How do you play pocket sevens?

Open it from every seat the way the Balanced baseline does, and call a single raise when the stacks are deep enough to pay you off if you flop a set. Its real value comes from flopping a set, which happens about one time in eight, not from the pair itself. Against a raise and a re-raise it is usually a fold, because you are paying a premium to play a hand that mostly wants to see a cheap flop.

This hand opens for a raise from every position, including under the gun.

Common mistake: Overvaluing the pair on an overcard-heavy board. When two cards above a seven hit the flop, sevens are often beat, so do not turn a small pair into a big call down.

Quick tip: Flop a set about one in eight. Set-mine only when the stacks are deep enough to make the payoff worth the call.