Check-shoving with a Flush Draw Knowing You’ll Get Called
February 26th, 2010A flush draw is one of the trickiest poker online hands in NL Texas Holdem poker online . Here’s a strange fact: once you have a flush draw Texas Holdem poker, it is easier to catch than a straight draw (which is a more common hand with a lesser value). So the flush is Texas Holdem is a very sought after hand, with the exception of one thing; it’s obvious. Unlike a set, where your hand is completely disguised, when a player has a flush in this game, three cards of the same suit must be displayed on the board, which makes suited boards scary. When you see a suited board you either become uncomfortable with your (one pair-type) hand, or you are excited with your draw or even just the possibility of representing the draw. Essentially, if no one has the flush then the advantage of a suited flop goes to the player with less doubt. If that flush makes it and you have the confidence to bet, there is a good chance of winning the pot and getting a better hand to fold. By the same token, if you actually do hit your flush draw, it is sometimes so obvious that your opponent will not pay off any further betting. So, in a 5-table tournament I was playing, we were short handed at 3 tables and I was faced with all of these thoughts when I flopped a flush draw. My stack was just under 4,000 and the blinds were 100/200. I had about 20 big blinds and was in the big blind. A middle position player made a small raise to 550 and the button called. This made it only 350 more to me to call into a pot of 1400. Even though I’m out of position, this is worthwhile. I will still have about 17 BB’s if I miss the flop and will be behind the blinds after one hand. So, I call. The horror strikes when I flop my flush draw. The flop is 8d-As-3d. The pot is 1650 and I have about 3400. I’m assuming someone had me beat with the ace. I have a few options. If I lead out with a bet, I risked getting flat called. The reason I say risk is because with my draw, I don’t really want to see the cards come one at a time. If I miss on the turn, I’m pretty pot committed to a hand that I now only have a less than 20% chance at winning. Conversely if I hit my draw, the players behind me might get wise to the possible flush out there and slow down or give up. In this case, my flush draw has no implied odds, I can only expect to win what’s in the pot.