Hidden draws

Some draws are more obvious, while other draws might be hidden or disguised. Having a draw that is well disguised can make up for some weakness in the draw. That is because your opponents will not be expecting you to be on that draw, and will be more likely to bet against you even if you make your hand.

Benefits of Hidden Draws

Consider a hand where your hole cards are Js10s, and the flop is 6sKcAs. You check on the flop, and the turn card is 3c. That is no help to you and you again check. The river comes 5s, and you’ve hit your flush. If you bet or raise now, your opponents will likely guess that you made your flush, and will be less likely to pay you off.

On the other hand, some draws don’t manifest themselves quite as obviously as straight or flush draws. Overcards and gutshot straight draws are weak holdings, but when combined they can have a surprisingly good chance of completing a draw. So the correct strategy is to sometimes play these combo draws for the chance to win a big pot.

For example, if you’re holding [Ad][Qs] on a [Jd][Th][2s] flop, you potentially have ten outs to improve—three aces, three queens and four kings. Against a top pair hand like [Ac][Jc], the [Ad][Qs] has a 30% chance of improving by the river.

Double-gutshot straight draws are also more difficult to spot. On a [Ad][Jh][8s] flop, [Qh][Th] has eight outs to improve to a very well-disguised straight—four nines and four kings. If you hit one of those outs and complete the hand, your opponents probably won’t realize it, and will potentially put money in the pot even if their hands are inferior.