Getting quartered
A nut straight on one board is shared more often than you think, and a raise with it buys a quarter.
Flushes cannot tie; there is one ace of each suit. Straights can, and do: the nut straight on a connected board is held by someone else more than half the time eight-handed with four cards. Two nut straights split that board, and if you had nothing on the other board you have just paid full price for a quarter of the pot.
Facing a bet with the lone nut straight on one board: against half a pot or less, always call, because a split still pays. Against a pot-sized bet you need your straight to be alone one time in three. Never raise, and never re-raise. The only hand that calls your raise is the one that shares your straight.
If you hold three of the straight cards, or one of them sits on the other board, the odds of a share drop. That is an upgrade, not a free pass.
A nut straight is not a nut flush.
Today's hand on the table
A deal that shows what today is about, with the method at your seat. Step through it, or let it run. Deal again for another.
Day 17 · All thirty days · Day 19
THE 30-DAY COURSE
A plan for your next game.
One lesson. One drill set. A little more clarity at the table.