What is a Flush in Poker? (May 2024)

Flush is a poker hand that relates to suits. Card rank is not important here, nor do they need to be sequential. It is one of the most intriguing hands as all it requires are for 5 cards to have the same suit.

What is a Flush in Poker?

There are four suits in a deck: Clubs, Spades, Hearts and Diamonds. A flush is when you have 5 cards of the same suit in a hand. As it requires at least 3 communal cards to have the same suit, it is quite a rare hand in the game. What is more, if there are 3 communal cards of the suit you need, then there is a chance you are not the only one with a flush. It is tricky to play, but it is a strong hand.

What Beats a Flush?

Flushes rank higher than high card, one pair, two pair and straight poker hands. However, it is not a surefire winner. Here are the poker hands that can beat a flush.

1. Royal Flush
2. Straight Flush
3. Four of a Kind
4. Full House

As there is only one of each of the cards 2 through Ace in each suit, you cannot form a flush and a pair. If there are more than 5 suited cards to pick from, then you pick the higher numbers. This is because if two players both form a flush, the round will be determined by which player has the highest card. If the players both have the same high card, then the second card, will be the tiebreaker. Should there still be a tie, the third, fourth and then fifth cards are checked. The only way a flush can end in a tie is if the two flushes only use the communal cards.

Flush Probabilities

As card rank does not matter in a flush, the mathematics behind this hand is very different. Just think about it this way, if you only need to form a pair or straight, you will need 1 specific card from the 13 possible. With a flush, you only need to match the suit, of which there are only 4. Of course, it is not that simple as you need to factor in the cards on the table and in the hole, and then there are your opponents’ hidden cards.

There are 5,108 different ways to make a flush, and the odds of getting a flush is 508.8 to 1. At the beginning of each round, there is a 0.1965% possibility of getting a flush. This all changes after the flop is dealt.

What to do With Your Flush

There is a lot of money to be made with a flush, but it all depends on when you have one. If you can form one early and feel confident no one can beat it, then you can steadily increase the pot to a good size. Holding on till the last draw for a flush is far more dangerous.

Preflop

Getting two suited cards in the preflop is a great step towards forming a flush, but you never know what the next 5 cards will bring. You need 3 of those 5 cards to match your suit. It is quite a long shot. At this point, it is best to play for the high card, and if you have a low ranking set of cards, then you can also fold.

Flop

The best case scenario is you make a flush after the flop is dealt. You have 5 cards of the same suit, but remember three of those cards are communal. With 9 cards of the same suit left, there is a chance, albeit a slim one, of someone else holding 2 cards of that suit too.

If you do not make a flush after the flop, then you have to consider how close you are to one. With 4 cards of the same suit, it may be worth taking on the gamble to see what the turn will bring. If your hand has only 3 cards of the same suit, then you might as well pursue another hand. It is not impossible for the turn and river to both bring cards of your desired suit, but the odds are stacked against you.

Turn

It is essential to keep track of what the other players do in the betting cycle. Let’s say the flop brought two or three cards of matching suit, this is the best run up for a flush. If the turn did not extend that run, then you should observe how the other players bet. Should your opponents slow down with their bets, then it may mean that the draw did not help them out.

If you are one card short, then you have to be cautious as well. The odds on this last card bringing the suit you need is less than 4 to 1 as you presumably already have 4 cards lined up.

River and Showdown

At the river, all is revealed and you will know whether you have the flush or not. If you already had it, then this card and the turn are hugely important too. Should you have 2 suited cards and the communal cards extends this to 6, it is not a big problem. It means that you can leave out the weakest card of the bunch. Should another player also form a flush, you have a better chance of beating them.

Best Case Scenario

The top flush formations have high ranking cards. The best flush is suited Ace, King, Queen, Jack and 9, where the Ace and King are your hole cards. If the hand forms a sequence, then this is a flush straight. In the example, if the 9 is replaced with a 10, then this is the Royal Flush, and the strongest hand in the game.

Worst Case Scenario

The worst flush you can form is full of low cards. Suited 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 where the 2 and 3 are your hole cards is the worst flush.

Conclusion

The flop and the turn are very much the critical stages if you are playing for a flush. It is the same whether you can get one or you bluff your hand. The flop needs to bring 2 suited cards for your raising to have any bite to it. If the turn can extend this further, then you can scare a lot of players off with your raising. Always remember that even though you only need the card to be 1 of 4 possible suits, the odds are always longer. Because of the other suited cards on the table, it is never just a 1 in 4 chance.