[Stealthy]

Players are so aware of the free play now that you have to pick your opponents carefully. Also given that 2 overcards presents a very weak draw this may not be the best place to do it. Here are the risks of raising HU with just overs IMO.

1. Your draw is weak and you could be drawing pretty thin if reverse dominated or against a set.

2. A lot of players will either 3 bet you or lead the turn and your cheap turn card has actually cost you extra.

3. Even 2 SB for a weak draw may be too high a price.

In Jason Pohls shorthanded guide which many of you may have read he does a big study on playing overcards when bet into and did a ton of math on it. He came to the conclusion that even peeling was slightly -EV and peeling against 2 players was a big -EV! He also determined that a raise was better than a call only if it was almost certain to work as if led into again the raise became a big loser.

His final analysis which was very detailed and complete, was that you had to be very sure to even call the flop against a donk from EP as a pre-flop raisor. I.e. a good read that all your outs are likely to be good. If you raised with KQ and the board is 7, 4, 9 then if you call a bet from a player holding Q4 then you are making a big -EV call.

Against a high VP$IP player you are a lot safer as the chances of your outs being clean improve dramatically. In this situation and if your are almost certain that a free card play will work then a raise is more profitable than just a call.

A bit of a jumbled reply as I moved from my own thoughts to that of a strong player. The whole overcard dilemma is so read orientated as it depends greatly on whther your opponent would donk with air or only a made hand and also what their hand range is.

Jason Pohl advocates in the end that a simple fold on the flop is usually better than calling or raising. I do still peal myself but only raise if I suspect my opponent is betting with air.