Gutshot in Poker: What You Need to Know

• A “gutshot” in online poker is a hand in which a player is one card short of a straight, but the missing card is in the middle, not at either end.
• This is also known as an inside straight draw or belly buster, where the player needs to draw one of four cards to complete the straight.
• Gutshots are considered weaker poker hands because they have fewer outs (cards that will complete the draw) compared to open-ended straight draws.
• Betting or calling on a gutshot is often considered risky, but it can pay off if the situation is right, especially if this unexpected move can be used to mislead opponents.
• Understanding when to pursue a gutshot — considering factors like pot odds, implied odds, and your opponents’ tendencies — can elevate your poker strategy.

If you’re playing online poker, live dealer poker or video poker, or sat at your local casino, a poker gutshot draw is the weakest one out there, as you only have four outs that can help you. Yet, many beginners, who are just starting to learn poker, tend to overestimate a single gutshot and will often put way too many chips into the middle with this type of hand.

For this reason, it’s important to talk about poker gutshot draws and explain math and other strategic considerations behind them. Generally speaking, this is not a strong hand, but if you know how to play it correctly in different situations, it can be a profitable one.

What is a Gutshot Draw in Poker?

A gutshot straight draw is a straight draw that can only be completed with a specific card (four outs). For example, on a board of 3S 4D QD, a player holding 6H 7H has a gutshot, as only a five will complete the draw and turn it into a made straight.

Another example of a gutshot draw would be holding KA QS on a 9H 3H 5C board. In this example, you need one of the four Jacks from the deck to complete your draw, and this is what it is referred to as a single gutshot.

There are also double gutshot draws, but we won’t be covering them in this article, as their math is essentially the same as for open-ended straight draws. For example, if you have 6C 9C on a 5H 7H 3C, you can complete the draw with eight cards – four 8s and four 4s, which is the same number of outs you have in an open-ended straight draw.

It is important to be aware of gutshot draws on the board and cards that can potentially complete them on turns and rivers. Poker beginners often miss these and end up paying their opponents when they hit because they fail to recognize a straight-completing card.

As already mentioned, a gutshot in poker is one of the weakest draws you can have. Your odds of making your draw from flop to turn are just 8.5%, and the odds of hitting one of the four cards you need by the river are 16.5%.

These low percentages indicate that you should never play a big bet with just a gutshot draw if you believe the only way of winning the pot is by making your hand. In these scenarios, when facing any bet that is 50% of the pot or larger, you should just fold and move on.

Interpreting Gutshots in Poker Play

For beginner players, a gutshot can be a rather confusing hand. Without understanding the math we’ve just explained, it’s hard to understand why these hands aren’t worth chasing after. After all, if you make your straight, you can get paid, right?

The problem is, compared to all other draws, a gutshot straight is the least likely one to come in. For example, an open-ended straight draw will fill in almost 32% of the time by the river. The odds of completing a flush draw are even higher at 35%.

Some of these hands, flush draws especially, also have other “backup” features, such as hitting a top pair that might also give you a winner. Gutshots usually lack these properties and hitting a top pair when you have a gutshot can often be a bad thing, as that same card could complete the opponent’s straight draw.

To illustrate, if you have 7C 8C on a 4C 6H JH board, when you improve to a top pair with an 8 on the turn, that same card completes the potential open-ended straight draw from the flop (any 5-7 combo), and depending on the action, this combination can easily be in your opponent’s range.

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Playing Gutshot Draws Effectively

The first part of this article mainly focused on explaining what a gutshot is in poker and why you need to approach these hands very carefully and conservatively. However, with the right gutshot poker strategy, you can make these draws work for you.

There are a few things that you need to consider when you flop a gutshot draw:

• Am I in or out of position?
• Can I only win a hand by making a straight?
• If I make my hand, will I be able to win additional chips?

First of all, when you are out of position in poker, and you have a gutshot draw, I’d say that if you believe your only options are call or fold (when facing a reasonably sized bet), you’re always better off folding. Calling to try and hit an unlikely draw out of position isn’t a profitable strategy.

Sometimes, however, a gutshot straight draw can be a perfect hand to use as a check-raise bluff. On small and relatively connected boards, you’ll often have a range advantage as a player defending from the big blind. In these spots, using gutshots as semi-bluffs can be a valid strategy.

The main idea behind the move is to get your opponent to fold as you can credibly represent a strong hand. However, if they don’t, you still have some equity to fall back on.

For example, you face a hijack open and call from the big blind with 7S 8S. The flop comes 4H 5C 9D. When you check and they continue betting, you can credibly raise, as this is the board where you’ll have more sets, two-pair, and top-pair combinations. When you do get called, you can still hit a 6 to complete your draw.

Of course, it is important to find the right balance. You aren’t supposed to check-raise with 100% of your gutshots, and when you are in position, you can often just call and see what develops on the turn or river. When and if they give up, you can take a stab at the pot, depending on the texture, player tendencies, stack sizes, etc.

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Common Mistakes With Gutshot in Poker

We’ve already covered some of the most common mistakes with gutshot poker draws, but it’s good to try and list them all in one place for reference:

• Calling big bets, especially out of position
• Investing too much money with non-nut draws
• Continuing in the pot when you miss your draw and hit a pair instead
• Taking an aggressive approach when the opponent is on a very short stack
• Not getting enough value from made draws

You need to assess every situation individually and decide what the best course of action is. It’s easy to go on autopilot and fall into the trap of playing automatically, but check-raising against an opponent who only has six or seven blinds left is usually not going to work.

Likewise, if you’re going to chase a gutshot, whether by calling or by playing aggressively, you need to have a plan to extract the maximum value when your draws come in. Because these hands do not materialize often, you must make the most out of them whenever they do.

Advanced Techniques for Handling Gutshot Draws

Successful poker players don’t look at any individual strategy in a vacuum. Instead, they study and implement it as a part of a broader game plan, and this is exactly what you should be doing with your gutshot poker strategy.

The approach of let’s call or raise and see what happens is not the correct one. Instead, you need to take a few moments to make your decision, and during that process, you’ll want to figure out how to play out the rest of the hand.

If you go for a check-raise with your gutshot, you’ll want to have a plan on what happens when different cards hit. Likewise, if you call a bet, you should have an idea of how to play out future streets.

For example, if you call with a gutshot on a 4S 5S JD board, what do you do if turn pairs a 4 or a 5? These are cards you can credibly represent, so these can be good opportunities to take over the betting lead or put in a turn check-raise.

This way, you’re not relying on just the luck of a draw to win the pot but are instead giving yourself other opportunities to take it down.

Of course, factoring in general population tendencies and any specific reads you have on a player will be very useful. You should be less inclined to take an aggressive approach against an opponent that you know is sticky and will not fold easily.

At the same time, this is the type of opponent that you want to try and make your draw against even if you aren’t getting immediate odds, as you know they’ll be willing to put more money into the middle when you hit.

These are just a few simple examples of how you can adjust your gutshot poker strategy. There are many different scenarios and many different types of players you’ll encounter, but as long as you keep in mind the basic principles of this hand, you should do just fine.

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Gutshot in Poker Examples & Hand Analysis

It’s always easier to understand certain theoretical concepts when looking at real-life examples, so here’s an interesting hand played by Jonathan Little featuring a gutshot straight draw.

• Jonathan starts off with AC 2C in the hijack and makes a standard 2.5x raise (blinds are 200/400). The button. The big blind call and the flop come 7D 4H 3C, giving him a gutshot and a backdoor flush draw.
• After the big blind checks, he decides to continue for 1,700, and only the button calls. The turn is the 9C, bringing in the flush draw as well. This is where the backdoor potential kicks in – the hand isn’t just a gutshot, but it also has many cards that will allow it to keep betting.
• Now Jonathan bets 2,600, and the opponent calls once again. The river is the QC, completing the flush. Little goes for a massive bet of almost 19,000 into the pot of 12,500 to really put the opponent to the test.

This is a great example of playing a gutshot aggressively all the way through, realizing the full potential of the hand, and taking advantage of favorable turn and river cards.

If, however, Jonathan had a hand like AS 2S or AS 3S in this spot, without any backdoor opportunities, he’d probably take a much more cautious route, likely checking the flop against two opponents and giving up to any reasonable aggression.

Tips for Improving Gutshot Play

There are a few different ways to improve your gutshot poker strategy, but running simulations with these scenarios and looking at the numbers that come up is probably the best one.

When you do it enough, you’ll develop an understanding of how to tackle different board textures and play from different positions, realizing how often you should be bluffing with what types of hands and what hands are best played passively.

It goes without saying that seeking tips and advice from more experienced poker-playing friends can also help immensely. Since these can be very tricky spots, don’t be afraid to pick their brains and ask them what they think, as they can open your mind to some new possibilities that you’d never think of on your own.

The Gutshot Draw Unveiled: Elevating Your Poker Game with Strategic Insights

Gutshot straight draws are one of the most frequently misplayed hands in all of poker. Beginners make the mistake of overvaluing these hands, leading them to lose a lot of chips in spots where they had absolutely no need to do so.

Hopefully, this article will help deepen your understanding of the gutshot poker strategy and teach you how to get the most out of these draws. When navigated correctly, these hands can be profitable, especially against weaker competition that won’t be able to wrap their head around your play.

Keep on playing and studying, analyze different spots, and take advantage of different poker tools to help you develop the right strategies for gutshot straight draws, and it won’t take you long to start playing better than a large percentage of players in these spots.

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