Belly Buster Review

What Is Belly Buster ?

An inside straight draw is also affectionately known as a belly buster. This is a hand where four cards almost make a straight. If a fifth card was added in the middle, it would be. Most of the time there is an Ace in this hand. In a hand with a four, five, seven and eight, if a six was added the player would have a straight hand. In a hand with an Ace, two, three and four, the addition of a five would make it a straight as well. Even a hand with each of a Jack, Queen, King and Ace, the addition of a 10 would result in a straight.

Belly Buster Explained

Doyle Brunson is a Poker player in America who is usually credited with originating the term belly buster. Its companion, double belly buster, is also attributed to Brunson. Even though it is possible these terms pre-date Brunson, he is most closely associated with coining these terms.

A belly buster is known as a hand where, of the five cards, four of them are in sequential order. In this hand, the fifth card that isn’t present is worth more than the hand’s lowest value card and less than its highest. For example, a seven, nine, ten, Joker hand is referred to as a belly buster. In this case, the missing card to complete the sequence is the eight. This is because the eight is higher than the lowest and lower than the highest card in the hand.

One example of a sentence that correctly uses the term belly buster is “My odds weren’t very good, so I folded the belly buster. However, I shouldn’t have, because the card I would have needed did subsequently appear on the river. Even though I played it correctly, I regret not making that call.”

Players that don’t catch the belly buster because they didn’t fold have a belly buster straight. This is a hand that players want to get. It means that they are in a better position to place a bet that may actually turn out to be a winner.