Playing a Draw in Limit Holdem
Playing A Post Flop Draw In Limit Hold Em
Drawing hands can be some of the most profitable hands you experience while playing Limit Hold Em. Especially in the loose games at FullTiltPoker.com. A drawing hand is when you are 4 cards to either a straight or a flush, and is usually made most reference to after the flop.
When you are involved in a hand on Full Tilt Poker in which you are in a drawing situation, there are some key factors you want to take into consideration. The things you want to think about are:
- your pot odds
- what you are drawing to (nut draw vs. non-nut draw)
- if your opponents are on a draw as well
Pot Odds
When you are playing your drawing hand on Full Tilt Poker, you want to know what your odds are. When you are involved in a hand where you have either a open ended straight draw, or a flush draw, your odds are a little less than four to one to make your hand.
What this means is you want to be able to win about four times the size of what you have to call to make the hand profitable to play. These are your pot odds. Your pot odds will often be skewed a little one way or the other depending on your hand strength. Obviously you want to always be drawing to the nuts, and using good starting hand selection will let you do that.
If You Do Hit, Are You Guaranteed A Win?
This really ties in with if your opponent is drawing as well. You will get involved in a lot of drawing hands on Full Tilt Poker, and will want to know where you stand. If you are drawing to the low end of a straight and hit, what are your chances that you are going to win the hand? You need to look at the specific situation of the hand to figure this out. Are there a lot of people in the hand who were smooth calling raises? These players will often be on a draw as well. If you can break your opponent down, then you should not have much trouble throwing your hand away if you are beat. There will be times when even if you hit you are dead in the water.
You also need to be concerned with paired boards.
Players on Full Tilt Poker often play a full house very crafty, so be aware of that. You can still go after your draw on these boards, just be well aware of where you are at and your opponent. You will only really want to be on a nut draw in this type of situation meaning that if you are drawing to a flush on a paired board you should be drawing to the nut flush. If there is a lot of action in the hand, laying your draw down is not a bad idea.
One other gotcha you always want to be aware of is your straight being counterfeited by a card, giving them the one card nut straight. As an example, if you hold 8s-9s and the board is 10s-Jc-2s, you have straight and flush draw possibilities. If a Queen of diamonds hits the turn, you have a straight to the queen, but are easily counterfeited by A-K which is probably calling a bet on the flop almost every time, especially online.
Playing a draw properly is crucial to making money in Limit Hold Em on Full Tilt Poker. Use this as a basic guide, but remember, you have to trust your instincts and always strive to make the best play for the situation!
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