Poker Draws

Key takeaways

• A flush draw typically means four cards of one suit are currently available to your final hand.
• An open-ended straight draw can usually improve on either end.
• A gutshot needs one interior rank to complete the straight.
• Combo draws can contain overlapping outs, so count physical cards rather than simply adding labels.

Flush draw

If you hold two hearts and the flop contains two more hearts, one additional heart can complete a five-card flush by the river. There are normally nine unseen hearts remaining at that moment, although not every one is necessarily a clean winning out.

Open-ended straight draw

A sequence such as 6-7-8-9 can be completed by either a 5 or a 10. With four cards of each rank unseen in a simple example, that creates up to eight straight-completing cards.

Gutshot straight draw

A gutshot has one missing interior rank. With 5-6-8-9, a 7 completes the straight. Four sevens exist before known-card adjustments.

Double-gutshot

Some nonconsecutive structures can complete a straight on two different interior ranks. These can resemble an eight-out draw even though the pattern looks different from an open-ended draw.

Combo draw

A hand can simultaneously hold a flush draw and straight draw. Combo draws often possess enough equity to play aggressively, but the correct action still depends on ranges, stacks, fold equity and price.

Backdoor draws

A backdoor draw requires favorable cards on both the turn and river. It is weaker than a direct one-card draw but can contribute incremental equity and influence board interaction.

Related reading