Chasing the Draw

Back in my early days as a player, I found myself doing a lot of calling as I attempted to hit some draws. Sometimes, I would hit a couple but at the end of a session I had booked a big loss.

I again turned to my poker pro friend to find out what I was doing wrong. He told me that I wasn’t picking the correct or most profitable times to chase a draw.

He asked me a couple of questions such as:

Have you ever just lost a big hand after hitting your draw?

Have you ever immediately shaken your head and asked yourself how you got into a predicament?

I, of course, had done this many times. The basic reason for this happening was that I shouldn’t have been in the hand to begin with. I either played cards I should’ve folded pre-flop or I paid too much to hit my draw when I didn’t have the outs I thought I did.

It’s happened to everyone, even the pros. The key is to avoid repeating this mistake. To illustrate what I mean, today I’ll give a variety of hands and show you just how strong your draws really are.

Sometimes chasing an 8 high flush is not such a great idea, especially if you suspect others are chasing a flush as well. Reducing your outs can mean you are drawing dead.

Your hand: 6h-7h
Pre-flop Action: There was a small raise to $10 and three callers including yourself.
Flop: 8d-9d-2s

How strong is your draw?

You have an open-ended straight draw which seems like you have a good number of outs. However, you must be aware of two things. For one, your open-ended straight draw is at the bottom end of it which leaves you open to higher straights. That’s the basic principle.
 
When you look closer, you must realize that four of your outs, any 5 or 10 of diamonds can give someone a flush. This means it’s possible for you to hit your draw and still be crushed.

Because of your shrinking number of outs, you should proceed with caution and be prepared to get out of the way. There are better ways to spend your chips.

Your hand: Pocket 9’s
Pre-flop Action: An early position player raises to $10 and the button player re-raises to $20, you call.
Flop: 8s-2d-4h
How strong is your hand?

Well, you have an overpair to the board with no possible flushes on board and that’s about all you have going for you. You could throw out a small bet here to see where you are but there is a very good chance that you are facing one, if not more bigger pairs.

You call the raise to see if you could spoke a set, but you missed and now you have a mixed bag. Don’t become emotionally attached to this hand as you didn’t get what you were looking for.

Be prepared to get out of the way.

Your hand: Q-Q
Pre-flop Action: You raise and are called by three players.
Flop: Ad-kh-2h

How strong is your hand?

I would have to say that given the fact that three callers called your raise, your hand is probably beaten. At least one if not more of your opponents likely has an Ace or King.

If you bet and get raised, this should be an easy fold for you. Don’t be fooled into believing you’re ahead if it gets checked around. Again, like the example above, you may throw out a feeler bet to see where you are. If someone raises you, beware.

I hope you learned a valuable lesson here.  Your bankroll will thank you for it.