About 5% of the time, you can expect to see three cards of the same suit on the flop. This kind of flop creates its own unique problems.

1. You flop a flush. (Happens 1% of the time.) If your flush is small – you should bet. Don’t allow your opponents to see a free card. Slowplaying this type of hand is usually a big mistake. If a fourth suited card comes on the turn or the river, depending on the number of opponents, you may have to throw away your flush.
2. You flop top pair against a few opponents. Generally you should bet, as you cannot afford to give a free card, especially if your top pair is not big. If you are early to act and are up against a lot of players – check and call. If no one yet has a flush it is safe to assume that someone is drawing to it. You should put as little money in the pot as possible until you are fairly sure that you are not against a flush. This, of course, includes seeing that the fourth suited card does not come. Also, if the action behind you is heavy, folding may be your best option. However, you should usually bet if several players have already passed.
3. You don’t flop top pair but have a high suited card. You should now draw for a flush. Don’t call with something like a 10. In addition, depending on your opponent(s) and your position, you may want to raise and try for a free card on the turn.
4. You can bluff with nothing if you are against just a few opponents. As long as your opponents are reasonable players, they won’t call your bet on the flop unless they have at least top pair or one of the top two suited cards. And if you are called, you can sometimes successfully bluff through the river.
5. Don’t bluff if you are up against many opponents.

Same problems occur when a flop has three cards in succession, such as: 6h 5c 4s or flops with medium two-card combinations, such as Js 10h 3c. Don’t bluff into several opponents when you see one of these flops. There are just too many ways that a JT or a T9 can hit your opponents, and it becomes almost impossible to steal in these situations. This means that the best way to often play decent hands when one of these combinations appears is to just call on the flop, see the turn, and then either fold, call, bet, or raise.

Example:

You hold:

Flop:

Bet only if you are up against a small number of players, otherwise, be prepared to check and call. (An exception would be if you get an opportunity to “thin the field and you want to do so.

Example:

You flop top pair from an early position in a multiway pot, you check, the last player bets, then you should go ahead and check-raise.)