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Happened at our Xgtiger Casino…it’s annoying poker.
You flop a solid hand like top pair or a straight draw — say on the J♥ 8♣ 4♥ flop — but the turn is a pesky third flush card (like the 5♥).
Navigating these situations can be confusing, but this article will make it a little easier for you.
I’ll start by sharing 3 tips for playing flush-completing turns as a preflop caller. Then, I’ll end the article with 3 tips for playing these turn spots as a preflop raiser.
The focus will be on single-raised pots because they are the most common.
Let’s get started!
Playing Flush-Completing Turns as a Preflop Caller
Tip #1: When you’re out of position, middle pairs without additional outs are too weak to call against the second bet
Example: You are in the Big Blind and defending with J♠ T♣. You check-call a Q♣ T♥ 3♥ flop and the turn is the 4♥. You check and deal with another bet.
If your opponent is using anything other than a small bet size in this area, you should steer clear. Your hand can beat bluffs like A♥ K♠, but even those hands have a lot of equity against you. Besides, even if they miss you, they might still throw you in the river.
Tip #2: You should always fold bare open-enders against the second bet
Example: You are in the Big Blind and defending with Q♣ J♣. You check-call a K♥ T♠ 4♥ flop and face another bet on the 7♥ turn.
Open-ended straight draws are great on the flop. They have a very good chance of becoming a strong hand by the river. But their value decreases when the third flush card falls.
If you call a second barrel with Q♣ J♣ in the example above, you hope that one of the non-heart Aces or Nines will come on the river. But even if that best-case scenario happens, your hand still won’t be strong enough to check the increase in value.
This means that, unless you are facing a small bet, you will not have the implied odds necessary to make the turn call profitable. So, just leave.
Tip #3: If you have a pocket pair above the second card, you should fold it unless you have a flush or straight draw with it
Example: You are in the Big Blind and defend with 8♠ 8♥ against a Small Blind raise. You call a bet on an A♦ 7♣ 6♣ flop, then face another bet on the 2♣ turn.
These hands aren’t strong enough to continue, especially considering they only have 1 decent raise. In the example above, the 8♣ would put four cards in a flush, so the only good river card is the 8♦ — and that might not be good!
Here’s an interesting side note: K♥ 7♥ and Q♥ 7♥ are better hands than 8♠ 8♥ in the example above, even though the latter is a stronger hand in an absolute sense. This is for several reasons:
- The K7/Q7 has further improvements.
- The betting player probably has a polarized set consisting of strong leading pairs (AK/AQ) and better, and K7/Q7 blocks those leading pairs.
- Bluffs in a player’s range are unlikely to contain a King or a Queen (ie, K7/Q7 unblock bluffs).
Playing Flush-Completing Turns as a Preflop Raiser
Tip #1: Always check on the second pair
Example: You raise preflop with Q♣ T♣ and a player calls. The board ran out J♠ T♠ 6♥ 5♠.
It doesn’t matter if you’re playing in position or out of position, second pair is too weak to bet for value and too strong to bet as a bluff. The best way to play these hands, usually, is to be passive and try to get to the showdown.
If the board runs out safely, you can consider going for a value bet on the river. Be sure to think about your opponent’s range first and only bet if you think they can call with a worse hand more than 50% of the time.
Tip #2: If you are in top pair position, you should go back unless you have an extra draw for it
Example: You raise preflop with K♦ J♠ and the Big Blind calls. You c-bet when J♥ T♠ 7♥ is checked and the turn is the 5♥.
The strength of a top pair hand fades significantly when a flush is completed. You need to slam the breaks when this happens because there is now a new, stronger class of hands that represent a decent portion of your opponent’s range.
Your opponent will no longer feel obligated to call his second pair, or at least not as much as he would with a brick turn card. So, that way, your top pair is more like second pair when the flush hits, and you know from the previous tip what to do with second pair.
Tip #3: Semi-bluff with open-enders when out of position
Example: You raise preflop with T♠ 9♠ and Button calls. You C-bet to J♠ 8♥ 4♥, call, and the turn is the K♥.
When you’re playing out of position, it’s harder to see all 5 board cards (and reach the showdown) because you don’t have the option to go back for free. For this reason, when the flush hits, your open ender still has a pool of equity that you don’t want to just check-fold.
You also can’t check-raise, because you don’t have enough equity to do so profitably. The only option left is to bet. There are 3 possible situations when you do this:
- You force a fold and win the pot (best-case scenario)
- Your opponent calls, where you still have 6 good outs to straighten (decent scenario)
- You will be raised and forced to fold your draw (worst-case scenario)
Only 1 of those possibilities is really bad, and it’s the least likely to happen. If you check, on the other hand, you’re praying your opponent makes a comeback and you somehow manage to win the pot on the river.
Betting is just too good, and incorporating bluffs like this helps balance out your range of hand values (which include two pairs, sets, and flushes).
Final Thoughts
You are now armed with 6 tips that will help you play better every time the flush ends on the turn. Overall, these tips are more about losing less than winning more. But as the saying goes: a chip online betting saved is a chip gained!
That’s it for this article. Hope you learned something new and had fun! As always, if you have any questions or feedback please let me know in the comment section below.
Until next time, good luck, grinders!
Conclusion
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Frequently Asked Questions
The key is to not take an all or nothing approach with flush draws. In any given turn spot, you should bet with some flush draws and check back with others (unless you have a good exploitative reason for doing so).