Blockers
How the cards in your hand change what they can hold: counting flush combinations, and why holding the ace matters.
- 01, open this step in the interactive version
The river is out. Three hearts are on the board, so any two hearts in their hand make a flush.
- 02, open this step in the interactive version
How many flushes could they hold? Ten hearts are left. Any two of them: 10 × 9 ÷ 2 = 45 combinations.
- 03, open this step in the interactive version
Nine of those include the A♥. That’s the nut flush: on this board, nothing beats it.
- 04, open this step in the interactive version
Now you hold A♥ Q♣. Your ace is one of those ten hearts, so it can’t be in their hand. Nine hearts are left for them: 36 flushes, and no nut flush at all.
- 05, open this step in the interactive version
A card in your hand that removes combinations from theirs is called a blocker. Your A♥ blocks every nut flush.
- 06, open this step in the interactive version
That makes A♥ Q♣ a good bluff here. You have no flush, but they can never hold the nuts, and fewer of their hands can call a big bet.
- 07, open this step in the interactive version
When you call, the logic flips. You want cards that block their strong hands and leave their bluffs alone.
- 08, open this step in the interactive version
Pick a hand and watch what it removes from theirs.