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Poker Strategy: Pushing Out Flush Draws

Copyright © 2007, RealPokerLessons.com

One thing I see a lot of beginners do is allow people to stay in a hand to chase their flush. When you flop top pair, or even two pair for example, and there is a flush draw out there, its important to make those players pay if they are chasing it, especially if there are multiple people in the hand. Here's an example:

The flop comes...

You probably have the best hand at this point; however, if there are say 2 or more players in the hand, its almost a sure bet that someone is chasing the flush. If you fail to raise to correct amount, you allow them to catch another diamond turning your K's into garbage. But how much should you raise?

If you put your opponent on a flush draw after the flop, something should immediately go through your head. And that is knowing that they have roughly a 34% chance of making their hand by the river. So, what you don't want to do is give them pot odds to make the call and chase it (see the pot odds page for

more info on odds). What that means is you need to make a raise of more then half the pot if you expect only the person with the flush draw to call.  Mathematically if you only bet half the pot, i.e. throw in $50 in a pot that's already $100, making it $150, he's getting 3 to 1 on his money (meaning he only has to bet $50 to win $150), which is roughly 33%, which matches the chances he'll catch his hand. If you bet the pot of $100, making it 2 to 1 odds (he has to bet $100 to win $200), he now is gambling because he doesn't have the proper odds to make the call.

A word of caution: Many inexperienced players will chase these flushes until the sun comes out, and that's scary. Its very important to know your opponent and understand their way of thinking. If I know a player is a good player, I will raise enough to eliminate their odds. If I think they are a bad player, I will first analyze my chip count and act accordingly. I've been busted out of tournaments with bad players catching hands on me. Yes, usually I will win, but I now consider "what if" when I'm playing a bad player. This is my personal opinion, but I play every player differently.

Here's an example hand I played in a tournament when I was first learning poker.  I didn't think about my raise, and actually gave the guy proper odds to call, when I thought I was making a good enough raise to scare him out.

I had...

and was in the BB. A guy in the SB simply called, and I saw that he was short stacked (blinds were $1000/$2000 late in the tournament). He had about $5000 left. My first thought was that he was trying to trap me, maybe holding AA or KK, hoping I would put him all in. So I checked. The pot was now $4000.

The flop came

I incorrectly bet $2000 as I knew he only had about $5000 left. My thinking was that $2000, even though it was the minimum bet, would be enough to scare him out of a flush draw. When he immediately called, I realized I gave him odds to call (e.g. I bet $2000, making it $6000. He was getting 3 to 1 on his money, which is exactly what you need on a flush draw after the flop).

The turn came...

I checked and he went all in for $3000 more. I already had $4000 in the pot and only had about $5000 left. I clearly couldn't fold since the blinds were so

big, but I also knew I was beat. But I also had the 10 of spades, so I reluctantly called.  When he turned over his cards, he had the 9 of spades and the 5 of spades; he had made his flush. A 3 of spades on the river saved me. But I learned a lot from that hand.

1st: Top pair on the board with a great kicker, and a flush draw after the flop is an automatic all-in in my opinion (in this situation). My $2000 bet was a bad bet, and he should have won, but I sucked out.

2nd: I should have analyzed my chip count before I made my second bet, meaning, you have to think about what you will be left with if you make a bet. Counting your chips "after" you make a bet, or after someone goes all in is not good. It means you didn't play the scenario out all the way through like "Ok, if I bet the minimum and he goes all in, will I be able to call and how many chips will I have if I don't?"

Bottom line: Don't let the flush draws catch up by giving them proper odds to call. Make them pay to see that next card. If they don't have the odds to call and call anyway, they will lose more in the long run and you will make more in the long run.

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