Straight Flush

A Straight Flush combines a Straight and a Flush — 5 consecutive cards in the same suit. The lowest is A-2-3-4-5 (the "Steel Wheel") and the highest non-royal is 9-10-J-Q-K.

A straight flush — five cards in sequence, all one suit, without reaching ace-high — arrives roughly once in every 3,600 seven-card Hold'em hands. That is a few times a year for a recreational player and a handful of times a month for someone grinding several tables. Almost every one of them comes from a suited connector or a one-gapper, which is exactly why those hands are worth a small investment in position and a fast fold when the price gets high.

A straight flush is almost always the winner at showdown. Don't be afraid to build a big pot. If an opponent is betting hard, they likely have a full house or a plain straight/flush — all losing to you. Value bet on every street.

You hold a hand that beats every flush and every straight on the board, and both of those hands are ones opponents fall in love with. That makes the straight flush a pure value hand: bet all three streets and choose the largest sizing your opponent will still call. The only real decision is what to do when the board shows four to the royal in your suit — if the fifth royal card would beat you, a raise from a passive player who has never bluffed all session deserves respect even here.

The expensive error is treating it like an unbeatable hand and jamming into a board where a higher straight flush is visible. The second is the reverse — checking behind because "nobody will pay a flush" and losing two streets of value from an opponent holding the nut flush, who was always going to call.

Hands that beat Straight Flush:

• Royal Flush

Hands beaten by Straight Flush:

• Four of a Kind
• Full House
• Flush
• Straight
• Three of a Kind
• Two Pair
• Pair
• High Card