Here we will try to clear out what a combo draw in a hold’em game is. You will also find some useful tips on how to play it.

Combo Draw in Texas Hold’em

If you’re a passionate Texas Hold’em lover, but you still feel like a fish out of water with different poker strategies, you’re at the right place. Here you’ll find a clear explanation of what a combo draw in Texas Hold’em is, and what gameplay strategy is best to apply in this situation.

How Combo Draw Works

A combo draw is a situation in the game where players have a chance to either get a straight draw or a flush draw by combining their cards with those from the flop.

Let’s imagine that you hold a ten and a nine of clubs in a Texas Hold’em game, and the flop shows a Jack and a four of clubs accompanied by an eight of diamonds. Then you will have two possible ways to go from there to win this game. You have a chance of an open-ended straight draw, and you can also hope for a flush draw.

To complete a straight, you should hope for either a Queen or a seven to come out in the following dealings, so that you can end your game with a straight of either 7,8,9,10, and J, or

8,9,10, J, and Q.

However, if this doesn’t occur, you can still expect a flush draw which you’ll get if any of the clubs still in a deck appear at the poker table.

As you can see, a combo draw can be an extremely favorable situation that provides numerous possibilities of winning the game.

Let’s see now what the top poker players recommend you should do in case of a combo draw in Texas Hold’em. Here are some tips on how you can handle this situation to end a poker game as a winner.

Make the Best of the Combo Draw

Before we start telling you how to exploit this favorable arrangement of cards at the poker table, let us clear up the meaning of some terms related to this topic.

Outs — This term refers to the number of useful cards that can show up in a combo draw at a Texas Hold’em table. If you have the opportunity to complete a straight or a flush using the combo draw, you will have 15 outs or 15 possible cards that can complete a winning combination. The more outs you have at your disposal, the more reasons to play your hand aggressively.

Fold equity — Even people that have never played poker know that you can win the game either by having the strongest hand or by making your opponents fold and quit the game before you do. Fold equity tells you how much money you can squeeze out of your rivals before you make them fold.

Fold equity is an equation made up of two elements. First, there is the probability of your rival’s folding based on how predictable their game is. The second factor is how much you’ll gain before they decide to give up.

How to Play It Right

In any case, if you are holding an open-ended straight draw, you will have 15 outs; in other words, there will be 15 cards that can help you make a winning hand. These favorable circumstances at the table enable you to play more aggressively, raise bets frequently, and make your rivals fold.

However, you should be very cautious when relying on fold equity. If you hold a promising hand, and you want to make other players fold, you have to raise, but also don’t make your gameplay easy-to-read. If you rush in with barreling, other players may see what you are aiming at and fold early, preventing you from earning big from their folding.

This is the next level of poker playing. Therefore, it is not advisable for you to start practicing aggressive play without understanding fully what the fold equity is and when and how to make it work for you.

You should take every advantage of a combo draw situation because this is a perfect way to beat a made hand with a hand that you draw from the flop. I hope that I managed to clear up some essential things about the combo draw and that you’ll make a lot of money while playing poker.