3 Tips to Help You Profit With Draws (Via Lucid GTO)
Learning to play draws aggressively is one of the most important concepts that new poker players can learn.
When you’re a beginner, simply always fast-playing with your draws is a solid approach that’s easy to execute. But that’s an overly simplified approach.
As you become a more advanced player, certain nuances dictate which draws benefit from betting — and also which benefit from checking.
In this article, I will shine more light on this aspect of betting strategy with 3 tips for choosing which draws to bet on the flop.
Let’s dive in!
Tip #1: Check more often when your draw has showdown value
Whether or not your draw has showdown value influences whether it should bet or check.
Let’s explore this together with the Lucid Poker Trainer. I’ll use Upswing Poker’s recommended training tool to look at advanced, “unbeatable” strategies from a poker solver.
I’ll start by seeing how the solver approaches c-betting on a flop with a lot of draws — Jd Tc 5c (Button versus the Big Blind, 100bb effective).
I will highlight just the straight draws in Lucid:
The solver bets Ace-high hands less often than hands with less showdown value on Jd Tc 5c
Let’s compare the strategy for three gutshot straight draws: Ace-King offsuit, Ace-Queen offsuit, and King-Nine offsuit.
As far as absolute hand strength goes, Ace-King is the strongest one of them, followed by Ace-Queen, and then King-Nine.
Interestingly, we see the reverse order when it comes to the aggressiveness of the strategy. King-Nine bets more frequently than Ace-Queen, which bets slightly more frequently than Ace-King.
The reasoning behind this revolves around the amount of showdown value that these hands have.
When you check back with Ace-King, there is a high probability that you will win at showdown against worse Ax hands. The same is true for Ace-Queen, which is why there is not a large difference in the betting frequency between these two hands.
However, King-Nine has almost no showdown value as you can expect to win extremely infrequently by checking down if you never improve.
In other words, Ace-King and Ace-Queen have much more potential win the pot by either checking or betting, while King-Nine relies much more on betting to secure the pot.
Takeaway: You should tend to veer away from betting draws with showdown value
Note: Become one with cutting-edge poker strategies inside the new Lucid Poker Trainer now. Practice your cash game skills and get instant feedback on every decision (both preflop and postflop). Join the Beta now!
Tip #2: Step-up your aggression with backdoor flush draws
In the previous tip, we looked at these draws through a less detailed lens.
If we dive deeper into these hands and look at the specific combinations of Ace-King offsuit, we will see an interesting trend involving backdoor flush draws.
This is how our computer overload varies its strategy with Ace-King on that same Jd Tc 5c flop:
The solver plays Ace-King offsuit way more aggressively when it has a club — especially the Ac
Ace-King offsuit combinations that have a club in them are betting significantly more often than their non-club counterparts.
Why does holding a club equal more aggression?
- It makes your bluff success rate higher. Having the club reduces the number of hands that Big Blind can continue with (e.g. Ac 7c or Kc 7c).
- You have more equity. It isn’t easy to go runner-runner for a flush, but the slim possibility increases your equity in the pot by around 2-4%.
- More playability on future streets. Having a club simply makes you life easier. You’ll get to play more aggressively on certain (club) turns. You’ll frequently see the river. Good things happen more often!
When you have that backdoor flush draw, especially with the Ax or Kx, lean towards aggression.
Tip #3: High draws are more profitable bets than lower draws
There is an exception to this tip, which we discussed in Tip #1.
Unless you have a very strong nut flush draw (such as Ace-King or Ace-Queen), you will profit more by betting with high flush draws compared to low ones.
Let’s return to that Jd Tc 5c flop
Solver’s Strategy With Ac 6c on Jd Tc 5c
Solver’s Strategy With Kc 6c on Jd Tc 5c
Solver’s Strategy With Qc 6c on Jd Tc 5c
Solver’s Strategy With 9c 6c on Jd Tc 5c
We can see a gradual decrease in the betting frequency as the hand gets weaker. Why is that?
The reasoning behind it stems mainly from a couple of factors:
- The stronger flush draws have more equity and implied odds when hitting (as they beat more of the other flushes) – this incentivizes increasing the size of the pot as you are more likely to end up winning a large pot.
- The stronger flush draws block more of the defending range than the weaker flush draws – this leads to higher fold equity thus an incentive to bet more.
What About Other Flops?
We honed in on that Jd Tc 5c flop in this article, but the general principals we discovered apply to most other flops too.
Draws with showdown value tend to check more often. Backdoor flush draws equal more aggression. Big flush draws are the most profitable bets.
For example, that Ac 7c from the featured image is a better bet than the 9c 7c on that Qc 4d 2c flop.
There are some exceptions to the betting tips. In certain situations, you should bet with 100% of your range on the flop. In others, you should check with 100% of your range.
But these tips, when followed, will help you make more money with your draws on average.
If you want to check out what else I’ve learned inside the Lucid Poker Trainer, read 3 Tips for Slow-Playing Strong Hands (via Lucid GTO).
Till’ next time, good luck, grinders!
Watch The Lucid Poker Trainer in Action
with Mike Brady & Doug Polk
There a countless ways to leverage the new Lucid Poker Trainer to improve your poker game.
Watch this video to see Lucid GTO in action as Mike Brady and Doug Polk run through 8 tips for using the tool.
