Eyes on those subtle Straights and Flushes!

A high pair in the pocket is definitely a great way to start off, however there are situations where you need to fold. In such a case, in fact, we take into account the statistical probability of success of a high pair in conjunction to the board outcomes, linked to our opponents’ play.

Flush-draws & Straight Draws.

The most difficult situations against our high pairs can be beaten, are definitely straight-draws and flush-draws. This means our board consists of 3 or 4/5 cards of same suit, or 3 or 4/5 cards offering a straight draw. Obviously, some factors should be considered:

The number of players. With 3 cards out of 5 of a flush on the table, a reduced number up to 3 or 4 opponents gives us much more hope in the Turn phase. The possibility that the river delivers a 4^th card for those expecting a flush, is in fact reduced especially after you will be carried to the right raises in the pre-flop and flop. Re-raising in preflop, is advisable to eliminate any players having suited middle card where the higher the raise, the more effective this will be. 

With 4 out of 5 cards of same suit on the board, even with a small number of players, it would be a good idea to fold if there is a call to one of our bets in the Flop or Turn. Also keep in mind that next you’re gonna have to call a substantial bet. With this scenario in mind it makes perfect sense to fold. 4 cards from 5 in a flush draw during the River is by far the most disadvantageous situation when found without a high suited card, let alone a high pair. 

Straight draw. It's more difficult to point out, as it widely changes. We understand the importance of carefully monitoring your opponents in every phase of the game. If we re-raised by a considerable amount in preflop, then those who call should have two consecutive high cards. In fact, apart from those few loose aggressive players, players with two (low or) middle suited cards, most of the times do not call your raise. At this point, at least we know that any cards giving way for a high straight in the Flop those who have the scale's got a high one. If cards like 10, J, Q, K , A, have come out we might be also dealing with another high pair.

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