by Yogadude » Thu May 12, 2005 9:24 pm
I could really use some help from experienced players as to when to call a flop bet with a flush draw. I call when I have the nut draw and several callers in ahead of me, but do you routinely call in a heads up situation.
Also, I am unsure as to when to call with a non-nut draw. In small stakes games there are often 5 people calling a small flop bet and I have called and made a small flush only to lose to the nut. <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Like anything else in poker, it is situational. Flush draws are a little more cut and dried though because you have to do the basic math first. You have to think of it one street at time though and be willing to give up the hand if your opponent bets the amount that will no longer give you profitable pot/implied odds.
I think of a flush draw as about 4-1 for each round of betting. If the pot has $10 in it and my opponent bets $5 I would call most of the time. I am getting only 3-1 pot odds for the next card but the implied odds (the money you think you can make if you hit your hand) would make it a call for me. If he bets the size of the pot then I start to look at how much he has in front of him and how high my flush draw is. I would prefer to play the Ace or King draw for a pots sized bet. If he has a full buy-in behind him I would take off a card but if he is short stacked I would most likely fold. Why play a draw with bad odds against someone with a small amount of money in front of them?
Until you think you are able to lay down a made hand like a flush you should play the high card drawing hands, paint only. Once you feel comfortable playing those hands then you can start playing 9/10 and down but I cant stress enough how smart you have to be with these hands...if the action is hot and the players are "normal", you must release these types of hands.
Also, understand that playing a QJ flush draw in an unraised pot is completely different than playing an AK or AQ flush draw when you were the pre-flop raiser. In this case you would lead at the pot, hoping to win it right there but also realizing that you have a ton of outs if you are called.
Dont play flush draws when the board is paired! If you are playing a medium size flush draw against a paired board there are just too many ways for you to make your hand and lose the pot.
good luck
YD
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