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Texas Hold 'em: Flopped Hands and Drawing Hands
In Texas hold 'em poker, we get two hole cards and share five board cards (at most) to make a ranking five-card poker hand. After the hole cards are dealt, it's ensued by a round of betting followed by the revealing of the first three board cards on the flop. After another run of laying bets, the fourth board card is shown on the turn. Following another round, the fifth board card is revealed on the river. Then after another betting run, everyone who's still in the game exposes their hole cards for the showdown. Now, the turn and the river are collectively known as the draw. So, given this sequence of events in Texas hold 'em, we can clearly distinguish flopped hands from drawing hands in poker.
Flopped hands are obviously poker ranking hands that develop after the flop. Let's say, you're holding an ace and a four of diamonds. You've got what's called suited hole cards since they have the same suit. Then, the flop reveals a jack, nine, and six, all of which are diamonds. In effect, you've got yourself a flopped flush!
Drawing hands, on the other hand, haven't developed after the flop. Players holding drawing hands are relying on the turn and the river to improve their cards.
Let's take the example of suited hole cards above and say you've got an ace and a four of diamonds. The flop produces a jack of diamonds, a nine of spades, and a six of clubs. If you stay in the game at this point, you're said to have a drawing hand. In other words, the draw could still make a good hand for you seeing that there's a diamond already on the board. Then the turn and the river reveal a five of diamonds and a two of diamonds. That means you've got yourself a flush on the draw!
The progression of when board cards are revealed to add on to your hole cards can make flopped hands or drawing hands in Texas hold 'em poker. Since flopped hands are improved cards after the flop, there's still hope post-flop for drawing hands. That's why one shouldn't discount the potential of the draw. And while it may be a risk to hope for specific cards to show up on the board (and it wouldn't be called gambling without risk anyway), it's extremely exciting to see miracle cards come up on the draw in Texas hold 'em poker.