Chasing a Straight, The Gutshot, and an Open Ended Straight
Poker terms explained...
CHASING A STRAIGHT The term chasing a straight really means you are staying in a hand in the hope of catching the cards you need to complete a consecutive run. In general this is NOT a good idea as Texas Hold’em is all about keeping the odds in your favour. Chasing usually implies the odds are not in your favour. However, there are times when it is appropriate to chase. Let’s identify an occasion where you shouldn’t chase a straight and one where you definitely should.
THE NOTORIOUS GUTSHOT Suppose you have 4-5-6-8 that are useful to you as a result of your two hole cards and the three card flop. There’s a huge temptation to chase this “inside straight” to the turn and the river, all else being equal at the table you’re playing. This kind of situation is usually referred to as a “gutshot” and going for it is almost always an error. Your chances of making the 7 you need at the turn are just less than 17% and if you fail at the turn you are down to a less than 9% chance at the river. Chasing through these two final cards is known as becoming “pot committed”. Emotionally it’s an understandable thing for a new player to do because at first glance your brain is saying “I’ve got four of the five cards I need and Lady Luck has given me two chances to get the last one!”. As a poker strategy it’s the road to Bustsville.
OPEN ENDED STRAIGHT Let’s imagine another scenario where the cards available to you following the arrival of the flop amount to 4-5-6-7 and an erroneous Jack. Under the right circumstances you should definitely chase this potential straight to the turn and the river because the odds in your favour are much better value than the first scenario. Your odds of hitting either of the cards you need to make your run are approximately 32% at the turn and almost 18% if you’re forced to go to the river. This action would be called chasing an “open ended” straight because obviously a 3 or an 8 would complete your run whereas in our first example only a 7 would land you your “gutshot” straight. Odds are almost always the key but of course you have to watch all of the factors in play at your table before deciding on either of the above decisions. The stand-out observation here is that you have a better chance of making the “open-ended” straight just on the river alone than you do the “gutshot” from the turn AND the river combined. Maybe that’s the best way to keep it in mind when you have to make a fast online decision in similar circumstances.
