[Pov]

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1. Assume you are getting 6:1 pot odds at flop to call. You are drawing to nut flush. So it is wise to call a bet or bet oneself at least. When it is wise to raise and why? If you raise, you get only 3:1 pot odds. How can it be rational? Any mathematical formulas to clarify the situation?


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The free card play is one reason, but there is another great reason in a multi-way pot though the concept is not simple: Pot Equity. To make it easier to understand, let's step away from poker and pretend you, me and 3 other people are all going to make a bet. Each of us will put equal amounts of money into a hat. Then you get to roll a die and if it comes up a 5 or a 6 you win all the money in the hat. Think about this situation for a minute and then decide if you would prefer we put a small amount of money in the hat or a large amount?

Clearly you would want as much money going into that hat as possible because you are going to win 1/3 of the time but you're only putting in 1/5 of the money. On the flop against several opponents with a flush draw you're basically in this same scenario. So assuming 3 of your opponents are going to stay in with you a raise is correct even if there were no pot to begin with. The fact that there is already a pot built up is just icing on the cake.

Disclaimer: Clearly your flush will not *always* win if you make it but then again you could also runner runner two pair or trips or even just one pair to win without making your flush - also keep in mind raising may cause some of the other players to fold so you won't always get the necessary callers to make this play profitable for pot equity reasons. However the added benefits of disguising your hand and the free card play make it frequently correct even if this is the case.