Methods to scan for straights???????

Is there a method or technique for scanning the dealt cards to predict an opponent having a straight???? I keep getting beat by surprise straights. 'Don't mind getting beat by a superior hand but I hate for it to be a total surprise........

I've gotten OK at predicting flushes.......if I don't have one, beware... one of the opponents probably does.......

But the dang surprise straights are murdering me.......I've got to correct this deficiency in my game before I can play 'no limit'

HELP!!

Really nothing more than paying attention. Are you listening to music, watchin a ballgame, fightin with the wife/hubby, while you are playin or are you paying attention to the cards & the other people at the table & how & what they are doing?

I like to figure out the best 10 possible hands on the board at all times. It's a fun game to keep me thinking when I'm not involved in a hand and helps me spot these surprise straights you're talking about. If a player wakes up with a card that seems like it'd be a blank take a second look before you make your decision. If the card makes a straight possible I'd run the hand back through my head and see if it's possible that they were playing a straight draw by their betting pattern, look at notes, or try to remember past hands that you've seen him play.

the worst straights are ones you aren't thinking of. If you see a board of 4s Ad 2h you usually aren't worrying about a straight (especially if you aren't paying attention). If you have Ax you may think you have strength, but beware of loose players, or blinds with 35... they've got the wheel.

Anyone can see a straight coming when the cards flop in a row, it's when there are connectors in play or other high pairs/sets you worry about them and forget about the straight.

You hold KK, board flops J 9 K rainbow... you're happy, you've got a set and a good one. A QT suited (or off) screws you... gotta pay attention to connectors to avoid the "surprise"

It`s about experience and paying attention.

By the time all 5 community cards are dealt, it`s considerably more likely than not that there will be a possible straight. (I ought to be able to do the maths and figure the percentage, but it`s early Sunday here and I`m too lazy, lol.)

Still, you can`t always fold your set in case the opponent has the straight. That would be ridiculous. What matters is to figure out whether he actually has it, and that is about watching the betting pattern.

Sometimes, you`ll be wrong and you will lose but, like most situations in poker, the goal is not to be right every time, but to be right more often than you are wrong. That`s what makes a winning player.

As Egon pointed out, once the community cards are dealt, often there is a possible straight. The times when I pay the most attention to it are when high cards are involved, ex. a board of A-Q-7-4-T, where KJ made a straight. Any time a hand with 2 high cards will make a straight be careful, that includes hands like QT or even J9, since people play these hands quite often. The betting pattern is, of course, what will help you determine if he does hold that hand, but you can only realize it if you pay attention to the board. Also, frequently players will raise your flop bet when they hit an open ended straight draw, ex. they have KQ on a J-7-T board, which is often a great play since they can, with that raise, either take the pot down right away, get a free card or at least create deception.

As far as predicting a straight with low community cards, pay most attention to 2 gap boards, such as T-9-6-A-2, because many players love playing connectors, particularly suited such as 8-7s which, on that board, makes a straight. Low cards with 2 gap always hide that possibility.

As, again, Egon pointed out, no matter how careful you are you won't be right all the time, especially considering that some players do a really good job in decieving. But studying the board and betting patterns will allow you to save yourself sometimes.

Personally, I can usually determine how my day will go by whether or not I am seeing the draw possibilities or not. When I am seeing the possible straights, even the 7Tj, or 246, I usually do well.

What determines whether or not I will see them? When I find that out I will have advance another step on a very long stairway to poker heaven.
I think generaly it boils down to whether or not I am rested, fed, happy, or distracted and stressed.

Once I know a draw is possible, then I can do the figuring as to whether or not villian had and filled the draw.

I use 4 color decks everywhere, and it pisses me off when I don't even see the flushes!

Often, when I get clobbered by a surprise straight, it in the low end.....The winner has hold cards that I would have folded before the flop......... I go directly to tilt.....I do not collect $200..............