A flush in poker is simply when you have a made hand that consists of 5 cards that are all of the same suit. Given that it is not possible for two different suited flushes to be out at the same time the actual suit of the flush has no relevance,only that there are 5 cards of the same suit. The flush is a powerful hand in poker and will beat any straight, three of a kind, one or two pair hands making it the type of hand that is very rarely folded. The odds of making a flush as you may have suspected are lower than the odds of making a straight and it is most easily done when your starting hand contains two of the same suit. Even when you do start with two suited cards you will still only make a flush once every 16 times! This becomes even rarer when you start with unsuited cards and not something you should expect to see too often. Again like everything else the higher of two flushes will win out, and the higher of two flushes is determined in the same manner that the the highest two pair hand is determined.
This means that A8 of clubs would be a higher flush than QJ of clubs if three more clubs came out on the board. So while a flush will often win you a lot of chips it can also lose you a lot of chips if you run into a higher flush! This is the very reason that people enjoy playing suited Aces as their starting hand as when they make the flush it will be the best flush and not only can they will a lot of chips from three of a kind and straights, but also from smaller flushes! With the odds of flopping a flush as high as 1 in every 118 times most flushes are played as draws. When you find yourself with 4 cards to the flush on the flop you will complete that flush draw about 1 in three times - about as frequently as an open ended straight draw. With only three cards to the flush you will still make the flush by the river 1 in every 16 times.
This is great for players who have suited cards as now they can bet with their paired hands and still have the flush draw to overtake bigger hands that their opponent has. In addition to this if the opponent didn’t get their 4 card flush draw until the turn, and then made it on the river then their opponent will be less likely you have the flush and be more inclined to pay off a big bet! Overall a flush is an incredibly powerful hand in poker, and one of the most powerful hands you will see on a semi regular basis. Even though a player will only make the flush about 1 in 16 times with a suited hand 3 cards to a flush of any suit will be out by the river once every 4 times which makes flushes the best possible hand in poker to try and bluff with!
