What does it mean to suck out in poker? How can you suck out in poker? When can you suck out in poker?
The answer to all three of these questions and more will be answered within this article.
Read on to learn more about the term suck out as it is used in the game of poker.
What is a suck out in poker?
A suck out in poker mainly refers to getting a significant amount of money or chips into the pot with an inferior hand versus one or more opponents — and then winning in the end.
There are various degrees of suck out poker hands, with all in preflop hands that result in a “race” generally not included in the suck out poker terminology.
Take the following hand for example:
Player 1: Th-Td (all in preflop)
Player 2: As-Ks (all in preflop)
Technically, Player 1 has a slight advantage over Player 2 in this scenario. Inserting this all in preflop hand into one or more poker hand calculators will reveal that Player 1 wins this hand roughly 537 times out of each 1,000 instances on average.
However, it is rare for players to label two overcards winning a showdown in an all in preflop scenario as a suck out.
Typically, these situations are referred to as “races,” which is loosely defined in poker as a situation in which both players have a relatively similar chance of winning an all in preflop hand once the final showdown card hits the community board.
The term suck out, therefore, is most commonly used in the popular No Limit format of Texas Hold’em.
Suck Out Poker Examples for No Limit Texas Hold’em
Following are a couple of sample hands for No Limit Texas Hold’em games in which the term “suck out” applies.
Player 1: AK (all in preflop)
Player 2: AQ (all in preflop)
COMMUNITY BOARD CARDS: T-T-9-9-Q
In this example, we say that Player 2 sucked out on Player 1 when the Queen was dealt on the river.
As long as the bulk of the chips were placed into the pot before the river card, it can be said that Player 2 was able to suck out on Player 1. However, if the bulk of the chips were placed into the pot after the river was dealt, then players don’t usually define this as a suck out.
Player 1: Ad-Ac (all in after the flop)
Player 2: Ts-9s (all in after the flop)
COMMUNITY BOARD CARDS: Ks-3s-2s-(As)-(3d)
In this example, Player 2 was well ahead of Player 1 when all the chips were placed into the pot.
Player 2 has a King high spade flush while Player 1 only had a single pair of Aces.
The Turn gave Player 1 three Aces while improving Player 2’s hand to an Ace high spade flush.
Once the river was dealt, Player 2 still had an Ace high spade flush. But Player 1 had improved to a Full Boat: Aces over Threes — giving Player 1 the winning hand by way of suck out.
We say that Player 1 was able to suck out on this hand because Player 1 was at a severe disadvantage once both players had contributed the maximum into the active pot.
In fact, Player 1 had less than a three percent chance of winning the pot once all the chips were put into the middle after the flop.
The Ace of Spades on the Turn improved Player 1’s chances to almost one-in-four, but it wasn’t until the river card was dealt that Player 1 could be awarded all the chips and declared the winner of this hand.
When is a Poker Hand NOT a Suck Out?
If all the chips were pushed into the pot at a time when someone holding inferior hole cards actually had the lead (or was relatively close in his/her chances to win), then poker players usually won’t define such a scenario as a suck out.
Player 1: 8c-8d (all in after Turn)
Player 2: 9c-9d (all in after Turn)
COMMUNITY BOARD CARDS: As-3d-Jc-(8s)
In this situation, Player 1 was a huge underdog before the Turn was dealt. Player 1 only had about a 17% chance of showing down the best hand preflop and only an 8.4% shot after the flop.
But in this case, maybe the action was checked on the Flop.
Regardless, the Eight of Spades on the Turn means that Player 1 now has greater than a 95% chance to show down the best hand.
If the bulk of the money or poker chips are committed on the Turn, and the two players now find themselves all in, then it would be Player 2 who would need to suck out on the River. Only the Nine of Spades or Nine of Hearts will give Player 2 the winning hand.
What is a “Re-suck” in Poker?
The poker “re-suck” occurs when one player with a far inferior hand makes a superior hand, only to have an opponent regain the advantage. This is what we call a “re-suck” in poker.
Player 1: AA (all in preflop)
Player 2: 77 (all in preflop)
Once all the chips have been put into the pot, Player 1 has a very clear advantage.
However, let’s say that a Seven is dealt on the flop.
COMMUNITY BOARD CARDS: K-7-2
It appears that Player 2 was able to suck out on Player 1. Without a doubt, Player 2 now has a commanding lead in this hand, and is a huge favorite to win.
But let’s say that an Ace is dealt on the Turn.
COMMUNITY BOARD CARDS: K-7-2-(A)
Player 1 has re-sucked on Player 2. As it stands after the Turn, only the “case seven” (the fourth and final 7 remaining in the deck) can change Player 2’s fortunes.
COMMUNITY BOARD CARDS: K-7-2-A-(7)
Player 2 has hit a miracle fourth seven on the River to win the hand. Player 2 was the beneficiary of a “re-re-suck,” and Player 1 loses the pot with a Full House: Aces over Sevens.
After the Turn, Player 2 had only a 2.27% chance of hitting a “one outer” case Seven.
The suck out term in poker applies to the moment when all (or most) of the chips were pushed into the pot by two (or more) players.
Since all the chips got into the pot preflop in the above example, the “re-re-suck” term applies — based on the players’ chances of winning fluctuating as the face-up Flop, Turn, and River cards were revealed.
Suck Out in Poker – Real Life Examples
In casual poker home games, a suck out is mostly something to smile, laugh, and tell poker friends about.
If you’re playing a micro-stakes poker cash game (especially if it is a Fixed Limit format), then the monetary consequences of a suck out in poker are relatively minor — if not irrelevant altogether.
But competitive poker is an entirely different beast, and a poker suck out can mark the difference between earning millions of dollars or going home with a very small payout compared to the final table.
Perhaps the most famous poker suck outs of all time are those that tie in to televised poker games. The 2010 calendar year was particularly notable for bad beat suckouts in high profile, high stakes, live tournament poker events.
Poker player and Pokercoaching.com instructor Matt Affleck recalls being the victim of one of the worst suck outs in poker history; one that may have cost him millions of dollars.
It all happened during the 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event, with 15 players remaining and the winner guaranteed to take home close to $9 million!
Affleck was roughly a 4-to-1 favorite to become the chip leader in the hand, with only one River card separating him from a huge pile of chips and a heartbreaking live poker tournament bustout.
As luck would have it, the Eight of Diamonds on the River propelled Jonathan Duhamel to the 2010 WSOP Main Event Championship.
For his efforts, Affleck was eliminated in 15th place and received a hefty (yet very disappointing) $500,000 payout.
Big One For One Drop $1 Million Suck Out in Poker
In 2014, the Big One for One Drop tournament during the World Series of Poker boasted a $1,000,000 buy-in, just to compete!
To this day, the first place finish by poker pro Dan Colman in that event represents one of the largest poker tournament payouts in history — $15,300,000.
But it was the action during the early rounds of the tournament that made history in terms of bad beats an suck outs.
PokerGO Founder Cary Katz and high profile pro Connor Drinan both looked down at pocket aces early on in the tournament. Both player committed their stacks preflop, going all in in what appeared to be a destined chopped pot.
With all the chips in before the flop, each player had about a 2% chance of winning the hand outright, with a great than 95% chance of the pot being split by both Katz and Drinan.
The two hearts on the flop eliminated any chance that Drinan could win the hand outright, and gave Katz a very slim chance to winning.
But still, by far the most probable outcome was a chopped pot.
A third heart on the Turn improved Katz’ chances of winning to 20%, but still there was about an 80% chance that the river card would not be a heart.
But the 2h on the River doubled-up Cary Katz and sent Drinan to the rail — one million dollars lost (in the form of a buy-in) on one hand.
While labeling the above hand as a “suck out” may be a bit much (since both players were even-odds at the moment all the chips went into the pot), the devastation of losing a $1 million buy-in during such a scenario was very apparent.
Both players played the hand optimally preflop (meaning they got their opponents to get all their chips in preflop while holding the best possible starting hand). But only one player raked in all the chips once the River card was dealt.
The Worst Possible Suck Out Poker Hands
Statistically speaking, the worst possible suck out in No Limit Texas Hold’em games is getting all your chips in after the flop, with your opponent needing two specific cards to win.
Player 1: J-J (all in on the flop)
Player 2: Q-Q (all in on the flop)
COMMUNITY BOARD CARS: J-J-5
Player 1 has made Quad Jacks on the Flop, and is a massive 99%+ favorite to win the hand.
The only way Player 2 can win the hand is if two specific cards (the remaining two Queens) each hit the community board: one on the Turn and the final Queen on the River.
COMMUNITY BOARD CARDS: J-J-5-Q-Q
This would represent the worst possible suck out in Texas Hold’em poker (as long as all the chips were put in on the flop).
If the chips were all committed preflop, then the above sample hand would represent the worst possible “re-suck” in poker.
Let’s look at another sample hand:
Player 1: Ah-Ad (all in on the flop)
Player 2: 3s-2s (all in on the flop)
COMMUNITY BOARD CARDS: As-Ac-9c
Again, Player 1 has made Quad Aces and has better than a 99% chance of winning outright once the River card hits the board.
The only way that Player 2 can win this hand is if two specific cards are dealt on the Turn and River.
COMMUNITY BOARD CARDS: As-Ac-9c-(4s)-(5s)
Player 2 has sucked out on Player 1, and this is another example of the worst possible suck out in Texas Hold’em games.
Player 1’s Quad Aces are defeated by Player 2 — who has made a Straight Flush: Spades (5-4-3-2-A).
Suck Outs Make Competitive Poker Profitable
In the long run, the more a competitive, for-profit poker player can get all the chips in with a significant advantage, the better.
A competitive poker player will tell you that he/she will put all the chips in on the flop holding Quad Aces in Texas Hold’em any day of the week.
Marginal advantages can also be profitable depending on the amount of rake being charged in a particular game, but huge advantages (like the ones shown above) are what makes poker profitable for professionals.
