Chasing AKo

[Vazh]

I have been under the assumption that it is generally unprofitable to chase overcards when you miss the flop. However, when I look through my stats it actually shows as +EV for me to chase AKo. I only have about 2000 hands total and 21 AKo hands to reference so I'm looking for more help.

Ex 1:
Party 1/2 - no table or player info
Dealt A/images/graemlins/spade.gif K/images/graemlins/diamond.gif in MP
EP folds, I raise, 3 cold calls, big blind calls.
Flop: 8/images/graemlins/diamond.gif 2/images/graemlins/spade.gif 2/images/graemlins/club.gif
BB checks, I check, MP1 bets, MP2 calls, LP folds, BB folds, I call (I know, raise or fold).
It gets checked down from there as turn and river are 7s.

Ex 2:
Party 1/2 - no table or player info
Dealt A/images/graemlins/spade.gif K/images/graemlins/diamond.gif in LP
2 limpers to me, I raise, folded to limpers who call.
Flop: 8/images/graemlins/heart.gif 3/images/graemlins/diamond.gif 9/images/graemlins/club.gif
MP1 bets, MP2 folds, I raise, MP1 folds.


Different examples with different results. I understand that in the 2nd I played more agressively by raising the flop but is this a good idea long term? My feeling is I should be check folding these in EP, folding to an EP/MP bet in LP, and possibly betting from LP if I'm first in.

I tried the agressive approach (betting from EP, raising from LP) a lot last night in the OIC and felt it cost me a lot of bets.

Thoughts?

[MaxPower]

There are no hard and fast rules on how to play in this situation.

In your first hand, calling is correct becasue of the pot odds - you have 6 outs which are likely to be good. Yes, sometimes it is OK to check and call.

In your second hand, you played it well because the pot was shorthanded and you had position.

One of the most important things to consider when playing overcards is the number of people in the pot. Shorthanded you should be aggressive. When the pot is multiway, calling or folding could be correct depending on the flop and pott odds.

You should also consider whether your hand will win if you hit one of your outs.

There are many other factors to consider when playing overcards, its very complicated. The best thing is to post some hands and get feedback.