Flush Draws hit easier than Straight Draws.

This Fish Chums

This Fish Chums

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A straight is harder to hit then a flush. I know, it goes against the rules of poker, but look at it this way. Let's say you have 4 cards to a flush and you're chasing it. There are 13 of a suit and 4 of them are on the table / in your hand. That leaves 9 cards you're chasing. Now look at an outside straight. You have 4 cards in a row, that means you need the card before or the card after your streak. That's 2 possible numbers, multiply that by 4 suits and you've got 8 cards you're chasing. If you're chasing an inside straight, you're down to 4 cards.
So a flush draw has 9 outs, an outside straight has 8 outs, and an inside straight has 4 outs. If you're chasing a straight, and they're chasing a flush, they have better odds of hitting their flush even though a straight is technically a weaker hand. Statistically, the Flush Draw (9 outs) is easier to hit than the Straight draw (8 or 4 outs).
 
burton_boy

burton_boy

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This is certainly an interesting way of looking at things. The only issue is that you are assuming that you are starting with 4 to a flush or 4 to a straight. Have you done the math on what it takes to get here first? I'd be willing to bet that 4 to a straight happens more than 4 to a flush. So while technically if you had an open ended straight and 4 to a flush heads up on the flop the flush should come more often than the straight when looking at the big picture you're still going to see more straights than flushes overall (not assuming a start of 4 to one vs the other). Interesting thought though.
 
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AlbieTross

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I've thought the same thing. It seems like more flushes occur than straights, right? But when you look at the probability, a straight is more probable to occur than a flush, although it may not seem that way. It's just flipping a coin; there is a 50% chance that it will land on one side or the other, but flipping a coin 10 times doesn't mean you'll land on heads 5 times and tails 5 times.
 
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Manifestor

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it's much easier to assemble a color than a straight, and it's even easier to collect something from this if you have suited connectors


although the straight at the table is much harder to read, so when collecting a straight you can win more pot
 
WhereDidMyEVGo

WhereDidMyEVGo

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This is certainly an interesting way of looking at things. The only issue is that you are assuming that you are starting with 4 to a flush or 4 to a straight. Have you done the math on what it takes to get here first? I'd be willing to bet that 4 to a straight happens more than 4 to a flush. So while technically if you had an open ended straight and 4 to a flush heads up on the flop the flush should come more often than the straight when looking at the big picture you're still going to see more straights than flushes overall (not assuming a start of 4 to one vs the other). Interesting thought though.

obviously this is correct
 
blueskies

blueskies

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A str is also more easily disguised. If the board is 67T with 3 diamonds, you are probably more wary of the flush.

I love it when I flop a set and the board pairs to make a flush for the villain on the turn or river though. :) That's my favorite kind of a win.
 
grumblbrumbl

grumblbrumbl

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This is a very amusing thought. However, poker is not just math, and besides you at the table sit another 5 or 8 people who are also given out cards. And how do you know, do your opponents can have blockers on your flush and straight? So the number of your outs is noticeably reduced. Yes, on paper, as you calculated, collecting a flush looks easier than a straight. But in the game everything is much more complicated.
 
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