Module 6 · Lesson 28 of 39 · Free
Board textures: dry, wet, paired, monotone
On a flop of K♠ 7♦ 2♣, not one of the 1,176 hands you could hold has a flush draw or a straight draw. On 9♥ 8♥ 6♣, 523 of them do, and 32 already have a straight. The board's texture, its suits, its pairs and how close its ranks are, decides which hands it helps.
The hand
The flop is 9♥ 8♥ 6♣: two hearts, and three ranks close together. The Loose-aggressive player called before the flop with two cards you cannot see.
Predict first
Which of these hands has a draw on 9♥ 8♥ 6♣?
- K♥ Q♣: a flush draw
- 7♣ 2♦: a straight draw
- A♠ A♦: the best pair
Show the answer
Answer: 7♣ 2♦: a straight draw
The 7♣ makes 9 8 7 6, four in a row: a five or a ten gives a straight, 8 outs. K♥ Q♣ has one heart, three with the board, and needs two more. A♠ A♦ is a made hand, an overpair, not a draw.
Working it out
Count the flush draws first. On a two-tone flop like this one, 11 hearts are left, and a flush draw needs two of them: 11 × 10 ÷ 2 = 55 hands. On a monotone flop one card of the suit is enough: 10 × 39 = 390 hands have a flush draw, and 10 × 9 ÷ 2 = 45 already have a flush. On a rainbow flop, three suits, no hand has a flush draw. Then the ranks. Here any hand with a seven has 9 8 7 6, open at both ends, and many hands with a ten or a five have a gutshot: 494 hands have a straight draw. On K♠ 7♦ 2♣ no two cards are within five ranks of each other, so no two hole cards can make four to a straight.
Read every flop in three steps. Suits: rainbow means no flush draw, two-tone means flush draws, monotone means flushes already and flush draws with a single card. Ranks: connected when the three ranks fit inside five, so a straight is possible; disconnected when no two of them do, so no straight draw is possible; in between, two cards close together give straight draws. Pairs: a paired flop gives fewer hands a piece of it, and makes three of a kind and full houses possible. A dry board, rainbow and disconnected like K♠ 7♦ 2♣, gives few draws. A wet board, suited and connected like 9♥ 8♥ 6♣, gives many, and the hand that is ahead should make them pay.
Formula
Flush draws among the 1,176 hands: two-tone 11 × 10 ÷ 2 = 55; monotone 10 × 39 = 390, and 10 × 9 ÷ 2 = 45 flushes
Check your understanding
Which flop is monotone?
- J♣ 7♣ 3♣
- J♣ 7♣ 3♦
- J♣ J♦ 3♣
Show the answer
Answer: J♣ 7♣ 3♣
Monotone means all three cards of one suit: J♣ 7♣ 3♣. J♣ 7♣ 3♦ is two-tone, and J♣ J♦ 3♣ is paired.
On which flop can no hand have a straight draw?
- Q♦ 7♣ 2♥
- Q♦ J♣ 2♥
- 9♦ 7♣ 2♥
Show the answer
Answer: Q♦ 7♣ 2♥
No two cards of Q♦ 7♣ 2♥ are within five ranks of each other, so two hole cards never make four to a straight. On Q♦ J♣ 2♥ a hand like K T has K Q J T, and on 9♦ 7♣ 2♥ a hand like 8 6 has 9 8 7 6.
The flop is Q♥ 7♥ 2♣ and you hold A♥ K♦. Of the two-card hands he could hold, how many have a flush draw?
Show the answer
Answer: 45
You can see three hearts, so 13 − 3 = 10 hearts are among the 47 cards you have not seen. He needs two of them: 10 × 9 ÷ 2 = 45.