i think so, but i dont play a lot of 7-stud (never online) so, i will miss a lot of the finer points. but, as i see it...

its entirely possible he has/hit his str8flush. what i dont know is how common that is in 7-stud. in NLHE that would be rare (str8flsh over flush), and we would go stax with our A-high flush here i assume (using his cards as NLHE board).

but, this is where i need it beat into my head. why wouldnt we bet that in stud? only one conceivable hand beats us, yes? the rest we have beat.

actually, i guess it would be absolutely retarded (hence your comment) for villain to call w/o the str8flush, because its obvious we have quads.

granted, the original hand isnt quite that cut and dry, but i think i see the point. it just takes awhile. sometimes i feel like Joey Tribiani.

and this is a stupid technicality (i'm not trying to be a smartass here), but if we "value bet with worse hands," arent we still bluffing?

warpe,

i think it absolutely matters what stakes we are playing, as the 10NL players are far more likely to call with AK here than 100NL players. and that assumption could greatly shift our perceived equity/FE in the pot. granted, at 100, i'm sure there would have been more activity throughout the hand.