Flopping Straight Draws
Let’s say you have 8 
7 . Look at some of the flops you might get: K 
10 9 
.
You’ve flopped a straight draw. Any Jack or any 6 will make a straight.
You shouldn’t like this flop and should probably fold if anyone bets.
Not all straight draws are alike. They range from very strong hands to very weak hands.
What’s wrong with the straight draw illustrated? Over half the cards that can make a straight for you might also make a better hand for someone else.
Although any Jack or 6 will make your straight, that means eight cards, and two of those cards are Clubs, so one-fourth of the time that you make a straight, you might be beaten by a flush.
Also a Jack would make anyone holding a single Queen a higher straight than yours.
Add to it that someone may already have a higher straight than the one you’re drawing to, and your prospects start looking bleak.
The potential for a second-best hand is huge, and second-best hands can get very expensive.
With the 8 7 in your hand, compare that flop with 7 7 4 
.
Like the flop discussed, it’s possible that someone flopped a straight, but if they did, you don’t care because the straight you’re drawing to is not a worse straight.
Not only that, your top pair is probably the best hand right now.
Often you hear that you should not draw to inside straights, but that straights open on both ends are good to draw to.
I’ve just shown you two example of where that advice is reversed (the better of the two examples of where that advice is reversed (the better of the two straight draws is the one that can only make a straight one way) with the inside draw for a 5.
In Holdem, the key to drawing to straights is the consideration of how the cards that will make you hand will affect the hands of other players and whether you have the possibility of making the best possible straight.
Another example is, still with a 8 7 , a flop of 5 4 2 .
With this flop you have an inside straight draw, but also have two cards higher than any card on the flop,called “overcards.”
So, you have four cards that will make a straight for you, and six other cards that will make top pair for you.
Top pair with an 8 or 7 is a little iffy because of the possibility that it will make a straight for someone else.
This kind of draw (gutshot with overcards) can be a strong draw if you’re not against more than two or three opponents.
For another example, compare 7 6 4 with the flop above when you’re holding 8 7 .
The two flops look much the same, but they can be vastly different, particularly in a loose game.
Not only do you no longer have that three-card flush,but it’s possible that someone has a draw to a diamond flush.
A 7 makes three 7s for you, but may make a flush for someone else.
A 5 makes a straight for you, but also has the flush risk.
In a typical game, where you have four or five active opponents on the flop, you probably still have the best hand, but it’s vulnerable, and if it’s not the best hand, you may not have many ways to win.
There is no one right answer as to how to play this flop-but there is a wrong answer.
You should either play this very aggressively or not play at all.
Calling a bet to see what develops would almost always be wrong in a typical game.
Entering a Public Cardroom / The Play of the Game / The First Betting Round
