Yes, but keep in mind if a pair of aces come out on the flop, those are everbody's pair of aces. Where you really have to watch out is when you are using 3 or 4 of the community cards in the middle for a straight or flush. Let say there is a 9,10,Q turned in the middle. You have an 8,J in your hand. You have a straight, but someone could easily have a K,J and have a higher straight than you. If the next card is a J you are pretty much dead. Same way with flushes. Especially if 4 of the same suit are in the middle, You better have the ace of that suit or you are probably holding the second best hand. You always need to be thinking "what is the best hand possible with the cards showing on the board"? The best hand is called "the nuts". Also keep in mind if there is not a pair showing on the board, no one has a full house, and so forth. Hands cannot be hidden as well in 7 card stud. It is really a pretty easy game to play. You don't have to pay attention to whether your cards are "live" as in 7 card stud. You just need to look at the cards on the table and try and figure out what your opponent may possible have, and compare it with what you have. It is a fun game to play, and is really the game of choice in most cardrooms today. Some will argue that, but I believe it to be true.