Starting Hands
Getting two suited cards as a starting hand is fairly common. The probability of being dealt two suited cards is 23.58% which means those who like to play ASAP will have plenty of chances to enter the pot. Completing your flush is a lot more difficult.

 The Flop
The probability of flopping three of you suit giving you a complete flush is .842%.
The odds against you is 118:1

The probability of flopping two of your suit for a four flush is 10.944 %.
The odds are 8:1 against you

The probability of only flopping one of your suit is 41.6%.
The odds are 1.4:1

The Turn
If you have a four flush after the flop the probability of making a flush on the turn or river is 34.97%.
The Odds against you are 1.86:1

The River
If you have a four flush after the turn the probability of making a flush on the river 19.1 %.
The odds against you are 4.7:1

Turn and River
If you flop only one of your suit the probability of hitting your suit on the turn and the river is 4.2%.
The odds against you are 23:1.

Finally for all the possibilities if you start suited and stay to see all seven cards (your two and the five board cards) the probability that you will make a flush is 5.77%. The odds against you are 16.3:1

Simply put for every time you play two suited cards you will only make your flush about once in 16 tries. If you play low suited cards you still have to worry about a bigger flush beating you.

The reason you play your suited cards in late position when there is a lot of players in the pot is that you will then be getting the correct pot odds to justify attempting a flush draw. The money you win when you make your flush will offset the money you lose when you don’t make it. In a live game you can reach in you pocket if you go broke and buy more chips. In the long run you will make money with flush draws as long as you get proper odds to try.

In a tournament you have to be cautious because the chips you lose on a busted draw play can’t be replaced. When you go broke you go home. Even when you are getting correct odds you can do serious damage to your tournament chip stack if you don’t make it. Playing every time you have suited cards without regards pot odds is suicide.

Now you see why playing Any Suited from Any Position can make you lose your chips quickly and why ASAP is a good acronym for this type of player.

What about an acronym for a player who plays a Single Ace from any Position?
Hmmm.... I will look at that one in a future article.

Until next time, remember:
"Luck comes and goes...Knowledge stays forever."

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