Normally Not Playable Starting Hands

High Straights and High Flushes.
Unconnected Low Cards (that can't make a straight) without an ace or flush possibilities.
Pair of Nines and Pair of Tens without an Ace Kicker.
Unpaired High-Low Combinations.

Strategy Tips

The first four cards are a major key to winning at Seven Card Stud games. If your starting hands develop according to plan, you can be a strong favorite to scoop the pot. If they don't, you get out early and escape the expensive second best experience. The three card starting hands recommended above are those with the best chance of producing a dominant four card hand. Good four card hands that are carefully played don't always win but they win a lot more than the others.

Beware of the paired door card. If an opponent is playing a pair in his starting hand, and pairs his door card (first upcard), the odds are two out of three that the door card is part of his pair. A paired door card presents a strong possibility that the holder has a dangerous set of trips.

High Pairs increase in value over low draw hands when it is down to one or two competitors. When a high hand is heads up against a low draw, the high hand usually has the edge.

Watch the board closely for key cards that can seriously diminish your chances of making a good hand. Don't play marginal starting hands like pairs, if both your pair cards and side card are completely "live" (none of your cards showing on the board). Also play low straights cautiously if your key cards are not live.

Keep track of the fives both on the board and folded. This is a key card in all low straights.

Try to find reasons to fold both your starting hands and those that develop on the later streets. Look for a dead card or two in the denomination that you need and for three or more dead cards in the suit that you are drawing to. Look for too much strong competition developing for the high and low prizes that you are after. When you can't find reasons to fold, you can then proceed more confidently.

Study your opponents, especially when you are not playing hands and can pay careful attention. Do they find more hands to play than they fold? Do they bluff? Can they be bluffed? Do they have any "tells" (give away mannerisms) that disclose information about their hands etc.

Get caught bluffing once in a while. It is a way to vary your play and not be too predictable. You win pots that you don't deserve when your bluff works. You lose a few chips when it doesn't work but it will get you calls from weaker hands down the line when you are really strong and need the action.
Unless you are playing a strong draw hand, usually fold if your complete hand is beaten on the board by an opponent's upcards.

Be ready to adjust to game conditions. For example, if you are in a game with a group of loose or novice players that hardly ever raise the opening bet and tend to check along until they get a decent hand, you might consider an unraised call with such hands as two suited wheel cards with an offsuit king kicker and a perfect board. Also, early steals sometimes work well when the game tightens up and you have not much more than the scariest early board and raise the bet.