I’ve wanted to write this post for a while, so here it is. I’ve noticed a lot of threads lately about people being frustrated with how other people play, and especially a lot of frustrated people who get outdrawn by a flush or straight. Well here’s my theory on how to catch that fish. You may not agree with this strategy but it has worked for me. So Ill set up a little scenario to show you how I think it should work.
First of all lets assume that you and your opponent are about even in chips and that neither of you are short stacked. If one of you is short stacked then the situation definitely changes.
Lets say your dealt
So you raise 3xBB preflop. You get two callers and the blinds fold. Standard play here, nothing tricky.
Then the flop comes
So right now you obviously have the best hand, but there is a possibility of being outdrawn here. But you need to find out how likely that is. Here is where I see a lot of people make a mistake. They lead out and bet huge. The problem with that is, if a person does have the flush draw (especially the nut flush draw) it is likely they may call. Even though they only have about a 36% chance of catching, a lot of people feel this is good enough to make a call to try and win a big pot. To even bet enough to not give them odds you would need to bet over half the pot. In this case that would be about 6xBB. Do you really want to risk that much on the possibility of getting outdrawn. Also, if you do bet large and they have nothing, they are going to fold and you lose an opportunity to take a big pot.
So what should you do? If your first to act, I suggest betting a smaller amount. Around 3xBB. This will give you an idea of what they have. A reraise would indicate a hand like 77, 22, or even 72, or Kx. This would tell you that you can now become more aggressive with it because your probably way in the lead and they seem to like there hand. A call here would indicate a weak or drawing hand. So for the sake of this scenario lets say you get one caller.
What to do on the turn.
If a spade comes off I recommend another small bet. This time 4 or 5xBB would be good. A check here would show that your scared of the flush and invite a big bluff, which would put you with a difficult decision. A call here either means that you were wrong about the draw and there trying to slowplay one of the hands that I thought they would reraise with after the flop (like 77), or that they now have the nut flush and are trying to slowplay that. So if they just call you need to decide and adjust accordingly on the river.
Now, if a spade doesn’t hit the turn I recommend a large bet (around a pot size bet). The turn is the place to make drawing hands pay. Why? Because even if they don’t know the exact odds, any idiot knows that you chances are way less to hit with just one card to come. This is the place where you will get more of the drawing hands to fold.
For this scenario lets say that the turn was the
Lets also say you made the bet and got a call anyway.
How to play the river?
If a spade hits on the river, then you have to play it much like you would if it hit on the turn. A small feeler bet is great. If he has hit it, then he will definitely reraise. If hes playing something like KQ then you may get called.
But if the spade doesn’t hit on the river what should you do? If you are pretty sure that this guy was on a draw that got busted (and doesnt have AA), you should ALWAYS let them bluff at the pot. A busted draw is more likely to bluff at the pot than anything because that is the only way they can win the pot. So check it to him and let him try to bluff, then nail it to him.
So in summary, here are what I think are the key points for playing against a drawing hand. Play it slow on the flop and try and determine if that’s what your opponent has or not. Play it hard on the turn if it doesn’t hit. Your more likely to get them to fold here. And if it makes it to the river and doesn’t hit, always let a busted draw try and bluff the pot.
However, you have to understand that this strategy relies on being able to tell what your opponent has. So you need to study your opponents and be able to put them on a hand.
Any comments or criticisms are welcome!
How to catch a fish! 
