04- 2-08, LearnTexasHoldem:

Facing Flush Boards in Texas Hold'em

A common situation in Texas hold'em arises when you have a made hand and are facing a board with a draw. Your typical approach will be to bet and make your opponent pay for the opportunity to catch the card that beats you. However, what happens when that card comes? Do you automatically give your opponent credit for making his hand and forfeit the pot?

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Flush Boards in Limit Hold'em Games

When a flush card hits the river in a limit Texas hold'em poker game, your decision is fairly easy. If you have been betting the whole way, you now check; and if your opponent bets, you generally call. Since the amount he can bet is fixed, you generally must call due to the size of the pot. For example, if you are playing a $3/$6 limit game and there is $60 in the pot, your opponent only needs to be capable of bluffing ten percent of the time for it to be mathematically correct to call his river bet.

Flush Boards in No-Limit Hold'em Games

In no-limit games, the situation is much more difficult, especially if you are out of position. If you have been betting the whole way and a flush card comes on the river, you have two options. You can lead out with another bet. The idea here is he will either fold because he missed and believes that you are prepared to go all the way with the hand, call because he believes you may have caught a bigger flush, or raise, letting you know he has made the flush. Of course, he may bluff raise in this situation. Your other option is to check, hoping that your opponent will either be afraid to bluff the river if he doesn't have a flush, or make a small enough bet that you can find out cheaply if he does.

Reading Your Opponent on a Flushed Board

Whichever you choose, if your opponent bets, you will have to depend on your read. If this is an opponent who rarely bluffs, it is a pretty easy fold. If the opponent is capable of bluffing, you will have to ask yourself whether his betting pattern is more consistent with a made flush or a bluff. If you can't tell, you may have to go with your instinct. Sometimes you will make the wrong choice. However, that's poker.

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