What is a Flush in Poker? Definition, Examples, and Strategy

flush in poker

If you’re keen to improve your poker game, it’s essential that you know the hand rankings inside out. Mastering this is vital to knowing your strength in every hand you play. 

Let’s check what a flush is in poker and its position relative to other poker hand types. We will also offer some strategic tips when betting with a made or incomplete flush.

What is a Flush in Poker?

This five-card poker hand requires you to have cards of the same suit, no matter their numerical sequence or value. Flushes are more valuable than straights in the poker rankings but less valuable than a full house.

How to Make a Flush

You must have five cards of the same playing card suit to make a flush in poker. In Texas Hold’em, you can use any combination of your two hole cards and the three-to-five community cards dealt in the middle of the table.

For instance, holding A-9 of spades and seeing 10-7-K of spades on the flop completes a flush.

In Omaha, you must use exactly two of the four hole cards dealt to you and three from the community cards. For instance, you may hold 10-K hearts and 3-5 diamonds and complete your flush with A-J-2 of hearts from the community cards dealt.

flush poker

Different Types of Flushes

Although you’re now familiar with the composition of a flush, there are several types of flush which are more valuable than others. Below, we’ll explain which ones are worth playing:

High Flush

A flush is considered a “high flush” when the highest card in the flush is one of the highest-value cards, i.e. a face card (Jack, Queen, King or Ace).

It doesn’t matter if the other four cards within your flush are 2-3-4-5. So long as you have a face card of the same suit, this automatically makes it a high flush.

The highest top card of a flush wins, which can determine if two or more players have a flush at showdown. For instance, one player may have an Ace-high flush, and the other may have a King-high flush. In this scenario, the former would take the pot with the Ace-high flush.

In the poker scene, an Ace-high flush is also known colloquially as the “nut flush,” which means the unbeatable flush.

Low Flush

A flush is described as a “low flush” when the highest card involved in the five-card hand is a low-value card, such as 2-3-4-5.

The lowest possible flush you can make is 2-3-4-5-6 of any suit. Since an Ace can be classed as high or low-value, it cannot help create a low flush.

In many ways, a low flush is a hand you don’t want to work with – especially if you fear an opponent also having a flush. Having a low flush gives you very little showdown value once all five community cards are dealt and all betting rounds are completed.

Straight Flush

There is only one type of hand in poker that’s stronger than a straight flush. This makes it one of the most sought-after hands but also one of the rarest hands to have at the poker table too.

A straight flush consists of five consecutive cards of the same suit. We’re starting to build a picture of how difficult it is to make a straight flush. You must have a run of five cards in numerical order. This is hard enough, but to have them all in the same playing card suit is even tougher still.

The probability of making a straight flush in a five-card hand game like Five-Card Draw is said to be one-in-64,974 hands. The chances of making a straight flush in a seven-card hand game like Texas Hold’em are significantly better due to the extra community cards involved. Still, the likelihood of it happening is roughly one in every 3,589 hands.

Royal Flush

A royal flush is the pinnacle at the poker table. It’s the most valuable hand you can make in the game. It consists of five cards of the same suit in the highest possible numerical order – from 10 through to Ace.

This means there are only four ways to complete a royal flush: 10-J-Q-K-A in each suit (hearts, diamonds, spades, and clubs).

Looking at the probability of making a royal flush, you won’t be surprised to find that it’s the rarest kind in five and seven-card poker games. In five-card hand games like Five Card Draw, there is a one in 649,740 chance of completing a royal flush. In seven-card hand games such as Texas Hold’em, there is a one in 30,939 chance of making the best hand in poker.

royal flush

Strategy for Playing a Flush

Knowing how to play a made flush at the poker table is one of the most important strategies for becoming a winning player. It’s all about knowing when to bet aggressively and when to rein it in and extract full value from your hand. Mastering both aspects is beneficial to evolving your overall poker game.

Below, we’ll talk about some strategies that can help you think differently when you’ve completed a flush or have a drawing hand and are close to completing one.

Determine the Strength of Your Flush

Is your flush a high flush or a low flush? This will give you an idea of how much showdown value your hand has. If it’s a high flush, you may decide to bet aggressively, as fewer hands can beat you. Meanwhile, those with lower flushes may choose to proceed with caution. Even those with high flushes may decide to act cautiously to avoid appearing strong in the eyes of opponents.

Also, take the time to look at the community cards in the middle of the table. Is the board paired? If there are two pairs visible in the five community cards, there’s a good chance a player has a full house, which is one of the few hands that can beat a flush in poker.

Know Whether to Bet Strongly or “Slow Play”

If you have a high flush and the community cards make it hard for your opponents to have a full house or better flush, this may be your green light to bet aggressively. It can push opponents to fold weaker hands or entice passive players to call your bet with a drawing hand that’s unlikely to win.

In the scenario of holding the “nut flush” – an ace-high flush – you may decide to “slow play” your hand. This means betting more modestly or even checking on the flop, turn or river cards to indicate to your opponents that your hand isn’t as strong as it is.

Slow plays allow you to bring more opponents along in the hand, building the size of the pot over each betting round. It gives them a chance of hitting weaker flushes or alternative hands below a flush in the poker hand rankings, which they may bet further with.

Maximizing Value From Your Hand

To maximize full value from a strong flush, consider your table position. If you’re in a late position, you can observe most of your opponents’ actions first. If the betting is checked around to you with no bets placed, it’s likely you have the strongest hand and may be able to build or take down the pot there and then.

When you’re in early position, it’s usually advised to bet aggressively with a strong flush to stop opponents from getting free cards on the turn or river which could complete a stronger hand like a full house or four-of-a-kind.

If you hold a low-value flush, it’s best to try and control the pot size so that you’re not risking too much of your chip stack on a hand which may have diminished showdown value.

Become accustomed to reading your opponents’ betting tendencies. If a specific player often calls large bets with marginal or drawing hands, you could increase your bet sizing to extract further value. At the other end of the spectrum, if you’re involved with tight, “nitty” players, it may be best to proceed with caution if they’re displaying strength.

How to Bluff

Semi-bluffing is often a good idea on the flop or turn if you have a flush draw, i.e. four cards to a flush. By betting or raising, you can apply pressure and either win the pot outright or earn a chance to complete the flush with the next community card.

An advanced strategy is to represent that you have a flush with your bet sizing, even if you don’t have one. If the community cards show three cards of the same suit and your opponents are showing weakness, a strong bet could represent that you’ve flopped a flush, forcing them to fold.

You can hone your flush-playing poker strategies at the tables right here at EVO.io.

Common Misconceptions About Flushes

  1.     Players will often overestimate the strength of their flush, particularly if the community board is paired (two pairs visible).
  2.     Some recreational poker players will wrongly assume that all flushes are equally strong.
  3.     Some players will always chase a flush draw on the turn and river, deeming it profitable. However, this is only a profitable move if you get the right pot odds to call.

A flush is an important hand in poker. It’s a strong hand that can often win sizeable pots. Knowing their value relative to your opponent’s hands is key to playing them effectively and driving your profitability at the poker tables.

Below, we’ll look at some infamous flush hands in poker history:

  • Chris Moneymaker, winner of the 2003 WSOP Main Event, represented a flush with just king-high. His bold betting forced opponent, Sammy Farha, to hold his stronger hand.
  •  In 2006, Daniel Negreanu turned a flush against Gus Hansen’s full house. Negreanu continued to bet aggressively, adamant that Hansen did not have a better hand. Sure enough, he did.
  • In 2009, Tom Dwan got incredibly lucky in another high-stakes poker game against Barry Greenstein, whose pair of aces were cracked by Dwan’s completed flush on the river.

Conclusion

A flush can be a powerful poker hand, allowing you to take control of many pots during a cash game or tournament. However, it’s important to know when to represent your made flush and when to slow play it to invite opponents to commit more chips to a pot you’re highly likely to win at showdown.

Be sure to practice spotting the tell-tale signs of when a flush is in danger of being cracked by a better hand.

FAQs

What is the difference between a flush and a straight?

A flush is a five-card hand in which all cards must be of the same playing card suit – five diamonds or hearts, for example. A straight is a five-card hand with a run of cards in numerical order – 3,4,5,6,7 of any suit, for example.

How does a flush compare to other poker hands?

A flush is the fifth best possible hand you can make in poker. There’s only four types of poker hands that beat it – a full house (one pair and a three-of-a-kind), a four-of-a-kind, a straight flush (a straight in the same suit), and a royal flush (a straight in the same suit from 10 to A).

Can a flush contain an ace?

Yes, absolutely. Essentially, a flush can feature any card value so long as all five cards are of the same playing card suit. However, the best possible flush contains a royal flush from ten to ace. It’s also the highest-ranked hand in poker.

What happens if two players have a flush?

If two or more players have a flush at the showdown of cards, the dealer will look for the highest-value card of the suit in question. Let’s say one player has five hearts (4-5-6-7-8) and another player has five hearts (7-8-9-10-J); the latter player would win by virtue of holding a jack-high flush against an eight-high flush.

Is a straight flush the same as a flush?

No, a straight flush is even better than a flush! A straight flush is the second most valuable hand in poker. It involves a five-card hand in numerical sequence, but crucially, all cards must be in the same suit, too, e.g. 9-10-J-Q-K of hearts.