Not enough straights?

[NoChance]

I’ve now logged 30,000 hands on Poker Tracker. I found some interesting stats. I have made more full houses than flushes and more flushes than straights. Does anyone else have strange numbers like this?

30,000 hands is a large enough sample that I doubt this is happening by chance. I doubt the reason is “simply because that is how the cards have fallen”. No. Instead, it has to be my playing style. I simple don’t like to chase gut-shot straights. I will try for open-ended straights if the board is not paired or one-suited.

Is this normal or have I found a leak?

Could this mean I give up on my hands too soon? Am I folding to too many bluffs? Do I need to learn how to slow play more often?

I know it isn’t possible for anyone to answer those questions without seeing any hands. I just wanted to put down some of the questions running through my mind right now. Let me know if others see some of these same statistics. If not, anyone have any suggestions?

[TheRake]

NoChance,

I have 8169 hands in PT. Here are my numbers...

Str8 (45)
Flush (35)
Full House (51)
4 of a kind (7)
Straight flush (0)

I find it interesting that my str8's have the highest win % of all my hands (except 4 of a kind) at 95.45%.

TheRake

[CORed]

This may be due to starting hand selection. The best pocket cards for making straights are mid connectors: JT-54. Most likely, your are throwing a lot of these away, especially if they are offsuit.

[NoChance]

Looks like your statistics are similar to mine. I don't have the exact totals with me (at work) but the percentages for number of straights, flushes, and full houses are all with 1.5% of each other.

I think I can explain the reason for more full houses in that in many cases you already have three of a kind. In other cases you have two pair. Both of these hands can take down a pot if the full house doesn't come. But when going for the straight or the flush, you are out of luck if it doesn't hit and often are folding because of lack of pot odds. I figure this explains my results but just wanted to ask others if they see the same thing. If not, I have a leak somewhere.

Anyone else see this trend in hands?

[mrbaseball]

I'm just guessing. But a lot of "potential" straights are made with small cards. Like all good poker players we fold a lot of small cards. We also fold straight draws when flush draws look real scary and we don't have that suit. We also fold straight draws often when the board pairs. We often fold the gutshot draw that actually does get there. Also we may often fold something like 9To where we might play 9Ts meaning we fold a lot of connecters before we can see if they are any good.

Seeing all 7 cards increases the chances at a straight but often the odds just aren't enough to do it. Pairs are easier to hang around with meaning we are actually still in the hand when we fill up.