Chasing A Weak Draw

Written By: GoodRakebackDeals.com

There are a few things that are very important to keep in mind if you are considering calling an opponent down with a weak draw. The main idea is that you need to either get paid off, or come up with enough reasons to justify making this kind of call. Here are a few questions that I always ask myself when facing a decision like this.

• Will I be able to get paid off if I complete my hand?
• Will I be able to bluff the pot if I don’t complete my hand?
• Are there opponents left to act behind me?
• How good are the pot odds?

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If your opponent has a strong hand he will be more likely to pay you off if you are able to complete your hand. This means that you are getting better implied odds compared to a situation where your opponent has a small pair and is likely to fold to a large bet. Consider an example where your opponent is an amateur player holding pocket aces. A player like this is unlikely to fold to a raise on the river most of the time, so you can easily justify chasing a weak draw against them. However if they are only holding a small pair or another weak hand, you will not be able to win very much money from them when you complete your hand.

This brings us to the next point. If your opponent’s hand is weak and he will fold to a large bet, then you really don’t need to make your hand in order to win the pot, you just need to raise or bet on the turn. Now we have reasons to call if our opponent’s hand is strong, and a reason to call if his hand is weak. In the first case, it is helpful if your opponent plays poorly so he is less likely to fold when you have the best hand. Thus, your opponents skill level also needs to be considered here.

Assume that you are able to come up with enough reasons to call a bet and chase a straight draw. It’s always a shame when you have decided to do this, then a player acting after you moves all-in for a large amount. This is frustrating and sometimes avoidable. If you are making a borderline call according to the odds, and there are still players left to act… you should figure this into your % requirements for making the call. The more players that are left to act behind you, the stronger your draw needs to be in order to call a bet.

If you are ambitious, you can figure out exactly what the likelihood is of a player behind you having a big hand. I usually don’t waste time figuring out specific percentages and pot odds regarding this. You should just keep in mind that if there are still players left to act behind you, you should be a little bit less liberal when chasing your draws. The optimal spot would be to act last after the bettor. This would give you a concrete number as to how many chips it would cost you in order to chase your draw.

You will find that some poker sites have much softer cash games than others. Make sure that you know your opponents, and don’t be afraid to try out a new poker site on occasion. You can find good rakeback deals and also find promotions that will help to save you money when you are playing online poker.