Inside straight
An inside straight in poker refers to the lower part of the straight where the player has, or is drawing to, a sequential hand. When a player has a hand like 5-6-8-9, then to complete the straight, the player needs a 7 and 7 only. As a result, one of the middle or inside cards is required to complete the sequence and therefore the position is known as an inside straight.
For a player to catch an inside draw, the odds are half of that of an outside draw simply because an outside draw gives the player two chances to win the pot, i.e. at either end. However, an inside draw only allows the player to catch a single rank to win the hand.
For e.g. In Texas Hold’em poker, if a player 9-10 as the starting hand and then decides to draw for a straight after seeing the flop as 2-Q-K, then the player is said to be drawing to an inside straight. If at the turn or river card, the player draws a Jack to complete the hand at 9-T-J-Q-K, then the player is said to have completed an inside straight.
For a hand to be called an inside straight draw, the card doesn’t have to be the exact center of the sequence that the player is aiming for. In the above example, if the player has a 9-J-Q-K and is looking to draw the 10 card, or has a 9-T-J-K and is hoping to catch a Queen, then the player is said to be drawing to an inside straight.
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