Playing Draws on the Flop

By TPD-Admin
for Thepokerdonk.com

Published: October 31, 2009

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Playing a drawing hand after seeing the flop can be a difficult situation, mainly because a player can justify doing any of the 3 options available to him, raising, calling or folding. However, there are flaws to each of those decisions. Calling may be seen as being too passive, since the only way the player will win the hand is if it hits. Raising can be seen as being too aggressive, especially since the player will have to fold his draw if his opponent 4-bets him. Folding is often seen as too weak, since there is a possibility of hitting a huge hand.
The most important thing a player can do is read the texture of the board. First, the player must ask himself, “Did this flop hit my opponent?”

Calling

If the player answers “yes”, then the draw maybe worth chasing, since there is a greater likelihood that after the player hits the draw, he will pay him off. In this case, calling is best, since a reraise might force the opponent to 4-bet the draw – making it fold.

Raising

If the flop was not likely to hit the opponent, raising the bet maybe a good option for two reasons: 1) the opponent might just be bluffing and fold, 2) if he does not fold, the turn may hit the draw and the player will win that way. Raising also builds the pot, so in the case that the opponent calls to see a turn card, if the draw hits, the opponent will have a much harder time folding since the pot will be very big at that point.

Folding

Folding is usually not the best option to play a draw but in some circumstances, it can be argued that the best option to fold. First, if your Full Tilt Poker opponent does not have a big stack, chasing the draw is usually not mathematically correct. That is because the opponent simply does not have enough chips to pay the draw off properly if it hits. Secondly, the bet the opponent makes on the flop has to be taken into consideration. What percentage of the pot did the opponent bet? Is the opponent giving the player with the draw proper odds to call? If not, certainly a fold is not a bad choice. Last, if the board is paired, draws should usually be folded. This is because even when the draw hits, the player will still not know if he has the best hand or not, since a full house will be possible.

Playing Draws on the Flop

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