Quick facts by PokerStrategy
- A flush draw in poker is when you have four cards of the same suit and need one more suited card to complete your flush.
- Flush draws have around 35% equity against top pair on the flop, which increases to 45-50% with overcards. That’s provided you see both the turn and river of course.
- You’ll need favourable pot odds and implied odds to call bets and chase your flush draw.
- A flush draw can make a great semi-bluffing hand, offering an opportunity to raise a bet rather than simply calling against one.
What Is a Flush Draw in Poker?
A flush draw in poker is a drawing hand where you have four cards of the same suit and need one more suited card to complete your flush.
A flush in poker, on the other hand, is a made poker hand consisting of five cards of the same suit.
For example, you hold A♠ Q♠ in your hand and the flop is K♠ 7♠ 2♦. This gives you a flush draw, as you need one more spade to complete the ace-high flush. This is the best possible flush in poker, being ace-high, and is known as the nut flush.
Flush draws are a common hand in poker. This page will take you through poker flush draw odds, flush draw poker strategy, and common mistakes that you’ll want to avoid. Here you can find flush draws in poker, explained in simple, digestible terms.
Types of Flush Draws
With a flush draw in poker, the definition is certainly not all there is to it. A flush draw’s meaning can vary in-game according to the specific type of flush draw and the hand scenario in which you hold it.
There are four types of flush draws in poker:
Nut Flush Draw – The ace-high flush draw is known as the nut flush draw because it’s the strongest you can make and can’t be beaten by any other flush. Nut flush draws are very profitable hands that can often be played highly aggressively.
Note: A nut flush is beaten by a straight flush, which is another hand type entirely, a hand type that consists of five cards that qualify as both a flush and a straight at the same time, such as A♠2♠3♠4♠5♠.
Non-Nut Flush Draw – Any flush draw that does not contain an ace is vulnerable to being beaten by a higher flush if an opponent is also drawing to a flush and holds the ace themselves. The lower the highest suited card in your flush draw, the more likely it is that other players could have a higher one.
Backdoor Flush Draw – A backdoor flush draw is a weak draw that contains three of the same suit and needs two more cards to make a flush. That means you need to hit on both the turn and the river to complete your hand, which is unlikely to happen.
Combo Draw – A flush draw can be held in combination with other cards that make up straight draws, overcards, or pairs to give you greater drawing and/or made hand equity and more ways to win the pot.
Flush Draw Odds and Outs
You’ll be dealt two suited hole cards in Texas Hold’em an average of 23.5 percent of the time. Once you have two suited hole cards, you’ll directly flop a flush less than once every 100 hands. However, you’ll pick up a flush draw much more often, over 10 percent of the time.
A standard poker flush draw has nine outs to make a flush. This gives you the following poker flush draw odds:
- Flop to Turn: ~19.1% chance to hit the flush
- Turn to River: ~19.6% chance to hit the flush
- Flop to River: ~35% chance to hit the flush by the river
If you have a backdoor flush draw on the flop, your chances of making a flush by the river are just 4.2 percent, which shows why backdoor draws are rarely worth playing.
What Beats a Flush Draw?
A flush draw is not a made hand, so if you hold only a flush draw on the river and no other decent hand, such as a pair or better, your hand will qualify as a high card hand, with your best card simply being your single highest-ranking card.
Having said that, a flush draw in poker usually has a decent amount of equity against one pair hands during a poker hand, particularly on the flop.
If you do manage to make a flush, you’re ahead of any pair, two pair hands, three of a kind, and straights. A flush loses to the following hands:
- A higher flush
- Full house
- Four of a kind
- Straight flush
- Royal flush
There are some exceptions to this hand ranking in certain formats, but this is true for the most traditional forms of poker, including the most popular games like Texas Hold’em.
How to Play a Flush Draw
Poker flush draws are interesting hands to play because they usually have some equity against made hands. If you do hit a flush, there’s a good chance you’ll win a big pot. The implied odds of flush draws can make it worthwhile to continue with them, even aggressively.
Flush draw poker strategy is heavily based on pot odds and whether you can profitably call against an opponent’s bet to chase your flush draw. However, an excellent way to play flush draws is to use them as semi-bluffs, meaning you raise when holding the draw and facing a bet, to create fold equity to go along with your drawing equity.
Calling With Flush Draws
With a standard flush draw, you’ll have around 35 percent equity against top pair, or 45 percent equity if you also have two overcards. You can calculate your rough equity in the pot based on your number of outs using the Rule of 2 and 4, which says that each out will have about 4% chance to hit across the turn and river combined, and about 2% chance to hit with only the river card left to come out.
Once you know your equity in the pot, you can figure out the size of the bet that you can afford to call. For example, with 35 percent equity, you’ll need pot odds of 2:1 to break even.
This means that it may be even worth considering calling a pot-sized bet on the flop with a flush draw. However, you could face another bet on the turn before you have a chance to realize your full drawing equity, another important consideration. In reality, you’ll need pot odds closer to 3:1 or 4:1 to make a profitable call on the flop if you fear having to commit significantly more funds to continue on the turn.
Keep in mind that your equity with a flush draw falls dramatically if you miss the turn. You’ll only have 19.6 percent heading to the river, making it difficult to profitably call a decent-sized bet on the turn.
Implied Odds and Reverse Implied Odds
Although you need favourable pot odds to call with a flush draw in poker, you can also factor in the implied odds of hitting your draw. Implied odds are the amount of chips you stand to gain on future betting streets when you complete your hand.
For example, if your opponent has a hand like top pair, two pair, or a set, it’s unlikely they’ll be able to find a fold facing bets and raises on the turn and river. If you complete your flush, there’s a decent chance you’ll take all of your opponent’s chips.
The deeper the stacks, the more relevant implied odds become, because you stand to gain a greater amount of chips when you do hit your made hand. With shallow stacks, it’s rarely worth chasing a flush draw because it is rarer that you’ll have the correct implied odds.
The opposite of implied odds is reverse implied odds. This is the amount of chips you could lose even when your hand improves.
For example, if you have a very low flush draw and your opponent potentially has a higher draw, reverse implied odds are doing some work against you. In this case, you’ll need to be more cautious and only continue with more generous direct pot odds.
Semi-Bluffing with a Flush Draw
So far, we’ve looked at calling bets with a poker flush draw in an attempt to complete your draw. However, passively chasing flush draws is not always profitable, especially if you end up paying over the odds.
An effective flush draw poker strategy is to use these drawing situations as semi-bluffs by betting, raising, re-raising, or check-raising. This gives you multiple ways to win the pot. You can either win it right then with a bet if the opponent folds, or, if they call, you still have a chance to complete your draw on the next street and play for value.
Semi-bluffing adds fold equity to your hand, which, in many situations, can tip flush draws over the line from being marginal losing hands to solid winning hands. Semi-bluffing is particularly effective against tight opponents who are likely to fold weaker made hands in their range.
Example Flush Draw Hands and Scenarios
Flush draw example – Facing a pot-sized bet with a flush draw
- Player A: A♣ Q♣
- Player B: K♠ J♠
- Flop: J♦ 7♣ 4♣
Player A has a flush draw as well as two overcards, and in this exact hand, they actually have over 53% equity against Player B’s top pair, despite currently holding ace-high.
Player B leads out with a two-thirds pot bet. Player A has pot odds of 2.5:1 and can easily call the bet, even considering that they could face another bet on the turn. Note that Player A could also consider raising here.
Flush draw example – Implied odds against a set
- Player A: J♥ T♥
- Player B: 6♣ 6♠
- Flop: A♥ 6♥ 2♠
Player A has a flush draw and checks to Player B, who fires out a pot-sized bet. This gives Player A pot odds of 2:1, which is not great, especially considering they could face another bet on the turn. However, Player A has great implied odds. If they complete their flush on the turn, Player B will be unable to fold and is likely to pay off several large bets. Player A calls based on implied odds even though the raw pot odds are borderline.
Flush draw example – Low flush draw with reverse implied odds
- Player A: 6♠ 5♠
- Player B: K♠ Q♠
- Flop: J♠ 8♠ 2♦
Player A has a low flush draw and no other direct outs to top pair or better. Knowing that Player B has higher flush draws in their range, Player A has reverse implied odds working against them. When faced with a large flop bet, they decide to fold to avoid losing a huge pot.
Flush draw example – Semi-bluffing with a flush draw
- Player A: A♦ T♦
- Player B: A♠ K♣
- Flop: Q♠ 8♦ 4♦
Player A checks the flop, and Player B makes a bet of half the pot. Player A easily has the odds to call here with their nut flush draw, but they opt to check-raise as a semi-bluff. Even if Player B calls, Player A can still make the nut flush on the turn. Player A raises, and Player B folds.
Common Mistakes with Flush Draws
Flush draws can be complicated to play because decisions around calling, raising, or folding depend on a number of factors, including pot odds, implied odds, opponent tendencies, and so on.
- Chasing flushes – The most common mistake players make is chasing a flush draw without the correct odds. Implied odds can justify slight deviations from pot odds, but it’s a huge mistake to call off chunks of your stack to see the next card.
- Overvaluing weak flush draws – Weak flush draws have reverse implied odds, as they can be beaten by higher flushes. You’ll also rarely win by making a low pair. Low flush draws are not strong hands and can seldom justify calling large or multiple streets of bets.
- Never semi-bluffing – If semi-bluffing isn’t even part of your repertoire, then all you can ever do with your flush draws is call in the hope of hitting. Semi-bluffing adds another dimension to your play, allowing you to gain fold equity and win more pots without having to complete your hand.
- Not considering other factors – As with any hand in poker, you should always consider factors like position, stack sizes, and opponent tendencies when playing flush draws. If you don’t, you’ll miss opportunities to semi-bluff, take free cards, or fold when the situation isn’t right.
- Calling on the turn – Calling flop bets with flush draws is often fine, as you’ll have decent equity compared to the pot odds, as well as the implied odds of getting paid off on future streets. This all changes on the turn as your equity and implied odds both drop. You won’t usually have the right price to flat call a large turn bet with a flush draw.
Flush Draws in Online Poker vs Live Poker
A flush draw is exactly the same in online poker as it is in live poker, at least in terms of your outs, equity, and the pot odds needed to call. Having said that, the nature of the two types of poker is slightly different.
Online poker apps, for example, make it way easier to see the numbers and assess bet sizes and pot odds instantly. In contrast, in live poker, this information is more difficult to ascertain. Even counting chips in the pot is a skill set of its own in live poker. Online players are also typically more aggressive, so that you may see opponents semi-bluffing more often with draws compared to in live poker.
In live poker, you can also make use of physical tells to determine whether or not your opponent has a strong hand or is bluffing with a draw.
For the most part, use the same flush draw poker strategy in both online and live games, assessing your pot odds and implied odds to determine whether to make a call, while also looking for spots to semi-bluff with a raise.
Frequently Asked Questions
When to call with a flush draw?
You can call with a flush draw in poker when you have the correct pot odds compared to your equity in the hand. Implied odds can also justify calling with slightly less favourable odds.
What is the difference between a flush and a flush draw?
A flush is a made hand consisting of five cards of the same suit. A flush draw contains four of the same suit and needs to hit another to complete the hand.
How often will you flop a flush draw?
With two suited hole cards, you’ll flop a flush draw an average of 10.9 percent of the time, or once every 9.2 hands.
Should you chase flush draws?
You should only be chasing a flush draw if you have the correct pot odds to call bets. Calling large bets without the correct odds is a big mistake, especially on the turn.
Should you check-raise flush draws?
You can check-raise flush draws in poker as a semi-bluff. This allows you to win the pot in two ways: by either getting a fold from your opponent or completing your hand and winning at showdown.
How many outs does a flush draw have?
A flush draw has nine outs to complete the flush. There are 13 cards of each suit in the deck, minus the four that you already have access to.
What is a backdoor flush draw?
A backdoor flush draw is a hand that has three of the same suit. With a backdoor flush draw, you’ll need to hit a suited card both on the turn and on the river, which only happens around 4.2 percent of the time.
How do I play a flush draw out of position?
A flush draw is more difficult to play out of position because you’ll see fewer free cards (cards seen on a street that it dealt without having to commit chips to the pot on the previous street) and not as many opportunities to bluff. You can check-call bets if you have the correct odds or check-raise as a semi-bluff.
How often do flush draws win?
Flush draws usually have around 35 percent equity against a hand like top pair on the flop. This increases to 45 percent if you have overcards.