A powerful draw that combines the open ended straight draw with a flush draw. This draw is also the most probably way to make the highest ranked made hand in poker: the straight flush. In theory, the open ended straight flush draw can make a straight with 6 possible cards and a flush with 9 possible cards. Noun When there is at least one card remaining to be dealt or revealed, a hand that contains four cards from among a series of five with consecutive values. Double backdoor draws (straight and flush) perform well as check-raise bluffs. You typically want to use stronger draws such as open-enders, flush draws, and straight draws when going for check-raise bluffs (because those hands perform better in big pots). In the 1988 World Series of Poker, Johnny Chan and Erik Seidel were heads up (the last two players remaining) in the $10,000 No-Limit Championship Event. In the final hand of the tournament, Chan. Gutshot straight draw is, in fact, one of the weakest draws in poker, and you need to treat it as such. Non-nutted Gutshot Straight Draws Now that I’ve explained some basic numbers, it should be pretty clear why chasing your inside straight draws is often not a very good idea.

In the 1988 World Series of Poker, Johnny Chan and Erik Seidel were heads up (the last two players remaining) in the $10,000 No-Limit Championship Event. In the final hand of the tournament, Chan held Jc-9c and Seidel held Q-7 off-suit. The flop came 8-10-Q of mixed suites. Chan had flopped the nut straight. Erik had a pair of Queens. The turn card, a 3, did not frighten Chan. On the river a 6 fell. Chan had the pure nuts. He checked to Seidel as he did on the turn, slow-playing his nut hand to the river and trying to '**** him in.' Chan knew Seidel's style: Seidel frequently went all-in on the river, in an attempt to pick up the blinds, antes and on-the-flop bets. Chan took a gamble that Seidel would make this play again. Sure enough, Seidel moved all-in on the river after Chan checked. Chan 'took him down' and successfully defended his title.

The writers of the movie 'Rounders' decided to use the film clip of the 1988 WSOP. Sure enough, being another predictable Hollywood film, our hero flops the nut straight on the final hand and makes a Johnny Chan-style slowplay. Of course, he is successful and beats the villain, played brilliantly by John Malkovich. All of this tells us that when you flop a nut straight, you simply check and wait for your opponent to bet all his money to you on the river, when you can raise him and win a massive pot. Unfortunately, limit holdem has certain limitations, so to speak, and in my opinion this play is not correct for a number of reasons.

Nut straights are to be distinguished from nut flushes and full-houses (or better) on the flop, because split pots or bad beats can occur more easily when you flop a nut straight. For instance, when you flop a nut flush (ace high), no one can catch a card to split or improve to a better flush. They must make a full house to beat you. But if you get a free ride in the big blind with a hand like 10-7 and the flop comes 6-8-9, you have flopped the nuts, but a 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J or Q on the turn will change that fact. In other words, 23 cards in the deck may well make your hand second best. Yet time and time again I see opponents with a nut straight check the flop, simply because they have a nut hand. But given the amount of dangerous cards that may fall, you must bet/raise/reraise/cap in this situation. This is not a time to slow play. Be happy to win a small pot if everyone folds on you. A bet on the flop is unlikely to force a pair or an AK to fold, however a player with a J-X is more likely to fold. However, if you check and give him a free card and it turns out to be a 10, you will not get rid of him. Furthermore, if he improves to a straight it will beat yours.

Therefore, you must protect the pot early in this situation. Not only will you make money from calls on the flop, but you will also force out hands that may pick a draw on the turn, which can consequently beat you on the river. Even if you have J-Q and the flop is 8-9-10 on mixed suits, you should still bet it out. It is true that there are fewer cards to hurt you, but if a player has only three to a flush on the flop, which he would fold for even one bet, but gets a free card and picks up four to a flush, your opponent is unlikely to fold for a bet on the turn and you have inadvertently reduced the number of safe river cards for your hand.

The above example shows how a nut-straight can be cracked or run down more easily than a nut flush and for that reason, one should bet it out and reraise if raised. That is, when you flop a nut flush, only a repeat can present a problem: 9 cards. As we saw above, you can flop a nut straight, but not have the nuts if one of 23 cards falls on the turn. Thus, it is more prudent to slowplay a nut flush rather than a nut straight.

The second reason not to slowplay this hand is to reduce the chance of splitting the pot. Let say you have Q-10 in middle position against three opponents. The flop comes As-Kc-Jd. You have flopped the nuts and no one can make a bigger straight. It would appear that you're in business. But let's say the player on the button has J-10. An earlier position player bets, probably with a pair of aces. If you call, so will the button. If you raise, the button may fold. So let's say you call and the button calls. The turn card is a Queen. Now you still have the nuts, but do not win the pot alone. Rather, you will split it. Furthermore, the button will probably bet or raise on the turn and everyone except you will fold. Now you split a mediocre pot after flopping a nut straight. Hardly a replay of the 1988 World Series. Had you raised the flop, there is a good chance that the player on the button would have folded. Of course, there will always be some players who won't fold no matter what the price is and you can't do anything except charge them when you're in front.

Also, from a financial point of view, the top straight is a good hand to be aggressive with on the flop. In the above example with A-K-J on the flop, you are more like to build a large multi-way pot because several players will have hands such as A-9 and K-J, etc. and will be a lot more willing to put money into the pot, even though they are massive underdogs. The hands you are really trying to get rid of are the 10-8, J-10, Q-9, etc as these are hands that shouldn't be in the pot beyond the flop, but may split the pot is you give them a free or cheap turn card.

It is clear that flopping a nut straight is not a hand you slowplay. Rather you play it very aggressively and obviously. Risking free cards is simply too dangerous. Be happy to win a small one alone, rather than lose a big one or split a mediocre one. Save slowplaying for hands that are bigger than straights.

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If you are starting your poker career, you probably heard a lot of new words and phrases. For a lot of them, you most likely don’t even know what they mean. Not yet. In this article, I will explain a special kind of draw in poker, which is called a backdoor straight draw.

Backdoor straight draw means that you do not have a straight draw yet on the flop, but you need a specific card on the turn, to give you a straight draw in the first place.

Backdoor straights and backdoor flushes are much more disguised hands than the ones that already have a draw on the flop. So even if you don’t have a made hand on the flop yet, don’t worry. Pairs in no-limit Texas hold ’em are not so easy to make.

If you hold a hand with a lot of backdoor potential, this could be quite a good thing. For a beginner player, this probably all sounds very complicated, but don’t worry. In the rest of the article, I will explain different types of backdoor straight draws and give you some examples.

Table of Contents

Backdoor straight draw with overcards on the flop

Backdoor gutshot straight draw

Let’s say that you are playing in a 6-max online game. Everyone folds to you on the button. You are dealt King of clubs (Kc) and Queen of clubs (Qc). You raise to 3 big blinds, the small blind folds, and the big blind calls your raise. The flop comes down 9 of diamonds (9d), 8 of hearts (8h), and 3 of spades (3s). Big blind checks to you. You don’t have much on the flop but two overcards and backdoor gutshot straight draw.

You can hit your backdoor straight if the turn and the river are both a Jack or a Ten in any order. You make a standard continuation bet of one half of the pot and your opponent calls. You were hoping to take the pot down, but your opponent had different plans. The turn is a Jack of spades (Js). This card gives you a gutshot straight draw. This means that now you can hit a straight on the river if the river is a ten.

This gives you 4 outs or roughly 9% to hit the draw. Big blind checks again, and you check behind. The river is Ten of hearts (Th). Opponent checks for the third time, you make a large river bet with a straight, and he calls with a set of threes. He trapped on the flop with a set, wanting to go for a check-raise on the turn, but you checked back and hit your straight on the river.

Backdoor open-ended straight draw

Now let’s change the flop a little. Action is the same; it’s folded to you on the button. You raise to 3 big blinds, small blind folds, and the big blind calls. This time the flop comes down Th, 8h, and 3c. Again you only have two overcards and a backdoor straight draw. Opponent checks to you and you make a continuation bet of one half of the pot. He calls, and this time the turn is the Js. Now you have an open-ended straight draw.

This time you can make your straightwith not just four but eight cards. You will hit your draw about 18% of the time. Now any ace or any nine will give you a straight. Again you both check, and the river is a beautiful Ace of spades. This time the opponent bets almost the size of the pot. With a nut straight, you make a big raise.

What Is A Straight Draw In Poker Card Game

He thinks for a while and makes a call. He shows you Ace of diamonds (Ad) and Ten of clubs (Tc) for two pairs, and you take down a big pot. Again you only had a backdoor straight draw on the flop and got there with specific cards hitting the turn and the river.

Backdoor straight draw with undercards on the flop

This time you are playing in a passive live 9 handed game. Two players limp in front of you, and you limp behind on the button with eight of clubs (8c) and seven of clubs (7c). Small blind calls and big blind checks. The flop comes down nine of clubs (9c), Ace of diamonds (Ad), and King of spades (Ks). Now that you have three connected cards, you have a lot more backdoor straight draws.

You will hit a straight with the following cards:

• any six on the turn will give you an open-ended straight draw
• any ten on the turn will give you an open-ended straight draw
• any four will give you a gutshot straight draw
• any Jack will give you a gutshot straight draw

In addition to that, any club on the turn will now also give you a flush draw. The action gets checked around to you on the button. You check behind and the turn is a nice looking six of clubs (6c). So the board now is 9c Ad Ks 6c. You have a big draw with two cards ( ten of clubs or five of clubs) actually giving you a straight flush.

Again it gets checked around to you. Because of so many players in the hand and passive table, you check one more time and hope on another excellent river. The dealer turns over 5 of diamonds (5d), giving you the nuts again. A player in front of you bets, you raise and get called in two spots. One of the players has pocket fives for a rivered set and the other has two pairs with 96 of diamonds.

Backdoor straight draw with cards in the middle

We will take the same hand and action as in the previous example, but change the flop a little. The flop comes down 9c 3d 4s. Again any six or any ten will give you an open-endedstraight draw and any five, and any jack will give you a gutshot straight draw. But this time you don’t get so lucky. The turn is the Ace of hearts (Ah), and you don’t have any draw on the turn. This makes our play simple; to just give up on the hand.

As you can see, there is usually a lot of backdoor straight draw possible on the flop, depending on the board. The main thing you should focus on is flop texture and your hand. If you have overcards on the flop, your backdoor straight draws will always draw to the nuts. This means that if you hit your straight, nobody can have a higher straight.

If you have undercards on the flop, none of your straights will be to the nuts. You will have to be careful that someone doesn’t have a higher straight.

If you have cards in the middle, some of your straights will be nut straights and some won’t.

Very often, a backdoor straight draw is not the main thing you were hoping to hit when you raised pre-flop. It is just anaddition to your hand. That is why overcards are much stronger than undercards. You can also hit your pair on the turn or the river and beat your opponent. Suited cards also matter a lot. You can turn your flush draw just like in example 2. On the contrary, you have to be very careful if the flop already has a flush draw possible. Now some of your straight outs can give your opponent a flush, and you can lose a big pot if you are not careful.

As you already noticed, backdoor draws are quite often, but they complete rarely. So don’t count on them every time. But when you do hit your backdoor draw on the river, it will be well disguised.

What Is A Straight Draw In Poker Room

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