01- 2-04, LearnTexasHoldem:

Calling For A Straight Draw...

Question: Lets say I start the hand in last position with Js and 10c.After everybody calls and I call the flop comes Ah Qh 9s.Now I have an open ended straight draw.Lets say out of five people who call pre -flop there are only two left after the flop.One guy raises the other calls.I figure up my odds versus the pot odds and decide to stay in and call.The turn comes 4h.Now here comes the tricky part for me.The same guy raises the other re-raises.Im thinking the other two guys probably have an ace thinking they'll win with top pair or trips.If this is the case I can probably win if I draw the straight on the river.However,there's three hearts on the board and if either one of them has pocket hearts I will lose anyway.According to your probabilities chart there is a 1:4 chance of being dealt suited cards although I'm assuming the odds of being dealt suited hearts are 1:16.With two or three people left on board the odds that at least one of them has pocket hearts may be better than 1:16.Im going to assume in this example that the odds are 1:4.I figure with my open ended straight draw I have eight outs with about 1:6 odds of hitting it.Now my question arriving from all of this is this:How can I factor my opponents 1:4 odds of having a flush and beating me anyway, and my 1:6 odds of hitting the straight combined with the pot odds to determine whether or not I should call or fold?I'm sorry If I have racked your brain a little bit but I'm just curious if you can factor the odds of your opponent having any particular hand with the odds of you getting what you want to determine how to play your hand.Thank you very much!

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Answer: In that situation the odds don't matter as much. If a person raises when the next heart gets there on the turn, let alone a reraise, then you probably don't want to draw anymore for your straight. It would be rare for a person to be three betting on the turn without the flush. And if they did just have a set and not the flush yet, you probably still wouldn't want to pay that price to draw. That will happen sometimes and you can't kick yourself.

Sometimes people will play their hand incorrectly, too weak or too strong, and you'll make the right decision based on that information but it will end up being wrong. That's poker though and laying down a winner occasionally means you are playing well. You would much prefer that then paying off every hand because you think there is a chance someone might just be bluffing.

The philosophy I take is that if a person can bet me out that aggressively once in a while then great...good for them. I don't lose much from it and most likely they pay me off more on hands that I can play back at them with. I wanted to finish up saying that maybe if your J was a heart you might stick around but even in that case three bets is really costly to draw there.

You made the right move and got out. You want to stay away from paying a lot for draws, especially those that if you catch still may not win.

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