast moving.

Beginners in stud eight normally tend to go over confident with the ease of getting to calculate the odds due to several open cards.  They tend to manage to win a series of pots and they tend to graduate in better too much than they should and losing more than they should more often.  Novice players should never hurry up to higher levels unless they have sufficiently practiced their hands in the current levels.

Contradictorily there are upset beginners in stud eight who loose all their confidence to play when they see other players taking away several pots.  What they tend to think is, if they cannot graduate to take a pot in a game with so much of information how are they going to play holdem games.  Such is not needed in stud eight game either; with practice there is going to be a time to win for everyone.

To avoid too much of losing, the beginner in stud eight should pre-plan the amount they are ready to loose in a game.  Moreover, they also need to play only truly strong hands in stud eight until they master a particular level. Though stud eight may be boring with regular folding, they need to practice until they master the nuances of betting structure.

• Fresh beginners should bet high only in three of a kind or hidden big pair or split big pair.
• It is better to just try playing hidden small pair along with a good kicker or small pair that is split with a good kicker or small pair along with a bad kicker if there are no re-raises in the first betting round with small bets.
• 3 cards to flush having 2 face cards, 3 cards to straight flush, 3 small cards to flush, 3 cards to broad-way straight, 3 cards to medium straight, and two face cards and rag should be played selectively based on learning opponent approach.

All the above said cards can be played on stud eight or better by a beginner however apart from those in the first point, the rest should be manipulatively played.