♠️📈 Win-Rate Wednesday: Stop Bleeding Chips in Multiway Pots

The Little Adjustments That Add Up

Author

Mike Deckard
May 07, 2025

📈 Win-Rate Wednesday: Stop Bleeding Chips in Multiway Pots

Every poker player loves the idea of a multiway pot.

It feels like a chance to win a big one. More players, more chips in the middle — why not jump in and try to hit something?

Because statistically... you usually don’t.

In no-limit Hold’em, we rarely flop strong hands. And when you’re up against 3+ opponents, someone else usually connects. That makes it nearly impossible to bluff — and if you can’t bluff, you need to be making big hands often enough to profit.

Spoiler: you aren’t.

🧠 Quiz: Know Your Numbers?

With suited connectors like 9♠️ 8♠️ , how often do you flop:

Two pair or better?

A flush draw?

An open-ended straight draw?

Let’s break it down.

📊 Flop Stats for 9♠️8♠️

🔨 Big Made Hands (Two Pair or Better)

Outcome

Approx. %

Two Pair

2%

Trips

1%

Straight

1%

Flush

1%

Full House/Quads

<1%

Total

~5%

⌛️ Good Draws

Outcome

Approx. %

Flush Draw

11%

Open-Ended Straight Draw

10%

Combo Draw (OESD + Flush)

1%

Total

~22%

💩 Marginal / Weak Outcomes

Outcome

Approx. %

One Pair (9 or 8)

29%

No Pair, No Draw

33%

Gutshot Straight Draw

11%

Total

~73%

What are your immediate impressions seeing these frequencies? The “good” outcome that happens most often is making a one-pair hand. When you’re playing small and medium cards, it’s not a very good outcome anymore. This is why we play big cards!

💡 And don’t forget: in most live games, especially 1/2 or 1/3, rake quietly turns marginal plays into losing ones.
Those breakeven pre-rake plays you’re making?
They’re losing you money.

✅ What Non-Premium Hands Play Well Multiway?

If you’re going to play multiway pots, you need to be using the right hands for the job:

  • Pocket pairs: They flop a set ~12% of the time. That’s making a strong made hand at almost 2.5x as often as suited connectors.

  • Suited Ax or Kx: When these make a pair with the higher card, it's usually top pair — a big deal in bloated pots. Even better, when you hit a flush, you’re often over-flushing lower suited hands.

🔍 Small Edge, Big Impact

Avoiding unnecessary multiway pots — or at least choosing the right hands for them — won’t make you rich overnight. But stacking these small edges is exactly how winning players separate from breakeven or losing ones.

🎯 Pay Attention the Next Time You Play

Track how many multiway pots you enter — and with which hands.
Are you taking speculative hands into spots where you can’t bluff and rarely hit?
Paying attention to this one detail could plug a major leak in your game.

What’s the last multiway pot you regret playing — and why?
(Hit reply and tell me. I read every one.)

Stay sharp and curious,

— Mike

Want 1-on-1 help with successfully navigating multi-way pots?
Book a coaching session and we’ll boost your win-rate.
👇️ 

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