European Sport Bets

Playing with Betting Draws in Poker

A betting draw is a draw that has a positive expectation, not only in terms of pot odds, but in bet odds as well. These are draws that you can bet and raise with, even before they are completed. Betting draws are much less common than pot draws. Their value usually doesn't arise from especially high chances of completing but by the presence of a large number of opponents. Of course, things like straight flush draws can have winning odds high enough to have positive value even against a small field. Therefore, the same combination of cards can be a mere pot draw in one situation and a betting draw in another. For example, a flush draw after the flop in Texas Hold'em can be a pot draw against two players but a betting draw against three players who will call your bet.

While both pair hands and betting draws can be bet for value, there is a key difference: betting draws are best multi-way because their value depends on high bet odds, that is, the assurance that many opponents will call your additional bets and raises. This means that betting and raising for value with a draw only makes sense if it will (1) not force out any opponents or (2) eventually force all of them out.

Basic Strategy for Betting Draws Defined strictly in terms of the odds of winning and bet odds.

1. Betting and raising with an incomplete hand is called "betting on the come." You must have a firm handle on the dynamics at work before you jam the pot with an assortment of cards that is worthless at the moment.

- The threshold between a pot draw and a betting draw is highly sensitive to small changes in the strength of the hand you are trying to make. The presence of a lot of opponents means that you should be drawing at the highest potential rank of hand and, usually, at the nuts itself. For example, in Seven-Card Stud, raising for value with a high flush draw when an opponent has a high pair showing and has been betting hard, suggesting a full house or a draw to one, is a very risky play. If he has trips already, he's got a better chance of making a boat than you do of making a flush.

2. The number of callers you need to justify betting on the come is based upon the odds of completing by the end of the hand. I say "based upon" because you have to give yourself a pad of a caller or two, above and beyond your odds of winning, to account for rounding errors, the possibility of players folding,and the possibility that you make your draw and get beaten anyway. This is especially true in earlier betting rounds, since so much can change.

3. Don't bet on the come when you are drawing to a second best hand, such as when you have a straight draw and suspect someone else is on a flush draw.

4. The main idea with a betting draw is to bet and raise as long as it keeps opponents in the hand. Passive opponents and late position make this easier to achieve. Avoid raising early in a betting round if it will force many of your opponents to call two bets cold, but go ahead and raise or check-raise after a group of callers has already invested one bet.

5. Let's wrap this up with an example. Suppose you have a draw to the nut flush after the flop in Hold'em. You have 1:2 odds of making it by the end. As you'll see later, it can be smart to bet or raise with this hand for tactical reasons. But from a pure mathematical perspective, a bet or raise will only have a positive expected value if you are assured of three callers (from the "2" in your 1:2 winning odds plus one caller as a pad.) If you don't make it on the turn, your odds go down to 1:5 for the river draw, meaning that you would need at least six callers to be able to bet or raise. Often you will bet on the come early in a hand and then back off as your chances to complete go down.