A flush in poker is a very strong five-card hand consisting of five non-consecutive cards of the same suit. While you might think it is not the ultimate nuts since it ranks 5th overall in the official poker hand rankings, it is actually a very strong hand in Texas Hold'em.
Here are a few examples of valid Flush poker hands:
- A♥ Q♥ 9♥ 5♥ 3♥ (Ace-High Flush)
- Q♠ T♠ 7♠ 4♠ 2♠ (Queen-High Flush)
- J♦ 9♦ 6♦ 3♦ 2♦ (Jack-High Flush)
- 8♣ 7♣ 5♣ 4♣ 2♣ (Eight-High Flush)
If two or more players have a poker hand containing a Flush, the one holding the highest card in their flush will win the pot. For example, A♣-9♣-7♣-3♣-2♣ is a better hand than K♥-Q♥-J♥-9♥-7♥ because the Ace outranks the King.
If the highest card is of the exact same rank, then the second-highest card is compared to determine the winner, and so on. Following this logic, A♣-9♣-7♣-3♣-2♣ beats A♦-8♦-7♦-3♦-2♦ because the Nine is higher than the Eight. It is also worth mentioning that suits do not play any role in Texas Hold'em hand rankings, so a flush of spades is mathematically equal to a flush of hearts, diamonds, or clubs.
Flush Odds and Probabilities
While you will not flop a made Flush very often, drawing to one is a massive part of poker strategy. Here are the most important odds and probabilities:
- The odds of hitting a Flush on the flop is 0.1965% with any random starting hand.
- The odds of flopping a Flush is 0.82% when you are dealt a suited starting hand pre-flop.
- The probability of flopping a Flush Draw with any suited hand is a very solid 10.9%.
- When you have a Flush Draw on the flop, you have a 19.2% chance to complete it on the turn.
- You have an overall probability of roughly 35% to make a Flush by the river when you flop a Flush Draw.
Because you have an almost 11% chance to hit a Flush draw with your starting suited hand on the flop, and a 1 in 3 chance of completing it by the river, you can often play these draws very aggressively. Even if you get called, you still have plenty of equity to make your hand.
What beats a Flush In Poker?
While Flush can be beaten by Royal Flush, Straight Flush, Four of a Kind, and Full House, all those hands are quite rare, so a Flush in poker is actually considered a very strong holding. The best possible Flush you can have is an Ace High Flush – A K Q J 9.
While other cards that come after an ace are also important when deciding your Flush's value, it is safe to say that you will win most of your pots when you are holding any Ace-high Flush in Texas Hold’em.
What can a Flush beat?
A Flush beats many strong and common hands. It is officially ranked higher than:
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