Question re: playing overcards

Quick LLHE question about playing overcards.


Say you are dealt AhQd in mid or late position. There's 3 or 4 way action. Flop comes 2 5 7 rainbow. First guy checks, followed by a bet, then a call, then it's your turn. What do you do? Do you fold and just drop or do you call or raise because you hold 2 powerful overcards? Let's assume we don't know the players well, but it's hard to believe they'd be playing any 2,5, or 7 in early or mid position.


I know it's a little vague, but the general idea is how do you play 2 overcards when the board is rags but there is action in front of you. Thanks,


CB

If there are four players my AQ usually goes to the trash. Three players I amy see the turn as the betting is cheap. Being LL is key to my thinking. Then you have a bettor and a caller, one of them must have some king of hand. jmo.

This is one of the reasons A-Qo is sometimes easier to play with a pre-flop raise. It often clarifies the correct play for the rest of the hand.

Don't raise. Your "powerful overcards" are usually 7-1 dogs before and after the turn and the chance of everyone -- and probably anyone -- folding is zero. Your free river isn't worth much and paying three bets to see the turn would be a disaster.


With this particular flop (J75 would be much worse) calling in last position is okay: A7 and 75 would probably raise, and the flop is ragged enough to encourage someone to bet with little and for others to call for the same reason. Recognize that your edge is pretty thin, and that folding is a small error at worst.


Overcard draws have a litany of downsides: (1) they're hard to hit; (2) even if you hit you're vulnerable to redraws; (3) sometimes when you hit someone else makes a better hand; (4) some of your outs are often held by your opponents; (5) you sometimes have trouble getting paid when you hit; (6) some of these problems worsen as the pot size becomes more attractive. So emphasize things like the lack of a raise possibility, rainbow flops, backdoor draws held by you, very loose opponents or one-shot bluffers, your opponents' tendency to go passive when the bet size doubles, and other favorable conditions.