FLUSH POKER

There are several poker hand rankings, but among the top of the list is what is called a ‘flush’.

In this post, we’ll detail everything that has to do with a flush poker, including its value within the game, how to make one, and the probability of it being dealt.

Once you’ve read this post, you’ll be able to not only identify a potential flush draw, but also make the most out of it.

After all, putting all this knowledge into practice is what separates an enthusiastic amateur from a professional poker player.

At HotSlots, we can help you make that transition thanks to our numerous poker variants and a beginner-friendly experience. Feel free to start playing a poker variant at HotSlots to kickstart your learning experience!

WHAT IS THE DEFINITION OF A FLUSH IN POKER?

A flush is a five-card poker hand where each card is of the same suit. Although there doesn’t have to be a sequential order to make a flush, the five cards cannot be of different suit.

Imagine being dealt this hand in a poker game: an ace of diamonds and a queen of diamonds.

Now, imagine this board texture: three of diamonds, four of spades, four of diamonds, jack of diamonds and an ace of hearts.

In this situation, the name of our flush hand is ‘ace high flush‘, made up of the ace, queen, three, four and jack of diamonds — five cards of the same suit.

As can be seen from this example, the name of a flush hand takes into consideration the highest-ranking card used to form the hand combination.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A FLUSH AND A STRAIGHT

Flushes and straights are two very distinct hands, and mixing them up is a fundamental mistake that can cost you at a poker table. Although both of them fall under the ‘five card poker hand‘ category, there are some considerable differences to take into account.

As we’ve mentioned above, a flush constitutes of five cards of the same suit. There doesn’t have to be any order to the cards, and seeing as five cards are required to make it, community cards must be used.

Similarly to a flush, a straight requires a total of five cards, but the most significant difference is that a straight requires five sequential cards that aren’t necessarily of the same suit. For example, a three through seven would make a seven high straight.

At this stage, it is important to point out that not even the highest straight will beat a flush. This is because the odds of being dealt a flush are lower than that of a straight.

We’ll discuss strategies to help you form a flush later on.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A FLUSH AND A STRAIGHT FLUSH

Although extremely similar, these two hands are not the same.

A straight flush consists of five cards of the same suit in sequential order, whereas a flush doesn’t require the cards to be in any specific order.

Given the restriction, a straight flush ranks higher than a conventional flush in both Hold’em variants, so keep this in mind when playing online poker.

STRONGEST FLUSH COMBINATIONS IN POKER

It is important to note that not every flush poker hand is equivalent. Although flush hands are, in and of themselves, relatively strong compared to other hands, there is such a thing as a weak flush hand. You can find the best flush hands right below.

• Ace high flush
• King high flush
• Queen high flush

Having said that, a straight flush is stronger than an ordinary flush, which means that a straight flush beats a flush.

For example, an ace through five of the same suit would be called an ‘ace high straight‘ — also known as a ‘Broadway straight’.

Similary to a flush, the name of a straight flush hand takes into consideration the highest-ranking card used to form the hand combination.

Seeing as straight flushes beat flushes, it would have been unfair to the latter to list them both together. In the following list, we’ll rank the strongest flush poker hand rankings that include straight flush poker hands.

• Royal flush (10 through ace)
• King high straight flush
• King high flush
• Queen high straight flush
• Queen high flush

The royal flush is the pinnacle of a straight flush, and it beats any other flush, straight or even straight flush.

HOW TO GET A FLUSH

Although there is no secret way to form a flush, there are some ways to amplify your odds of forming one.

With that said, going all-in and hoping for the best is not what we have in mind. That is just a quick way to lose countless chips!

• Keep an eye out for a flush draw: A flush is sometimes made on the river, which is why you could end up regretting folding a flush draw. Sometimes, all it takes is one card to make a flush, and that card might be what separates your hand from the rest.
• If your chip stack allows, bet on flush draws: Seeing as a flush is sometimes made on the river, it would be a good idea to make a potential flush worthwhile. Checking your way to the river with a flush draw isn’t a good idea, since that means missing out on a lot of money should you win the pot. Whether it is an odd aggressive bet or a post-flop continuation bet, it is important to sweeten the pot for the off chance that you make a flush.

There aren’t many other things you could do to get a flush.

Luck plays a big role in every poker game out there, but your decision during every street can be the deciding factor in whether you end up making a flush or not.

HOW DOES A FLUSH HAND RANK?

In this section, we’ll have a look at how a flush ranks against not only other hand combinations, but also against other flushes.

To this end, we will make use of traditional poker hand rankings that apply for Texas hold’em.

First off, there are a total of 10 poker hand combinations: royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair and the high card. A flush gets beaten by a royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind and a full house

On the other hand, a flush beats a straight, three of a kind, two pair, one pair and a high card. This goes to show that, although a flush is quite a strong hand, it can still get beaten by four other hands.

Secondly, there are 5,108 possible flush combinations which, when you think about it, isn’t very surprising considering that each suit includes 13 different ranks (ace through king).

As we’ve mentioned above, an ace high flush trumps the rest, whereas a king high flush comes second. The list goes on in chronological order according to the card ranks.

PROBABILITY OF BEING DEALT A FLUSH

The main reason why a flush is a significantly strong hand is that it isn’t as common as other hand combination. When traiditional hand rankings apply, a flush can hold its own fairly well against other hands.

If you want to know the exact flush poker probabilities, have a look at the tables below, where we’ve covered the probability of being drawn a flush in Texas hold’em probabilities.

Here, you can see Texas hold’em probabilities pre flop, post flop, turn and river.

TABLE

As you can see from the tables above, the probability of making a flush grows as the streets progress.

This is precisely the reason why we recommended that a poker player places a bet and pursues flush draws if their circumstances allow. Such a player could end up winning a sizeable pot if the right bets have been made.