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Playing When the Flop
Is All the Same Suit
(Or Otherwise Dangerous)
About 5 percent of the time, you can play expect poker to see three cards of the same suit on the flop.
This kind of flop creates its own unique problems.
Let’s see how some different hands should be played. First, suppose you flop a flush. (This will happen less than 1 percent of the time.)
If your flush is small, it is important to bet and/or raise, simply because you do not want to allow a free card that will beat you.
Slowplaying this type of hand, as already has been pointed out, is usually a big mistake.
If a fourth suited card comes on the turn or the river, depending on the number of opponents you are against, you may have to throw away your flush.
If you flop top pair against a few opponents you generally should bet, as you cannot afford to give a free card, especially if your top pair is not large.
However, against a lot of players, it is probably best to check and call as long as you are early to act.
If no one yet has a flush it is safe to assume that someone is drawing to it.
You should put as little money in the pot as possible until you are fairly sure that you are not against a flush.
This, of course, includes seeing that the fourth suited card does not come.
Also, if the action behind you is heavy, folding may be your best option.
However, you should usually bet if several players have already passed.
If you don’t flop top poker pair but have a high suited card, you should now draw for a flush.
However, “high suited card” means one of the top two of that particular suit.
Don’t call with something like a ten, hoping for a fourth suited card to hit the board.
In addition, depending on your opponent (s) and your position, you may want to raise and try for a free card on the turn.
Against a few opponents, a suited flop sometimes will allow you to bluff.
As long as your opponents are reasonable players, they won’t call your bet on the flop unless they have at least top pair or one of the top two suited cards.
And if you are called, you can sometimes successfully bluff through the river.
Finally, if you are against many poker players, you usually cannot bluff and probably (as just mentioned) should not even bet a hand like top pair.
It is better to wait, giving yourself an opportunity to see the action, as well as what card appears on the turn.
By the way, some of the same problems occur when a flop appears with three cards in succession, such as:In addition, flops with medium two-card combinations, such as also pose some of these same problems.
It would be a mistake to bluff into several opponents when you see one of these flops.
There are just too many ways that a JT or a T9 can hit your opponents, and it becomes almost impossible to steal in these situations.
This means that the best way to often play decent poker hands when one of these combinations appears is to just call on the flop, see what hits on fourth street, and then either fold, call, bet, or raise.
For example, suppose you start with and the flop is you should only bet into a small number of players, otherwise, be prepared to check and call.
(An exception would be if you get an opportunity to “thin the field” and you want to do so. For example, if you flop top pair from an early position in a multiway pot, you check, the last player bets, then you should go ahead and check-raise.