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Playing an Open-ended Straight Draw on Fourth Street.

An open ended straight draw on fourth street is best played against two opponents -to provide enough odds for your play- who do not catch scary door cards. Now what is a scary door card depends on the specific situation but in general any suited card and any connected card higher than your straight draw is threatening.

For example if you have 4567 and your opponent is showing xxJT that's considered scary. The reason it's dangerous to play against such a hand is not just because he might have a bigger straight draw already but because he might develop one later. Another reason you don't want to play against the xxJT is simply because he has other ways of winning even if he's got no pair yet while you will most likely need at least two pair to win. Say you missed your straight but you ended up with a pair of five's. Your opponent missed his draw too but ended up with a pair of ten's. Now you lose because you played such a weak hand unless, of course, you succeed in bluffing him out. But remember that a bluff against a pair of ten's is much more likely to succeed when you have big cards showing than when you have small cards showing. Your opponent knows that you need two pair or better to beat him and he is very likely to call you, especially if the pot is big.

Does that mean that we recommend that you don't play 4567? No! 4567 is definitely playable but it has to be in the right situation and you have to be willing to drop your draw quickly if there's raising going on and/or your opponents' boards start to develop scarily. If you do play against the xxJT and he catches XXJTA and your other opponent makes a pair of nines on board, you must abandon your draw. Not only can you be up against nines up which you will have a tough time beating but the xxJTA could easily have a big pair and an inside straight draw. His hand is easily playable against the nines up while yours is in big trouble if any of your opponents improves any further. You might end up against a full house or bigger straight and since you can't raise your opponents if they are betting strongly even if you make the straight, you shouldn't play it at all. This is a very important concept in poker: If the hand you're drawing to is not strong enough to raise your opponent's bet with it on the river, you usually shouldn't be drawing to it altogether.

When you have 4567 you ideally want to catch improvement immediately while your opponents seem to be catching blanks. Also, you must keep count on the cards you need to complete your draw. When you have no outs other than completing your draw, the cards you need for the straight must be extremely live. If more than two of the cards you need for the straight are out, you shouldn't play. If you don't catch the three or the eight on fifth street, you at least want to catch a four, five, six or seven. If you don't catch that, a big live card is also good if no one else catches anything scary. Be on the lookout!! If things get out of control, get out.

Can you handle a raise? Definitely! But again, not if the raiser has a threatening board. The last thing you want to do is play this hand against a bigger draw. If someone with an xxAJ suited bets out and is raised by a xx98 suited you should definitely not call. You could be up against two bigger draws.

You should usually not be playing a gutshot straight draw against a good player heads-up. If you were the bring-in and somehow find yourself heads-up against a good player who bets out on fourth street, don't call if you think he's got anything at all. Against a bad player, it's different. A bad player might be in there and betting with nothing. A bad player will also pay you off all the way if you make two pair or the straight and he does have something. This gives you "implies odds" good enough to take one more cards off the deck while the bet is still small.

There's nothing wrong with folding such a hand, though, either. A hand like 2346 really belongs in the muck unless the condition is right. To recap, some if not all the following conditions should apply when playing small gutshot straight draws on fourth street.

* don't cold-call a raise .

* don't call if someone with a scary door card is making or calling the bet.

* don't play it against good opponents. They will make you pay to draw and they might not pay you off if you hit.

* The gut shot card needed must be completely live.

* Your cards should be live in general, giving you a good chance to catch two pair or trips.

Do NOT, under any circumstance, continue to play a small gut shot on fifth street if you haven't caught any help.

As previously mentioned, if you don't make the straight in five, you want to at least improve your hand by catching a pair. This gives you more ways to win and makes your hand significantly stronger. If you do catch that pair on fifth street and your straight draw remains live, you will usually want to play it to the river even though it looks like someone has made two-pair bigger than your pair or even trips. You have nearly eight outs and your opponent/s is not likely to fill up, making the play correct considering that the pot is now big enough.

Abandon your straight draw under the following circumstances:

* If someone is showing three to a flush and is either playing it strongly and/or the flush cards are live. You don't want to get lucky and make the straight, only to get beat by a flush. You should be even more inclined to fold under this circumstance on fifth street, since the pot is still relatively small.

* If it's two bets to you, unless the pot is really big.

* If it looks like someone may have made a flush or a full house.

* If too many opponents have live pairs on board, while you haven't got any pairs. These players probably have two-pair or trips and someone will often fill up by the river. Your hand is not made yet, so why draw for a hand that will often not be good anyway.

* If the cards you need for the straight aren't live. Three out is the most you can take under normal circumstances (when the pot isn't really big).

* If your opponent is showing a bigger open-ended straight draw on board on sixth street or if he's showing a bigger gut-shot straight draw and the card your opponent needs for the straight is live.

* If your opponent/s is showing two pair or trips on board.

* If your opponent/s is showing four to a flush on board.

It is exciting to make a straight in the first five cards. You know that you have a made hand and it is almost always the best hand at the time and in most cases will be the best hand at showdown if it comes to that. It is important, though, to understand that your opponents will occasionally draw out on you, sometimes by catching a miracle card on sixth street or the river. You should therefore not be too aggressive with your straight. Look out for the following things:

* An opponent who has a suited door card and seems not to be paying adequate attention to your somewhat threatening straight cards. This is a "tell". It means that he's not concerned about your straight since he's drawing to a bigger hand.

* An opponent who has paired his door card on fourth street or fifth street could have trips or two pair and in very rare cases could he could have a full house already. You would definitely not throw away your straight at this point since it is very unlikely that you are already beat by a full house. Therefore, you should usually put in the raise right away if your opponent who is showing a pair on board bets out. This is done to "define" your hand and also to make it expensive for other players still in the pot to draw out on you. You should be more inclined to raise right away when some of your opponents are showing 2-3 big cards on board or if they're showing 2-3 suited cards.

What you should be looking out for as far as the paired door card is concerned is how live his cards are. If you haven't seen any of his cards out and he's representing trips, you should probably not bet the river even if it's checked to you if your opponent check-raises. On the other hand, if his cards are semi-dead, fire away. Even if you're reraised you can raise again if your opponent is aggressive and your straight is somewhat concealed (meaning that the sequence of the cards is such that your opponent does not expect you to play that starting hand). Concealment of the straight could also be a result of you having raised on third street and your opponent/s do not expect you to raise with a non-paired hand.

As said earlier, this is the street where you should usually bet, raise or reraise. Slowplay your straight only under the following circumstances.

* If you're heads up against a very conservative player who respects your bet/raise. You don't want to risk driving him out with one pair since he's such a big underdog. If you think he's got trips or two pair, you can and should raise since he'll probably stay in anyway and if you're lucky you might even get reraised.

* If no one seems to be playing a flush and your straight is big, you can afford to slowplay on this street even if there's a pair on board especially if you think that some of your opponents are in there with smaller straight draws and they won't call a raise. You should especially consider just calling if those week hands are behind you and you are to the immediate left of the bettor. You are risking them folding for a raise and you don't want them to since they are extreme underdogs if not drawing dead outright (if they don't have a pair or three to a flush).

It is almost never advisable to slowplay a small straight on fifth street. This is a made hand but extremely vulnerable especially in a multiway pot. If there's any sizable amount of money already in the pot you should be betting/raising right away.