Overcard Flush Hands

[MushashiAce]

I've been playing poker for about 8 months now, reading alot of the classic literature (Supersystem, Sklansky, even Hellmuth's book /images/graemlins/mad.gif and have gotten a feel for both tournament and home games alike. Cutting to the chase, I haven't come across any proffesional discuss Overcard flush draws on the flop. Needless to say /images/graemlins/wink.gif I have been winning my home games playing these hands strong (which I think is smart play. I have called all in's (knowing relatively well a person is defending a Top pair with the rest of his stack) and also representing them as a pair myself. My point: is there any pre-defined guide;lines for playing these, am I getting super lucky, or just making short stacks play with chance on my side? Any advice or comments would be greatly appreciated (and yes, i can take insults fairly well). Thanx.

[MushashiAce]

By the way, i forgot something i wanted figured out to- the odds of Overcard flush draw versus top pair high kicker, if anyone knows how to calculate this I would be grateful. Also, it was my intent to post this as a discussion of Overcard flush draws probabilities versus other draws as well, straight pair, two of a kind, and three of a kind. If anyone knows the odds or guidelines on how to play these, i would be most grateful, thanks!

[EverettKings]

Well just figure out how many outs (cards that give you the best hand) that you have. If by an overcard flush draw you mean AhKh on a Th 8h 6s board, then you have 9 hearts that make you a hand, 3 As and 3 Ks. If the top pair guy's second card is an A or K then discount the A or K outs. So this leaves you with 12 or 15 outs. 12 outs will hit just under 50% of the time with 2 cards to come (turn and river) and 15 outs will hit about 60% of the time. In either case you'll have the pot odds to call any bet from a top pair.

I would raise and reraise all day with these hands, as you gain a second chance to win: you can take the pot down right there, or if called, you'll hit half the time. Just calling cuts your odds to a flat 50%.

[MushashiAce]

Thanx, you think there would be any /images/graemlins/confused.gif case for slowplaying flop?