What is "four flush"

n. the act of bluffing in poker; deception by a false show of confidence in the strength of your cards [syn: bluff]

A four flush (also flush draw) is a poker hand that is one card short of being a full flush. Four flushing refers to empty boasting or unsuccessful bluffing, and a four flusher is a person who makes empty boasts or bluffs when holding a four flush. Four flusher can also refer to a welcher, piker, or braggart. This pejorative term originated in the 19th century when bluffing poker players misrepresented that they had a flush—a poker hand with five cards all of one suit—when they only had four cards of one suit. Optimal strategies for bluffing or folding when holding a four flush have been explored extensively in poker strategy books.