Poker Strategy

Many players overrate the value of this hand. It is ironic but true that a small pair whose rank and kicker's rank is live is more valuable on third street than a flush draw, EVEN if none of that suit is out. The problem with a thee-flush is that most of the time you will catch an off-suit "blank" card on fourth street and you will be forced to fold right there. It is therefore imperative that you only play this hand when the situation is right, so as to get the proper odds for your call/raise.

First we'll discuss some instances when you should NOT play:

If three of your suit is out, it is absolutely incorrect to play this hand for its flush value. Chances of making the flush are just too damn remote to justify playing for the flush. Obviously, if you have some big live cards, you can call a bring-in bet with those cards, since -in our opinion- this hand is playable on its own when there's no raise and your opponents look weak. You are not really looking for the flush card in this instance; you're looking to catch a big pair since that will make your hand a great deal stronger than catching a dead suited card.

If you do catch a suited card, you will ONLY stay in if no more cards of that suit appear on fourth street OR if the big cards remain live and your opponents don't seem to have improved their seemingly weak starting hand. It is important to be extremely disciplined with this dead flush draw. It will cost you a fortune if you stay in all the way to the end every time you have a four-flush first four. Remember, when playing a dead flush draw (three or more out), you are looking to catch a perfect card AND for your opponents to catch a bad card; otherwise, you must drop out right away. However, as we said, when three of the suit is out you normally should not play it at all. This way you stay out of trouble altogether.

Even when two of the suit are out, you should usually fold. You still need some additional reason to play, especially if you are in early position and there are several big cards behind you. If you have a live overcard to their big cards you will call a raise IF there's at least one more player in the pot. This provides enough pot odds to justify going for that overcard or the flush. If it's not heads-up, drop it right away. Trust me, it's not worth calling. Realize that whenever a player is raising after a couple of players have already entered the pot, he's got a very strong hand, most likely a big pair. You will have a tough time beating him or bluffing him out. The smartest thing to do is to respect the raise when you're weak such as in this case and get out. Even if he has little more than a live flush draw bigger than yours or even three big cards, that still beats you.

The time to play when two of the flush are out is when there are many players in the pot and there's no raise. Even if there's a late position raise, you can now call regardless of whether you've got an overcard to the raiser's door card, since you've got the proper pot odds.

When only one of your suit is out, you will always want to call a bring-in bet regardless of position. If there's a raise, you need to analyze the raiser. If, for instance, he might be raising with three big cards, you can easily call since you're drawing to a stronger hand (than his big straight). Also, he might give it up after catching some blanks on fourth and/or fifth street, allowing you to bluff him out even if you haven't improved at all since your opponent respects your call and is afraid that you've got a pair or better. Still, you'd prefer that other player's enter the pot too. If you know for sure that everyone is going to fold, don't play unless you've got two live overcards to the raiser's door card in which case you will usually go to fifth street heads up. It's just not worth it to get involved with a small flush draw in a heads up situation.

When none of your suit are out, you're strong. Not only can you call a full bet in almost any situation but you should sometimes do the raising yourself if you've got an AK/ AQ/ KQ /KJ especially if you're in late position after many players have limped. This kind of raise is designed to build a pot in case you hit it and to mix up your play. Heads-up you will always want to see fourth street for a raise if you have even one overcard to the raiser's doorcard. However, don't enter the pot in late position after there's been a raise by a "straight" player and it's going to be heads up. You know he's got a big pair; respect him and get out. However, if he seems to be on a steal, you should reraise with this hand even if you have no overcards to his doorcard. Since you're going to play anyway, you might as well play for a reraise so as to punish him for trying to steal. (let's hope you're punishing him and not yourself!).