What is a Flush?

What is Flush Poker Hand?

A Flush is a poker hand consisting of five suited cards. An example of a Flush in poker is A♦ K♦ 7♦ 3♦ 6♦.

Royal Flushes and Straight Flushes are types of Flushes, but they’re classed as separate poker hands because they have cards in sequential order, e.g., A♦ K♦ Q♦ J♦ 10♦.

A standard Flush (i.e., not a Royal or Straight Flush) can have cards of any value. As long as the hand contains five cards of the same suit, it’s a Flush.

Where Does Flush Rank in Poker?

A Flush is the fifth-best hand in poker. It beats a straight and anything lower but loses to a Full House and better.

When ranking Flushes, we defer to the highest-value card in a hand. For example, A♦ K♦ is known as an Ace-high flush because Ace is the highest-value card.

In situations where two or more players have a Flush, the highest-value card determines the winner. For example:

• Player 1 has A♦ K♦
• Player 2 has 9♦ 8♦
• The board: 4♦7♦ J♦ K♠ 2♣

Both players have a Flush in this example, but Player 1 wins because their highest-value diamond is an Ace.

Poker Hand Rankings

What Are the Odds of Making a Flush?

The odds of making a Flush in poker are 1 in 506 when Straight Flushes and Royal Flushes are removed from the equation. If you prefer to think in terms of percentages, this equates to a 0.19% chance of making a flush with five random cards.

This calculation is based on the fact that there are 2,598,960 five-card combinations in poker. When Straight Flushes and Royal Flushes are removed, that leaves 5,108 Flushes. Divide 5,108 by the total number of possible hands, and you get 0.0019. Multiply that by 100 to get a percentage, and you’re left with 0.19%.

That’s our starting point, but knowing the odds of a Flush in poker requires a bit more nuance because the numbers change depending on the variant you’re playing.

That being said, I can’t talk in theoretical terms forever, so I’ll use Texas Hold’em for the rest of this discussion because it’s the most popular variant. However, just be aware that the odds can be slightly different in other variants due to factors such as the number of hole cards you have.

Making a Flush in Texas Hold’em

It’s possible to make a Flush when you’ve got unsuited hole cards, but the odds are longer because you need four matching suits on the board. So, for ease, we’re going to assume you’re holding two suited hole cards, such as A♦ K♦.

The chances of making a Flush in Texas Hold’em on the flop, turn, and river when you’ve got suited hole cards are:

• Hitting a Flush on the flop = 0.82%
• Hitting a Flush on the turn with two matching suits on the flop = 19%
• Hitting a Flush on the river with two matching suits on the turn = 19%

You can’t make a Flush on the turn with only one matching suit on the flop. For example, if the board is Q♦ 8♠ 7♥ and you’ve got A♦ K♦, it’s impossible to make a Flush on the next card because you need five diamonds.

Therefore, it doesn’t matter what stage of a hand it is. There must always be four diamonds on the board. This leaves you with nine cards to make a Flush, based on the fact that there are 13 suited cards in a deck, and four have been dealt.

If we want to know the chances of making a Flush either on the turn or river when there are two diamonds on the board, we simply count nine outs twice:

• Hitting a Flush by the river (i.e., either on the turn or river) = 38%

How to Play a Flush: 3 Basic Strategy Tips

Playing a flush can be tricky because there’s always a chance that someone has a better Flush. That’s not to say you’ll lose very often with this hand at a showdown. However, it’s important to be mindful that it’s possible for other people to have a Flush, particularly when there are four suited cards on the board.

With this caveat in mind, here are three tips for playing a Flush in poker:

1. Always Play for the Nut Flush: if we account for all possible Flush hands, there’s a 17% chance you’ll lose in a Flush vs. Flush showdown. This percentage changes based on the value of your high card. The higher your high-card’s value, the less chance you’ll have of losing. That’s why you should always aim to play for the nut Flush or as close to it as possible.
2. Know Your Position: position always matters in poker because it gives you more information. If you’re last to act, you’ve got a better chance of avoiding a costly mistake when your Flush is behind. Conversely, you’ve got a better chance of extracting more chips from an opponent when your Flush is ahead.
3. Watch Out for Paired Boards: a Full House beats a Flush in poker, so be careful of paired boards. If you’ve got a Flush and your opponent bets or raises when the board pairs, be aware that you might be behind.

Mistakes to Avoid with a Flush

I’ve already hinted at the biggest mistake you can make with a Flush, but let me spell it out for you: don’t overplay non-nut Flushes.

The chances of losing a Flush vs. Flush showdown decrease as the value of your high card increases. That’s why you should always be aiming to make Ace-high, King-high, Queen-high, and Jack-high Flushes.

This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t chase lower-value Flushes. I’m simply saying that you need to be careful with these hands.

Conclusion: How to Play a Flush in Poker

You now know the odds of making a Flush in poker, how to get maximum value from this hand, and the biggest mistake to avoid. The only thing left to do is ante up, wait for some suited cards, and make the prettiest hand in poker.