Single-Suited Flops

Whenever the board flops all of one suit and you do not have a card in that suit, you are severely handicapped. You will find that if you play on, you are frequently drawing dead, and if another card of that suit appears, your hand will be instantly dead. When lacking a card in the flush suit, overcards are virtually useless, since the threat of drawing dead is quite real, especially against lots of opponents. Top pairs and even overpairs without a card in the flopped suit go way down in value and should often be mucked. This is because you often have to catch two perfect cards to win, and when a fourth suited card appears, you almost always need to fill. Furthermore, playing on with just a pair can get very expensive if there are several players in the hand who are willing to bet and raise. Open-end straight draws are typically not playable since two of your outs are killed, and there usually will be lots of redraws against you when one of your outs arrives. Two pair is playable and should be played fast since your hand will usually hold up unless someone has flopped a flush or another suited card appears. Even then, you have four outs to fill and the pot odds may make it right to play on. Sets are strong holdings regardless, and should be played strongly. When you flop a set, you will usually have both the best hand and an excellent draw even when three suited cards appear. If a fourth suited card appears, you still have a strong draw with 10 outs to beat a flush, and the pot odds will almost always mandate seeing the river. One poker authority claims that he often mucks a set when a fourth suited card appears on the turn. This is a big mistake.

On the other hand, when you have a big card in the flopped suit, coupled with other considerations, you should frequently play aggressively, especially against a small field. In the rare event that you flop a flush, it should usually be played fast unless it is the nut flush. This is because you do not want someone who's holding one big card of the flush suit to get to draw cheaply.

The following five hands taken from live play illustrate some important considerations that come into play when the board flops all of one suit.

Hand No. 1 ($15-$30 game): You are in the big blind with the A 6. An early-position player opens with a raise. A middle-position player calls, as does the small blind. You call. There is $120 in the pot and four players.

The flop is the A 7 5. The small blind checks, you bet your top pair, the preflop raiser raises, the middle-position player calls, and the small blind folds. What should you do?

Answer: It would be bad poker for you to do anything but fold. There is $195 in the pot and it costs you $15 to take off a card, so your pot odds seem great at 13-to-1. But you need to respect the betting action and the fact that the possibility of a completed hand is real with the board showing all of one suit. Against a made flush, you are drawing dead to two perfect cards. If another club arrives, your hand will be instantly dead unless it is the 6. If the raiser happens to have a better ace than yours, you have only three cards to improve. You may have only two viable outs, which is a 23-to-1 shot, and this assumes that no one has a club flush made already.

Hand No. 2 ($20-$40 game): You are in the big blind with the K 8. Only the cutoff and button limp in, so you get a free play. There is $70 in the pot and three players.

The flop is the J 6 2. What should you do?

Answer: You should bet. This is a small, unraised pot and you have only two opponents. You have the second nut-flush draw, and a king might even be an out. This is a good flop to lead at. You may win the pot outright, especially if neither opponent has a club or a jack. If you get action, you have many outs.

Hand No. 3 ($10-$20 game): You raise from the button with the A K after an early-position player and a middle-position player limp in. Only the limpers call. There is $75 in the pot and three players.

The flop is the 10 8 5. The early-position limper bets and the next player folds. What should you do?

Answer: You have two big overcards and the nut-flush draw. You are heads up against one opponent who bets into you. You should raise. Your opponent might fold, fearing a flush. He might call and then check to you on the turn, giving you a free card. He might reraise, in which case you would call. He cannot get too frisky, since you have the "ace of trump." If he has just a pair, you have 14 outs with two cards to come, so you are a mathematical favorite to make a flush or top pair, top kicker by the river.

Hand No. 4 ($10-$20 game): You are in the big blind with the A 10. Two early-position players, a middle-position player, the cutoff, and the small blind all limp in, so you get a free play. There is $60 in the pot and six players.

The flop is the A 7 3. The small blind bets. What should you do?

Answer: With the board flopping all of one suit and your not having a card in that suit, you could be in serious trouble here. You have top pair and a decent kicker, which might be a raising hand under other circumstances, but in this case, there are too many players and you do not have enough of a hand. Getting people out who are drawing with a club in their hand is a good play only if you have a strong reason to believe that you have the best hand. However, the small blind could easily have an ace with a bigger kicker, two pair, or even something better, since he is leading into a field of five opponents. With four players behind you, I would fold.

Hand No. 5 ($30-$60 game): You are in the big blind with the 7 6. The cutoff opens with a raise, the button calls, the small blind folds, and you call. There is $200 in the pot and three players.

The flop is the J 5 4. You check, the cutoff bets, and the button calls. What should you do?

Answer: There is $260 in the pot and it costs you $30 to pursue your straight draw. These are pot odds of almost 9-to-1. If you discounted two of your eight outs because they are spades, you could argue that you have six outs, which is a 7-to-1 shot, so you appear to have an overlay to call. But with two cards to come, any spade will arrive almost one-third of the time, and you could even be drawing dead. You will lose some serious money on the expensive streets if you hit and a spade arrives, giving someone a flush, or someone has flopped a flush.

In the actual hand, the turn brought the 8. The player bet and got raised. He called with his straight. The river was the Au and he check-called, only to be shown the 8 7 by the cutoff. His call on the flop cost him an extra $210, or seven small bets.