When most poker players receive a drawing hand, they limp into the pot in an attempt to see the flop. Assuming their draw hits on the flop, they are usually willing to throw out a bet in hopes that their card will come on the turn. But if that card doesn’t come on the turn, the average player will yield to a continuation bet to avoid losing any more money.
The truth though is that you can actually end up losing way more money by folding draws every time they don’t hit. Throwing away pre-flop bets time and time again can cost you a lot in the long-run. This has a very negative effect on your reline winnings, which are winnings without going to a showdown. In order to improve your redline you will definitely need to play your draws aggressively.
Advantages of raising with a draw
It can be uncomfortable to raise with anything other than a made hand. Unfortunately, you won’t have the luxury of a made hand the majority of the time so you’ll have to raise with your draws in many instances.
When raising with a drawing hand, keep in mind that this enables you to win pots in two different ways; by hitting your hand or by making your opponent fold. This differs greatly from limping where your only chance to win is by hitting your hand.
An example of raising with a draw
Let’s say you’re in a $2/$4 No-Limit Hold’em game and you’ve got a $150 stack. You’re holding 8s-9s in late position, and the flop is 3c-Js-5s. Your opponent bets $12 into an $18 pot while everyone else folds.
In this situation, you’ve really got to think about your opponent’s range before making the decision to raise. Your opponent has a wide range of hands that include A-A – J-J, A-J – K-J, 5-5, and 3-3.
Assuming your opponent has a set, it’s very unlikely that they’ll fold to a raise. However, there is also a very good possibility that your opponent doesn’t have a set which means a raise can get them to fold. In fact, you want your opponent to fold to a raise when holding a flush draw. But even if the opponent does call, you’ve got nine outs to hit your flush by the river so playing aggressively in this instance is a good decision.
