Flush draws. They can drive a player crazy when facing off against someone else who’s on one. And there will be times when you think you’re getting beaten by nothing but flushes.
So how do you get somebody off a flush draw, what’s the best strategy? Lord knows, you can keep going on having your set or top two-pair crushed on the river by a lucky heart.
Well, one thing most internet poker players playing would try as the obvious method of attack is to trap the flush right away, bet small enough to keep them hunting but big enough to make it worth your while to stay in the game. This is a fine strategy, but I know many players will tell you during a bad run of beats, you feel like the trapped instead of the trapper.
Another, less profitable but usually more successful approach is to take ‘em out as soon as possible. If you see a flush draw right after the flop, bet big to get them out. I like this approach if you can stand behind your bet, but unfortunately in a world of less-than-knowledgeable poker players, you’ll find it a futile attempt to put them off their draw. Why? Because they don’t know the odds anyway, and getting them to fold their flush draw is one of the hardest things to do in the game. They think they’re sitting on a powerhouse and have a skewed view of the realities of their hand.
Ultimately, if that’s the case when you play poker online, you want to take advantage of their ignorance. (It’s either that or hope you’re betting high enough for them eventually to “get it” and fold.)
Bet small, keep them in the game. If you are a true poker star and you know you’re winning the percentages game the whole way through the hand, milk them out for what you can without investing yourself in the game too much in case they do catch their flush. Mathematically, you’ll take the pot more often than not, and hopefully teach these guys to do their homework instead of getting wide-eyed over the possibility of a upper-middle strength hand in the game. What this also will do is allow you to control the pot size while at the same time giving your opponent the illusion that their adding to the pot. If they’re calling, they must be certain they’re going to get the flush, so play off this to your advantage as much as possible.