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It is one thing to chase a draw, but it is another to call down anyway. When going after a draw, players often find that they catch a piece of the board. In an effort to win a consolation prize of sorts, players sometimes try to make bad calls in order to win the pot.

It can certainly be frustrating to miss draws, but the losses are only going to compound if you make a bad call top off a missed draw. This is a situation where it is better to cut your losses than chase your losses. Most of the time it is easy to fold a hand like bottom or middle pair, but when you miss a draw it can be very tempting to call in hopes of taking down the pot.

When players call with weak hands after missing a draw, it usually isn’t because they think they have the best hand. Instead they just don’t want to concede defeat and move onto the next pot. You lost the hand, there is nothing you can do about it. Sure, you might make some bad calls and be right from time to time, but you won’t be right often enough to turn a profit. Once you consider making a very light call after bricking on your draw, think about why you are still in the hand. You are probably only still in the hand because you had hoped to hit your draw. You gave it a run, you missed, now get out.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $1.00 BB (6 handed)

Button ($33.40)

SB ($59.75)

BB ($80.65)

UTG ($100)

Hero (MP) ($101.50)

CO ($105.50)

Preflop: Hero is MP with 7d, 5d

1 fold, Hero bets $3, CO calls $3, 3 folds

Pre flop we are dealt a medium suited connector. Adhering to a very loose aggressive strategy, we make a raise to 3x the big blind. One player calls and we are going to be out of position for the remainder of the hand. An argument could certainly be made for folding pre flop, but again, we were playing loose aggressive.

Flop: ($7.50) 6s, 8c, 5h (2 players)

Hero bets $6, CO calls $6

The flop hits our hand pretty hard. Not only did we hit bottom pair, but we also flopped an open ended straight draw. This gives our hand all possibilities. There is a chance that we have the best hand on the flop. We bet out and get called. At this point we should be putting our opponent on a few different hands. Either they have us crushed, are floating us, or they also have a straight draw.

Turn: ($19.50) Qc (2 players)

Hero checks, CO bets $13, Hero calls $13

The turn is a terrible card for our hand. An over card is on the board, we missed our straight, and we still only have bottom pair. When this turn card comes, our best play is to check and let our opponent check back or bet. A bet isn’t bad because they could be floating. A bet does, however, decrease the odds that our opponent is on a straight draw. After our opponent bets the turn, we can be sure they were either floating the flop or have a big hand.

River: ($45.50) Jd (2 players)

Hero checks, CO bets $25, Hero folds

The river is another terrible card. We can only beat a complete bluff. All things considered, this is an easy fold. The $25 bet looks like it is for value, we already determined that it was unlikely that our opponent had a straight draw (which is one of the few hands that we could beat), and there is a great chance that our opponent’s flop call and turn bet indicated strength. This is a fold because the hands that we beat pale in comparison to the hands that we lose to.

Total pot: $45.50 | Rake: $3

Results:

CO had 8d, 8h (three of a kind, eights).

Outcome: CO won $45.50